Sea bass regs

[PaBeerGuy]

Has anyone else heard that we may go to a 5 fish limit on sea bass this fall?

[hartattack]

The Board also reviewed the final 2016 black sea bass recreational harvest estimates and considered changes to current measures to meet the 2017 RHL. Based on the performance of the 2016 fishery,which indicated a reduction is needed to stay within the 2017 RHL, the Board set the possession limit for wave 6 (November/December 2017) at five fish in state waters from Rhode Island through New Jersey. All other state measures remain unchanged from 2016 http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/59...m_Approval.pdf

[PaBeerGuy]

State waters, does that mean that offshore sea bass stay the same @ 15?

[bulletbob]

Yikes... The porgies better show up in good numbers as they have the past few years,, Otherwise its going to be a tough couple months for bottom boats from the end of Fluke to the start of Blackfish.. It is become very apparent that the regulations are designed to put recreational "for hire" out of business.. Its no longer even being sugar coated with a "we want to work with the recreational captains, and find a solution that works for everyone" bullshit line..
They want to shut down recs, have become open about it, and are now playing hardball, no more BS... bob

[Jpell15]

Originally Posted by PaBeerGuy

State waters, does that mean that offshore sea bass stay the same @ 15?

I think it might be 5 only because you go through state waters to get back but not quite sure...if it's true it's going to kill the offshore boats for November and december

[Inishmore3]

Jpell is right. It would be 5. However, there was information posted that the government is mulling over a complete shut down form November and December

[Jpell15]

Originally Posted by Inishmore3

Jpell is right. It would be 5. However, there was information posted that the government is mulling over a complete shut down form November and December

A complete shutdown? Imagine the slaughter from boats porgy fishing. Seabass usually aren't released alive from those depths

[MDeSi]

Originally Posted by Jpell15

Imagine the slaughter from boats porgy fishing. Seabass usually aren't released alive from those depths

From most of what I've seen on those trips, the seabass are vented and quickly swim towards the bottom.

[Rocky]

The higher ups who decide the regs are making us bend over and they filled empty tubes of KY with sand.

This is a sad state of affairs and it is not over yet. Lord help us because they are not.

[Ice Cream Bill]

I have an offshore trip on a NS out of Point Pleasant, and already paid $200 for it. $40 per sea bass? I don't think so. I went on a sea bass study in February and we caught 380 sea bass! Trust me, at 140+ feet, even properly vented, do not all survive. The seagulls were having a feast.

With a 5 fish bag limit, I will done fishing in 20-30 minutes. What do I do for the rest of the trip, play catch and release?