Ban Striped Bass Catch Method, Island Fishermen Tell the State

In light of this development, I thought readers would be interested in the exchange I had with Barry Gibson (a good guy and a good editor) who doesn’t agree (understand) that yo-yoing is a hideous abuse:

To The Editor:

I read Ted Williams’ article “Plundering Stripers” in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue with interest. His frustration with a crowded parking lot and an unwelcome number of other fishermen on the water on the opening day of Massachusetts’ commercial striper season, which disrupted an anticipated day of solitude with his fly rod, is understandable, but his confusion between recreational and commercial fishermen isn’t. To say that the state’s commercial striper fishermen are actually recreational (his emphasis) anglers because they “have fancy boats and tackle and work nine-to-five jobs” is errant nonsense. If an individual is duly permitted by the Commonwealth to catch and sell striped bass, he or she is a commercial (my emphasis) fisherman, at least during the commercial season. This is not debatable. And what difference does it make how the commercial fisherman spends the money he makes? Should there be a law that makes it illegal to spend it on gas, boat insurance, or fishing tackle? Ted further states that these commercials “don’t need to be trafficking in striped bass.” This is a long-held elitist viewpoint that simply won’t die. Who is he to say who should or should not be allowed to sell striped bass? Does he think the son of a wealthy couple “doesn’t need to be mowing lawns” to make some spending money? Massachusetts’ commercial striper catch is tightly controlled by a TAC, so why does it matter who catches it or how fast it’s caught??

Then Ted lashes out at lots of other people and practices including striper tournaments, which, he says, “attract, enrich and empower lowlifes,” another perspective that reeks of elitism. He thinks yo-yoing baits should be banned, although he doesn’t say why – but I suspect it’s because it’s so deadly on big bass, the very kind most recreational fisherman like to target. Basically, Ted says that all of this bad behavior by the recreational sector will cause regulators to turn a deaf ear when it comes to requesting gamefish status for striped bass.
I say hogwash. The commercial fishing sector in the Northeast alone “slaughters” 100 percent of the yellowtail, witch flounder and American plaice, and close to 100 percent of the redfish, white and silver hake, and herring, and perhaps 95 percent of the haddock and 70 percent of the codfish – all told representing thousands upon thousands of metric tons of finfish landed or discarded annually. So why shouldn’t the general public get 100 percent of one, highly-regulated inshore species for recreational and personal-use fishing? Why should we have to “prove” to regulators and legislators we are somehow worthy, that we are fishing and catching according to Ted Williams’ mantras? The commercial sector doesn’t. Why should kill tournaments, fishing methods, bait or lure preferences, or a few scofflaws make any difference in the argument?

As for Ted’s assertion that the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) perceives the agenda of environmentalists as “somehow opposed to (the recreational fishing sector’s) interests, he is right on. Yes, we may all be “environmentalists” at heart as individuals, but the powerful environmental organizations and their funding entities have made it clear that they want to create vast tracts of no-fishing zones that would ban recreational fishing regardless of the negligible impact our sector has on the marine environment. In no way do the recreational sector and environmental groups have an “identical agenda on marine fisheries issues” as Ted suggests. He needs to wise up fast. The RFA is fighting hard for everyone’s right to reasonably access our coastal waters, whether you fly fish or pull parachute jigs, and it’s a fight that gets tougher by the month. If we can’t get to where the fish are in order to catch them, every other issue is moot.
Finally, though, I have to give Ted credit for his clever wordsmithing. He uses the terms “slaughter,” “plunder,” “kill,” and “take” interchangeably depending on who he wants to skewer or apologize for. “Slaughter” would seem to connote a bad or immoral act, but “take” is pretty benign – we “take” showers and we “take” stripers.” In his case he opted to “kill” two three-foot stripers during his outing, evidently choosing not to “slaughter” them as all other recreational fishermen apparently do. I applaud his decision!

–Capt. Barry Gibson, New England Regional Director, Recreational Fishing Alliance, East Boothbay, ME

Ted Williams responds:

Having known and respected Gibson’s work for years, I am astonished and dismayed that he would associate himself with a group like the Recreational Fishing Alliance, whose primary mission has always been “more dead fish for us.” I can’t argue with his legal definition of a Massachusetts commercial striper fisherman. But I wasn’t talking about legal definitions. The season remains a grotesque charade that outrages legitimate recreational anglers inside and outside Massachusetts. The reason that “yo-yoing”–i.e., stuffing a lead sinker or sparkplug down a porgy or pogie, sealing its mouth with a treble hook, then bouncing it on the bottom–needs to be banned is that it kills fish you want to keep as well as fish you would have released. I did not say that “bad behavior by the recreational sector will cause regulators to turn a deaf ear when it comes to requesting gamefish status for striped bass.” I said that it has already done so; and I proved it. Gibson asks: “Why should kill tournaments, fishing methods, bait or lure preferences, or a few scofflaws make any difference in the argument?” They shouldn’t, but there is this irksome reality affecting legislators; it’s called human nature. Finally, Gibson and the RFA need to learn the difference between “environmentalists”–i.e., all who advocate their surroundings–and the very few environmental advocacy groups that have made errors in judgment on fisheries issues. When the Natural Resources Defense Council and Ocean Conservancy needlessly alienated anglers with ill-considered proposals for marine protected areas I criticized them on these pages. I then met with them; and they listened. The result was improved behavior. But for the RFA to attempt to scare membership fees out of anglers by shrilly proclaiming at the top of its website that “Commercial fishermen and environmentalists are pushing their agenda on marine fisheries issues affecting you” is stupid, dishonest, and needlessly divisive. As I explained in the piece, when it comes to environmentalists it’s not “us and them” but just us.

From Stripers Forever:

Stripers Forever Members - the negative effects of commercial fishing for striped bass go well beyond the numbers of striped bass killed by actual fishing. Two of the most negative are the impact that commercial fishing ideology - an uncaught fish is a missed opportunity - has on the management process itself, and the use of destructive gear types. Among the worst of the gear types is a technique called yo-yoing that is commonly used in the MA and RI commercial fisheries for large striped bass. A dead menhaden is stuffed with a couple of sinkers, and a piece of hardware such as a spring is used to connect a treble hook located in the vent of the menhaden with another that sews the lips shut. Any bass that swallows this rig has its fate sealed on the spot. Smaller bass can't be released, and any fish that might break the line is doomed. Unfortunately this kind of barbaric technique is held up as an example of productive fishing to new or otherwise impressionable anglers, be they commercial or recreational.
We've sent the letter at the end of this email to Paul Diodati, the Director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries asking that he take immediate action to end this practice
We urge you to chime in and write or e-mail Mr. Diodati, as well as the fishery director in your own state - they are all available by clicking on the map on the home page of the SF website - and give him the same message. If you are a member of a fishing club they should send him that letter too. Brad Burns

2/10/2007

Paul Diodati, Director
Division of Marine Fisheries
251 Causeway Street
Boston, MA 02114

Dear Mr. Diodati:

The board of Stripers Forever, on behalf of our membership in Massachusetts, requests that you implement regulations for the 2008 and future seasons that eliminate the practice of yo-yoing and similarly destructive fishing techniques known to be used in the commercial striped bass fishery. Yo-yoing kills excessive amounts of fish since released or lost fish often contain large amounts of lead, and the swallowed hardware of the yo-yo rig is no doubt fatal to the fish in a relatively short period of time. We suggest that within the state waters of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts it should be illegal to insert or attach weights or sinkers either into or directly onto either live or dead bait.

Both commercial and recreational striped bass fishing routinely require the release of many undersized striped bass. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts should only allow fishing techniques that are conducive to overall national conservation efforts of this important species while in our waters.

Stripers Forever is committed to seeing wild striped bass designated as a game fish in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Removing the commercial price tag from this wonderful fish will solve a number of resource management problems including the use of some destructive commercial fishing techniques like yo-yoing, which unfortunately has become an example to novice recreational anglers.

Sincerely,
Fred Jennings
Fred Jennings
Massachusetts State Chairman

cc: Governor Deval Patrick
cc: Sevretary Ian Bowles