Check out the attached links.
https://www.surfcastersjournal.com/w...-striped-bass/
Look at the 3rd and 4th picture in the above article. There was a video on line of that catch years ago that would make you sick if you saw it, appears to have been removed. If I do find it, I'll post it. Thousands of very large pregnant striped bass caught in gill nets trolled from the beach in Virginia, thrown on the beach, tossed in a pick up truck and carted off. Not sure the year or what the rules were but it was enough to make you sick. Check out the last picture which is a video of dead discard from commercial operators in North Carolina not many years ago. Thousands of fish killed by four commercial boats that were allowed to keep 50 fish a piece, cull the largest and throw everything else overboard dead. A complete waste of the resource. 200 fish supposedly harvested, thousands killed as they were slitting their bellies in an effort to sink them and avoid detection. What you're seeing are the ones that didn't sink, imagine what the dead discard numbers actually were. This is in my opinion the minority who could care less about the resource as opposed to how much money they make every trip. Damage done is extensive and irreparable.
Look at the first attached chart from The Fisherman Magazine and tell me what it reminds you of, in particular recruitment to size of biomass.
Exact same pattern. Recruitment in 1994 was ~180 million, ~170 million in 2004 and reduced to ~30 million in 2013 when the biomass was significantly higher than 1994. Just look at the recruitment (egg production) trend from 1994 thru 2015. As Dan pointed out, combine all this with the continued onslaught of egg laden cows in Virginia and North Carolina that continues today both commercially and recreationally. A fishery headed for another collapse. Look at the images of beach gill net catches in Virginia and does anyone wonder where this fishery is headed. Sorry for the size of the files but these fish are large and predominantly females. Fisheries management hasn't learned from past mistakes, same pattern we're living with summer flounder. No inshore north south migratory species with a commercial market can sustain this onslaught of pressure year round and yes when it comes to inshore fisheries recreation absolutely contributes to the damage. Stripers get pounded year round, even during the spawn. Regulations have to be implemented protecting them for some period of the year, the fall winter months again would make most sense when eggs develop and the spawn occurs. But you know the southern states on the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Council or the commercials with equal vote won't allow that to happen so once again let's collectively let another fishery collapse and deal with it when it's too late. Outstanding fisheries philosophy.
Even though it's not related to stripers, watch the attached video regarding the harvest of croakers. Seen any of those around lately? In particular look at the
1:45 thru 2:35 mark and pay special attention to the comments the narrator makes from
17:45 thru 18:10. Will blow your mind. Absolutely unbelievable and speaks to the prevailing mentality existing with a percentage of commercial operators which is unconscionable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-7bR1Ol8Fw
