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Declining Striper Resource

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Mike Oliver

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6 hours ago, slip n slide said:

unlike the striper situation you guys have that huge warmwater blob that's keeping the baitfish away 

 

No doubt the blob did damage, but it has been gone now for about three year.

Our fish face a lot of the same challenges your stripers do and the list is long in regards to the reasons for their decline.......

 

I hope your striper stocks can rebound.

SF

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2 hours ago, bloosfisher said:

Absolutely, Mike.   My point is that when the stripers crashed before, the blues filled the space taken by their absence. Now it seems as much a systemic problem.  Scoleen brought up the Chessie and the menhaden harvest- pull the plug on what fed the migrations and problems happen.  I could  just have easily said, "Where's the peanut bunker?".  During the resurgence of stripers in the 90's  bunker were plentiful.  Some of the  peanut blitzes seemed to stretch form the Piscataqua to the Raritan in the fall. That can't be said, now. 

A lot of these same arguments were had before in the 80s.  They said the bass were fine, it's pollution, they are everywhere you are not, they are staying offshore, they are only hitting white lures, etc (I'm being sarcastic with the last example but I believe you get my point).

 

At that time there was always plenty of bunker around.  As a matter of fact, my dad and I did a lot of bait fishing and never used to buy our own bait.  We would always snag what we needed.  So in the mid to late 80s, we had plenty of bunker and big blues but there was hardly any bass and the ones that were around were rats.  After the moratorium, and then the 1 @ 36" those same waters that only held a few rat bass and big blues, were now yielding teen size bass on a regular basis.  The bottom line, the main culprit then as it is now, is overfishing.

 

The problem we have now has been years in the making.  

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On 7/1/2019 at 0:59 PM, Lateral Line said:

The fishing was much better during the moratorium than it is now.

Never heard anyone say that, is that true from your perspective?  I wasnt fishing in the 80's yet and Ive not really connected with anyone who was.

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look up John McMurray and his group of guides thats forming to help fight the good fight.   they are involved and may give allof you a voice.

its all about da fishes...

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33 mins ago, bobber said:

look up John McMurray and his group of guides thats forming to help fight the good fight.   they are involved and may give allof you a voice.

People clearly aren't reading the thread!!  His group was mentioned, look them up they seem to have it going on.

 

AGAIN FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO MISSED IT. . .

 

AMERICAN SALTWATER GUIDES ASSOCIATION

 

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1 hour ago, Oakman said:

People clearly aren't reading the thread!!  His group was mentioned, look them up they seem to have it going on.

 

AGAIN FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO MISSED IT. . .

 

AMERICAN SALTWATER GUIDES ASSOCIATION

 

 

Can you hear me now?

Currently have aphasia.    Aphasia is a result of my head stroke causing a bleed.   Happened in my Maine vacation in July (2021).   Lucky me less than 1% of people get stroke aphasia.  :(      I'm making project but have been told this is easily 5 months to 1 year for this to improve.   Until then hope you don't mind making sense with what I text.   HT

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Knowing that Striped Bass are fished for commercial and recreational reasons, I could not agree more strongly that sport/recreational fisher-men and -women need to organize for success.  Here's an effective idea for saltwater gamefish that would surely need adaptation.... [Permit me to now request input and discussion from those who are far more experienced in such matters than I am.]

 

Let's bring science to the fight!!  Resolve: Would organizing and funding a Striper-focused non-profit somewhat akin to the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT; https://www.bonefishtarpontrust.org/) serve the purpose?

 

"Mission: To conserve and restore bonefish, tarpon and permit fisheries and habitats through research, stewardship, education and advocacy.

"Through science-based approaches, BTT is working to protect and enhance healthy, functioning flats fisheries and habitats in the Western Hemisphere, and restore those in decline. This work is being done in collaboration with other institutions and governments.

"In the Florida Keys and South Florida, BTT is working to determine and address the causes of declining fish populations. BTT has defined a series of research steps that will lead to actionable knowledge to improve the Keys flats fishery. We will advocate for those actions that will protect and restore the fishery and habitats.

"BTT is working to improve regulations as necessary to ensure a healthy tarpon fishery throughout the Gulf of Mexico, Southeast United States and Caribbean.

"BTT is working to protect and restore habitats throughout the range of bonefish, tarpon and permit to ensure healthy populations of these and associated species.

"BTT is executing its mission by partnering with universities and institutions having the expertise to conduct research projects designed by BTT scientists.

 

"History: BTT was founded in 1997 by a group of six anglers concerned that the bonefish population in the Florida Keys was declining and nobody was taking active steps to monitor or reverse it. They resolved to learn more about the causes of the decline and contracted with University of Miami to search existing literature and prior studies on the issue, of which there was very little. 

"A few years later, the group formed Bonefish and Tarpon Unlimited, and brought together a group of 60 Founding Members representing the “Who’s Who” of saltwater flats fishing. In the early days, the board kicked off initial research projects, worked to build public awareness and recruit members. Initial research efforts focused on bonefish tagging to collect much-needed data on population baseline, size, growth, and range of movement and satellite tagging of tarpon to learn more about their movement patterns.

"As the organization and funding grew, so did BTU’s scope of work. The first Bonefish and Tarpon Research Symposium was held in 2003, bringing together 20 participating scientists and a large group from the public. The next symposium was held three years later (and every three years since), hosting 35 scientists. This represented significant progress from BTU’s founding six years earlier when nobody was actively engaged in bonefish or tarpon research. 

"In 2009, BTU became Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT). The following year, the first annual journal was published, which highlighted the research and conservation efforts for bonefish, tarpon and permit and their habitats. The circulation the first year was 2,500 and has since grown to over 15,000, focusing not only on research and conservation but also fishing articles, angler profiles, photos and more.

"Around 2010, BTT began to broaden its geographic scope, focusing research and conservation efforts in the Bahamas, Cuba, Belize and Mexico and expanding its work to include permit and other flats species.

"In recent years, BTT has applied its scientific credibility and research efforts to policy and regulation advocacy in Florida and throughout the Caribbean. This has included work with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to revise and improve regulations for bonefish, tarpon, permit and barracuda, and work in the Bahamas to create National Parks to protect critical bonefish spawning locations BTT identified from future development.

"BTT continues to work with a number of collaborating institutions to expand our knowledge of the fisheries through research, educate the public about issues facing the fisheries, and is working with FWC and other agencies at the national and international level to improve the conservation regulations for bonefish, tarpon, permit and their habitats.

 

And, finally, consider the BTT's Accomplishments (https://www.bonefishtarpontrust.org/btt-accomplishments/) where the local (e.g., FL Keys & Bahamas) saltwater guides associations were among the many vested constituencies recruited & engaged.

 

The problems and solutions are Not local to Cape Cod, MA.  Consider all of the Striper habitats and migration paths where adults spawn... juveniles mature... etc. throughout the calendar year.

 

Let's bring science to the fight!! -- FlyFoolingFish (fka RL2TF)

(*member formerly known as 'RetiredLearning2ThinkFish')

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10 mins ago, FlyFoolingFish said:

Knowing that Striped Bass are fished for commercial and recreational reasons, I could not agree more strongly that sport/recreational fisher-men and -women need to organize for success.  Here's an effective idea for saltwater gamefish that would surely need adaptation.... [Permit me to now request input and discussion from those who are far more experienced in such matters than I am.]

 

Let's bring science to the fight!!  Resolve: Would organizing and funding a Striper-focused non-profit somewhat akin to the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT; https://www.bonefishtarpontrust.org/) serve the purpose?

 

"Mission: To conserve and restore bonefish, tarpon and permit fisheries and habitats through research, stewardship, education and advocacy.

"Through science-based approaches, BTT is working to protect and enhance healthy, functioning flats fisheries and habitats in the Western Hemisphere, and restore those in decline. This work is being done in collaboration with other institutions and governments.

"In the Florida Keys and South Florida, BTT is working to determine and address the causes of declining fish populations. BTT has defined a series of research steps that will lead to actionable knowledge to improve the Keys flats fishery. We will advocate for those actions that will protect and restore the fishery and habitats.

"BTT is working to improve regulations as necessary to ensure a healthy tarpon fishery throughout the Gulf of Mexico, Southeast United States and Caribbean.

"BTT is working to protect and restore habitats throughout the range of bonefish, tarpon and permit to ensure healthy populations of these and associated species.

"BTT is executing its mission by partnering with universities and institutions having the expertise to conduct research projects designed by BTT scientists.

 

"History: BTT was founded in 1997 by a group of six anglers concerned that the bonefish population in the Florida Keys was declining and nobody was taking active steps to monitor or reverse it. They resolved to learn more about the causes of the decline and contracted with University of Miami to search existing literature and prior studies on the issue, of which there was very little. 

"A few years later, the group formed Bonefish and Tarpon Unlimited, and brought together a group of 60 Founding Members representing the “Who’s Who” of saltwater flats fishing. In the early days, the board kicked off initial research projects, worked to build public awareness and recruit members. Initial research efforts focused on bonefish tagging to collect much-needed data on population baseline, size, growth, and range of movement and satellite tagging of tarpon to learn more about their movement patterns.

"As the organization and funding grew, so did BTU’s scope of work. The first Bonefish and Tarpon Research Symposium was held in 2003, bringing together 20 participating scientists and a large group from the public. The next symposium was held three years later (and every three years since), hosting 35 scientists. This represented significant progress from BTU’s founding six years earlier when nobody was actively engaged in bonefish or tarpon research. 

"In 2009, BTU became Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT). The following year, the first annual journal was published, which highlighted the research and conservation efforts for bonefish, tarpon and permit and their habitats. The circulation the first year was 2,500 and has since grown to over 15,000, focusing not only on research and conservation but also fishing articles, angler profiles, photos and more.

"Around 2010, BTT began to broaden its geographic scope, focusing research and conservation efforts in the Bahamas, Cuba, Belize and Mexico and expanding its work to include permit and other flats species.

"In recent years, BTT has applied its scientific credibility and research efforts to policy and regulation advocacy in Florida and throughout the Caribbean. This has included work with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to revise and improve regulations for bonefish, tarpon, permit and barracuda, and work in the Bahamas to create National Parks to protect critical bonefish spawning locations BTT identified from future development.

"BTT continues to work with a number of collaborating institutions to expand our knowledge of the fisheries through research, educate the public about issues facing the fisheries, and is working with FWC and other agencies at the national and international level to improve the conservation regulations for bonefish, tarpon, permit and their habitats.

 

And, finally, consider the BTT's Accomplishments (https://www.bonefishtarpontrust.org/btt-accomplishments/) where the local (e.g., FL Keys & Bahamas) saltwater guides associations were among the many vested constituencies recruited & engaged.

 

The problems and solutions are Not local to Cape Cod, MA.  Consider all of the Striper habitats and migration paths where adults spawn... juveniles mature... etc. throughout the calendar year.

 

Let's bring science to the fight!! -- FlyFoolingFish (fka RL2TF)

Why start something new????  There's already an organization that has been following the issue and has a good grasp of the situation.  The difference here is that when BTT started there was no organization tasked with managing the resource, SB are a different kettle of fish. . . we have a multi state task force that is already supposed to be watching over the resource and the are using science, well sort of.  There is no need for a new organization, there IS need to get behind one that already exists.  

 

I'll say it again, but a little quieter this time.  Google:  American Saltwater Guides Association  

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It seems to me that every year or so we all go through this exercise of listing all the reasons for the decline in the SB fisheries. There are always numbers of good ideas threaded through the postings then and now.  I have fished on the Isle of Long since high school (early 1960s) from the beaches, and boats with both gear and flies.  What I have found, like all of you, is remarkable decline in both SB and blue fish numbers, no matter how I try to coerce them to my hook.  What is notable is that all the restaurants we frequent always have SB on the menu in various presentations.  How is it we cannot get a bass on a hook for family consumption, but there seems to be plenty enough for restaurant fare???

 

An additional moratorium might be for all of us to refuse to order it from the menus and let the public know why.  A very small step, but if we all take advantage of and support all the other steps we have proposed, maybe we can begin to add the small steps up to a big walk in the right direction.

 

Just sayin'.

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Well maybe the NE states need to follow what Florida did sell one trophy tag per person if you feel so inclined to kill a big bass?!!

Stop killing all the big bass!!! Simple only circle hooks with bait one fish per angler that’s a slot size!

I’ve bass fished over 30 years  27 fly I’m kind of burned out and have taken up metal detecting and focus on the fall albies and Bonita now..

Just found two gold rings instead of trying to catch a schoolie !

Ive put my time and effort in to conserve its now up to the younger generation if their not to busy on their phones?!!!

 

Edited by mkus
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Science

 

Governments  will Philly Buster you with science. Another way of saying bog you down for years whilst you gather data. Whilst the fishery further degrades.

 

It is well known that Governments do not manage fisheries based on Science even science garnered from their  own paid scientists. They ignore it.

 

Fisheties  are miss-managed by means of politics and vested interests lobbying governments.

 

The most oft uttered cry by the Commercials,is that “The Science  is flawed” 

 

Strange that when they are Fishers and not Scientists  and most will not be qualified in biology.

 

 

What wins fights is political power . It is useful to have science on your side but there is enough of it swilling around allready to help,support our case.

 

Need to see what the Guides Association are doing. Are they the lead. 

 

What are they doing and how avtive are they.

 

we can’t just leave it to others.

 

If you want to fish it is selfish to leave everything to just the few.

 

 

Everyone needs to pitch in.

 

I mentioned talking shops. We need to make sure that this thread does not become just that.

 

Mike

 

 

 

Edited by Mike Oliver
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