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Thresher1

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  1. Either way, the whole stupid story is so Jets it hurts.
  2. I missed the beginning of the game, but I just read that they announced all of the offensive starters.......except Geno. Is this true? Rumor has it this was to protect him from the boo birds.
  3. Thanks Dave and no hard feelings. I totally understand the logic behind looking at agreements written over 110 years ago - long overdue by any measure for sure. From what I read, it just seems like from the way the state went about updating the lease was not exactly on the up and up. Thanks for the local insight. That's honestly all I was looking for.
  4. Roger that Dave. I apologize for being argumentative. I try to pay attention to both rec and comm regulations all around and this dispute grabbed me a bit for some reason. I thought you local guys may have some insight. I guess not. Sorry for the intrusion. I know this is going to come off badly, but I can't help myself - what is with the "do your own research next time" comment? I posted the topic only after hearing about the issue, reading up on it and then reading(skimming) the actual leases - both new and old. Only then did I post the original post on this thread. I live in MA and was looking to see if anyone local had some first hand info/experience with this issue. That's it. No dog in this fight other than looking for info and maybe a substantive discussion.
  5. Hey all, I'm a M******* interloping in your local waters, but I'm curious about something....... I just finished reading the Atlantic Coast Fishery News October issue and about 85% of it has to do with what seems to be some shifty moves by the state's Bureau of Aquaculture. Anyone here have a counter to the claims laid out in the ACFN? For what it's worth, I have no dog in this fight other than supporting sustainable fisheries, sensible management and an open process. Any local (and more informed) thoughts? Thanks.
  6. Any discussion about the fact that this may simply be Mother Nature doing what Mother Nature does? Just because we as human beings are inconvenienced and annoyed by it doesn't make it "wrong" and something to be "fixed".
  7. Ha -- the thought of a 400 lb lamprey is terrifying. Years ago when late night chunking for bass and contemplating the universe with my buddies we would always talk about herds bear sized spider crabs. But I digress - I'm sorry to say the seals are here to stay which means the sharks are as well. The notion that there would ever be a concerted effort to kill, sterilize and/or deter the seals from setting up shop in these parts is, in my opinion, is nothing but wishful thinking. Other than killing and significant portion of them each and every year or all of them in one concerted effort what would you propose be done about this?
  8. bdowning: I just moved up that way last spring so I only have a limited sample, but there have been good numbers of adult bunker up there both last year and this year. Last fall when eeling for bass we were getting several good sized bluefish every trip - mostly 8, 9, 10 lbs with a teen fish here and there including one pushing 15 lbs. What I have yet to see are schools of the mid sized cocktail blues and the blitzes that they are prone to. The bait is there. The baby snappers are there and the bigger adult bluefish are there, but seemingly none of the adolescents. Sorry to hijack....just some random observations.....
  9. The Taunton and Assonet Rivers at the head of the Narragansett Bay are loaded as well. They are gorging on giant schools of very small peanut bunker.
  10. I'm guessing it was a full grown adult. According to info I found, adults can get up to 15-18 ft. My skiff is only 14 feet long and it was certainly at least as long or longer.
  11. I juts posted this in the Main Forum, but thought I'd share it here as well....... So last week on Father’s Day I was out in my skiff with my two kids, my brother in-law and his two kids. On the way in to the boat ramp around 1 pm in Assonet, MA I see what looked like a white mooring ball out of the corner of my eye. Then the mooring ball disappears. I slow the boat to idle and start watching the surface of the water. Sure enough I see something white come up again. Long story short we spent the next 30 minutes observing a Beluga Whale from a safe distance. It did not appear to be in distress – just cruising around doing whale things. While watching the whale, I called the Somerset (MA) Harbor Master and the NOAA hotline for entangled or distress mammals (which I have in my phone for tuna trips). Both were obviously skeptical of my report as anyone would and should have been, but once I texted them the cell video I have (I would be happy to post it here, but don’t know how) their skepticism evaporated. Unfortunately, the dropping tide forced me to leave or else I would have stayed with it all afternoon. Needless to say the kids were very excited as was I. However, I was also very concerned as the area where I spotted it is very confined and gets very shallow at low tide – the coordinates where I first spotted it are N 41 47’50.31”/W 71 05’47.61”. Look it up on Google Earth and you will get a better idea of how ridiculous this was. Monday morning was met with a bunch on phone calls and text messages from the Harbor Master, NOAA and IWFA. The Harbor Master had been out Sunday night and Monday morning and didn’t see anything. I was asked if I could possibly get on the water again and went out again in the afternoon around the same tide. As crazy as this sounds, after about an hour and a half of looking……I found it again! This time it was headed south out of the Assonet into the Taunton River. I only observed it for about a few minutes this time and did not get any pictures, but there is absolutely no doubt what it was. The good news is that it was heading in the right direction and I lost it as soon as it hit the deeper water in the Taunton River. I called it in again and someone else had called in a sighting 20 minutes earlier further up the Assonet River. The coordinates for the second sighting are N 41 47’0276”/W 71 06’34.06”. On Wednesday, the Harbor Master and a volunteer from IWFA spotted the whale just north of the new Veteran’s Memorial Bridge connecting Somerset and Fall River and they followed it for a long time – one mile north of the Mt. Hope Bridge. They said that other than appearing a little malnourished, it appeared and acted normally……other than being WAY out of its natural range. According to someone I talked to @ NOAA the furthest south a “confirmed” Beluga Whale had been sighted previously was in Provincetown Harbor 25 years ago. All in all, the entire experience was pretty amazing. Again, I do have cell phone footage that was used to “confirm” the sighting, but don’t know how to post it. And in case anyone is wondering why I took over a week to post any information about this – there was a real fear on my part and the other agencies involved that this sighting, if made public, would turn the area into an over-crowded mess with everyone out on the water looking for it. Now that it has already been reported in the news and several newspapers over the weekend (from sources other than me) and appears to be heading back out to sea, I thought I’d share this unique and rare encounter with folks.
  12. So last week one Father’s Day I was out in my skiff with my two kids, my brother in-law and his two kids. On the way in to the boat ramp around 1 pm in Assonet, MA I see what looked like a white mooring ball out of the corner of my eye. Then the mooring ball disappears. I slow the boat to idle and start watching the surface of the water. Sure enough I see something white come up again. Long story short we spent the next 30 minutes observing a Beluga Whale from a safe distance. It did not appear to be in distress – just cruising around doing whale things. While watching the whale, I called the Somerset (MA) Harbor Master and the NOAA hotline for entangled or distress mammals (which I have in my phone for tuna trips). Both were obviously skeptical of my report as anyone would and should have been, but once I texted them the cell video I have (I would be happy to post it here, but don’t know how) their skepticism evaporated. Unfortunately, the dropping tide forced me to leave or else I would have stayed with it all afternoon. Needless to say the kids were very excited as was I. However, I was also very concerned as the area where I spotted it is very confined and gets very shallow at low tide – the coordinates where I first spotted it are N 41 47’50.31”/W 71 05’47.61”. Look it up on Google Earth and you will get a better idea of how ridiculous this was. Monday morning was met with a bunch on phone calls and text messages from the Harbor Master, NOAA and IWFA. The Harbor Master had been out Sunday night and Monday morning and didn’t see anything. I was asked if I could possibly get on the water again and went out again in the afternoon around the same tide. As crazy as this sounds, after about an hour and a half of looking……I found it again! This time it was headed south out of the Assonet into the Taunton River. I only observed it for about a few minutes this time and did not get any pictures, but there is absolutely no doubt what it was. The good news is that it was heading in the right direction and I lost it as soon as it hit the deeper water in the Taunton River. I called it in again and someone else had called in a sighting 20 minutes earlier further up the Assonet River. The coordinates for the second sighting are N 41 47’0276”/W 71 06’34.06”. On Wednesday, the Harbor Master and a volunteer from IWFA spotted the whale just north of the new Veteran’s Memorial Bridge connecting Somerset and Fall River and they followed it for a long time – one mile north of the Mt. Hope Bridge. They said that other than appearing a little malnourished, it appeared and acted normally……other than being WAY out of its natural range. According to someone I talked to @ NOAA the furthest south a “confirmed” Beluga Whale had been sighted previously was in Provincetown Harbor 25 years ago. All in all, the entire experience was pretty amazing. Again, I do have cell phone footage that was used to “confirm” the sighting, but don’t know how to post it. And in case anyone is wondering why I took over a week to post any information about this – there was a real fear on my part and the other agencies involved that this sighting, if made public, would turn the area into an over-crowded mess with everyone out on the water looking for it. Now that it has already been reported in the news and several newspapers over the weekend (from sources other than me) and appears to be heading back out to sea, I thought I’d share this unique and rare encounter with folks.
  13. Meanwhile, the US quota sits just over 900 metric tons including the recreational category. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/news/news_list/2014/4/04-02-14_2014_bft_proposed_specs.html As I understand things, the Mediterranean has been grossly mismanaged for years - lack of regulation, seasons, size limits, oversight, etc. It is also one of two known spawning grounds for bluefin (the Gulf of Mexico is the other). I may be incorrect, but I also think ICCAT is still managing the atlantic bluefin as being two distinct stocks (eastern and western atlantic) despite tagging data indicating otherwise - that the stocks mix. They are a highly migratory fish that regularly swims across the ocean. In my humble opinion, you could slash our domestic quota to nothing and it wouldn't help a thing. Until Europe and ICCAT step up to the plate it'll be more of the same, but there is simply too much money involved at this point. Again, just an uninformed opinion from a recreational bluefin weekend warrior. If you are interested in a great read about the bluefin fishery and the politics in play I highly recommend "Giany Bluefin" by Douglas Whynott.
  14. No fan of NMFS here, but in this case your ire is misplaced. Look east to the European Union and ICCAT if you want to find the real problem with atlantic bluefin management.
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