02.27.2013 Two Left/A Recap

[Skylar 0]

Fish Report 2/27/13 <o:p></o:p>

Two Left <o:p></o:p>

Adding Friday <o:p></o:p>

A Recap <o:p></o:p>

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Weather Looks Better: Have 2 Spots Left For Long Tog Trip - Thursday - 2/28/13 - 5:30 to 4:30 - 14 Sells Out - Skunks Possible & A Long Boat Ride - $130.00 - Cbass Too?<o:p></o:p>

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Long Tog Trip - Friday - 3/1/13 - 5:30 to 4:30 - 14 Sells Out - Skunks Possible & A Long Boat Ride - $130.00 - Cbass Closed <o:p></o:p>

(sold out) Xtra Long Tog - Sunday - 3/3/13 - 5:30 AM to 5:30 PM - 14 Sells Out - Skunks Possible & A Long Boat Ride - $150.00 - Cbass Closed <o:p></o:p>

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Reservations Required @ 410 - 520 - 2076. <o:p></o:p>

LEAVE YOUR BEST POSSIBLE CONTACT NUMBER - Weather Cancelations Are Common In Winter - I Make Every Attempt To Let Clients Sleep In If The Weather's Not Going Our Way.. <o:p></o:p>

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No Live Fish Leave The Boat - Dead & Bled - Period. (I Believe The Live-Fish Black Market Is Hurting This Fishery) <o:p></o:p>

All Regulations Observed - 4 Fish @ 16 Inches. <o:p></o:p>

Green Crabs Provided. You're welcome to bring any hard bait: Lobster, White Crab, Blue Crab, Hermit Crab: Even Gulp Crab .. No Squid, No Clam = No Dogfish. <o:p></o:p>

Be A Half Hour Early - We Like To Leave Early. <o:p></o:p>

Clients Arriving Late Will See The West End Of An East Bound Boat.. <o:p></o:p>

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3,696 "Oyster Castle" Reef Blocks By The Rail. (928 @ Jimmy's Reef) <o:p></o:p>

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Greetings All, <o:p></o:p>

Weather looks better for Friday. Was going to lay in; Run a trip up the flagpole & see if anyone salutes. <o:p></o:p>

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Bits & Pieces from my last report - the meat.<o:p></o:p>

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The Omnibus Amendment for Recreational Accountability Measures coming through MAFMC is now vital because it recognizes PSE (margin of error) as part of the complete "best available science." The Amendment would allow refinement, movement up or down, from an estimate's centerpoint to reflect the true fishery. <o:p></o:p>

The amendment would allow managers to doubt an estimate. <o:p></o:p>

That's a really new idea. I'll keep you posted.. <o:p></o:p>

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Here is a sample of sea bass science: <o:p></o:p>

(Kendall 1977, P. 13 "Males first appear as 3 year olds.." then on P. 15 of the same document, "Larger fish are all males. Nearly all fish >25 cm (9.8 inches) are males. Thus catches of large fish will consist of males." <o:p></o:p>

Those fish weren't three years old. Most were one, some were age zero. A few were two. <o:p></o:p>

We know that now. Kendall had different aging data. Guarantee he could measure though. <o:p></o:p>

No one would call 10+ inch sea bass large today. Nor would anyone expect to see all males in a cooler full of 12.5+ inch sea bass. <o:p></o:p>

We've shifted age at maturity by size limit regulation. Fish that used to become male at 7 inches now transform between 12 & 14 inches. Kendall, using updated knowledge, would find the complete opposite today; "Nearly all 12 inch and smaller sea bass are female. Very few sea bass will have attained 12 inches by age 3. Catches of large fish, 18 to 26 inches, will have many females."<o:p></o:p>

Using the same aging data Kendall had back then: Here fromthe 1995 review of the Joint ASMFC/MAFMC Sea Bass Plan: "In spite of a potential maximum age of 15 years, the age structure is highly truncated with only 4.5% of the stock in 1993 greater than age 3." <o:p></o:p>

Nope. Betcha they actually found only 4.5% of all sea bass were over age one. <o:p></o:p>

With production switched to FULL-POWER, sea bass rebuilt just fine with 9, 10 & 11 inch size limits. Their hormones were screaming SPAWN-SPAWN-SPAWN as soon as they left the estuaries. During the mid-90's, just before real regulation began, Mid-Atlantic party/charter was estimated to land 2 to 4 million fish a year. Now we catch a quarter million fish and get labeled with overfishing. We watch our seasons shrink as regulation forces production to dwindle. <o:p></o:p>

Plain as I can make it: We're leaving +-2 million cbass on the table every year in the MAB; Fish we once would have kept and now do not. If reproduction had remained apace (as it did in the early 2000s) we would have, not just the additional fish saved by regulation, but their addition from added spawning capacity as well. <o:p></o:p>

We need to drop the size limit down to rekindle younger spawning in sea bass. <o:p></o:p>

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I'm certain management's seeking fairness. I'm positive. <o:p></o:p>

I'm also sure they want abundant fish. <o:p></o:p>

It would be much simpler for them if they had honest scientific truths to work with. <o:p></o:p>

We've already seen how regulation can make a heck of a lot of sea bass, saw it a decade ago. <o:p></o:p>

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The population spike in the early 2000s was no accident, No happy coincidence of skyfall; No, "Gee, weren't we lucky to have good recruitment." <o:p></o:p>

It was fishery management working. <o:p></o:p>

With MRFSS calling the shots recreationally, management failed to see it. <o:p></o:p>

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Regards,<o:p></o:p>

Monty <o:p></o:p>

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Capt. Monty Hawkins

mhawkins@siteone.net

Party Boat "Morning Star"

Reservation Line 410 520 2076

http://www.morningstarfishing.com/<o:p></o:p>