i remember ......

[the wizz]

i recall 14 inch fluke { keepers } with no bag limit . 10 striped bass @ 18 inch or above . all the blue fish your trunk could hold . 16 weakfish . 50 flounder in shrewsbury an ok day but 80 to 100 a good day ? 100 ling a day at the 1 can inside the bug light ! whiting so thick you could frost fish and on the right winds and tide walk down the beach and gather a days catch pushed into the wash . i remember when you had 2 distinct sets of rules commercial and rec now party boats have thier own set as well . i recall we the rec fisherman had the biggest share over commercial and watched it dwindle down to they now have the monster load . bottom line is ive been watching us the { rec guys }go backwards for 50 years ! now all are up in arms over proposed fluke regs acting like cuts are some thing new ? we have been divided and conquerd slow but sure over many years . south wants this , north that , beach guys this party boats that and commercial wants thier share to boot . we all want better regs i get it and i dont have the answer but if we keep dropping out , stop fighting and fishing then we have truly lost ! hang in guys better days are coming .

[Gerry Zagorski]

Right on Wizz... Giving up is not an option!

[Broad Bill]

I think everyone agrees giving up is not an option. The question is what does that mean? Reality is this is a big business controlled by the Secretary of Commerce, a handful of very powerful institutions and the commercial industry with their lobbyists and attorneys. So while I agree with your sentimental post, how does a completely fragmented recreational sector with mutually exclusive agendas, limited to no funding and miniscule lobbying efforts get a seat at the table when it comes to management regulations and completely unbalanced allocations of the resources under their management and control.

That's the million dollar question I don't think anyone has an answer for until the recreational sector as a whole organizes the way the commercial sector has which is light years away at best.

[Togfather2530]

Originally Posted by the wizz

i recall 14 inch fluke { keepers } with no bag limit . 10 striped bass @ 18 inch or above . all the blue fish your trunk could hold . 16 weakfish . 50 flounder in shrewsbury an ok day but 80 to 100 a good day ? 100 ling a day at the 1 can inside the bug light ! whiting so thick you could frost fish and on the right winds and tide walk down the beach and gather a days catch pushed into the wash . i remember when you had 2 distinct sets of rules commercial and rec now party boats have thier own set as well . i recall we the rec fisherman had the biggest share over commercial and watched it dwindle down to they now have the monster load . bottom line is ive been watching us the { rec guys }go backwards for 50 years ! now all are up in arms over proposed fluke regs acting like cuts are some thing new ? we have been divided and conquerd slow but sure over many years . south wants this , north that , beach guys this party boats that and commercial wants thier share to boot . we all want better regs i get it and i dont have the answer but if we keep dropping out , stop fighting and fishing then we have truly lost ! hang in guys better days are coming .

No to come across in a negative way but basically the summary of your post is that the salt water fishery has taken a major dump. Maybe it’s time to think about that and forget about looser regulations commercial and recreational. The fishing is lousy. The better days are in the past in my opinion.

[dales529]

Originally Posted by Togfather2530

No to come across in a negative way but basically the summary of your post is that the salt water fishery has taken a major dump. Maybe it’s time to think about that and forget about looser regulations commercial and recreational. The fishing is lousy. The better days are in the past in my opinion.

Things are different for sure in habitats etc and no arguing that its " not the old days" but there are still fish to be caught.

To be CLEAR those of us discussing the regulations its NOT about "looser" regs as much as its about FAIR and Equitable Regs for recreational and tightening on commercial to best sustain any species. Just want fisheries management to level the playing field for the fish first and sensible harvest across the board for stewards of the sea which most (not all) are.

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by dales529

Things are different for sure in habitats etc and no arguing that its " not the old days" but there are still fish to be caught.

To be CLEAR those of us discussing the regulations its NOT about "looser" regs as much as its about FAIR and Equitable Regs for recreational and tightening on commercial to best sustain any species. Just want fisheries management to level the playing field for the fish first and sensible harvest across the board for stewards of the sea which most (not all) are.

Rules in Federal waters have to change . State landings are adjusted per state , but stop at the 3 mile line .
Nj boats through the summer could legally land 3000 pounds of fluke per week .
Boats coming from other states fishing the same waters were able to take 30000 pounds as long as they stayed outside the line .

And that’s happening from the Carolina’s to Maine .

No way for a state to address its fisheries while that goes on .

Would think local commercial boats would want to push back on that .
As local landings were bringing over 4 bucks a pound .
Once NC 7 day boats flooded the market price dropped to 60 cents a pound .

Huge drop in your weekly pay when that happens

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by hammer4reel

Rules in Federal waters have to change . State landings are adjusted per state , but stop at the 3 mile line .
Nj boats through the summer could legally land 3000 pounds of fluke per week .
Boats coming from other states fishing the same waters were able to take 30000 pounds as long as they stayed outside the line .

And that’s happening from the Carolina’s to Maine .

No way for a state to address its fisheries while that goes on .

Would think local commercial boats would want to push back on that .
As local landings were bringing over 4 bucks a pound .
Once NC 7 day boats flooded the market price dropped to 60 cents a pound .

Huge drop in your weekly pay when that happens

Hammer all valid points I agree with. No fishery can be pounded year round as the fluke fishery is and sustain itself. And as I've said ad nauseum, the spawn needs to be protected as does the spawning stock and until those changes are made, if ever, this fishery or any similar fishery will in my opinion be at tremendous risk of being lost to future generations both recreational and commercial. Then what happens to catch values and what stock will supplement the loss of a year round money fish like summer flounder.

[Detour66]

The recs lost out to the commercial guys won plain and simple! (Except for Striped Bass in NJ) Yeah years a go we kept more fish than we should have but it didn't put a dent into the stocks. Not like some trawler dragging the top-bottom and in-between 7 days a week and throwing away more undersized by-catch in a month than the recs catch in a season. Money talks and BS walks you would think? The amount of money spent on rec fishing has to be sizable? The bottom line is "They want ALL OF THE FIsh" and screw the recs! Oh yes there is a answer but it will cost! Tight Lines!

[tautog]

I have no issue with restrictions on imperiled species, but the restrictions keep coming even after populations rebound. Black sea bass and red snapper would be great examples of fisheries that should be back to year round seasons. Locally, effectively closing black sea bass during the summer has negatively impacted ling and even fluke.

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by dales529

Things are different for sure in habitats etc and no arguing that its " not the old days" but there are still fish to be caught.

To be CLEAR those of us discussing the regulations its NOT about "looser" regs as much as its about FAIR and Equitable Regs for recreational and tightening on commercial to best sustain any species. Just want fisheries management to level the playing field for the fish first and sensible harvest across the board for stewards of the sea which most (not all) are.

Well said!