Posted by Capt. Jim Cox Thought I would weigh in on your question. I agree with Jack's answers and feel there is a lot more to saving the striped bass fishery than changing a regulation. Capt. Jim Cox
on 8/16/2006, 10:30 am, in reply to "Questions"
65.54.155.61
Jim,
I feel that an effective restoration effort must be two sided. Not only must a catch rate be reduced, but changes to the enviornment that have caused the decline must be corrected as well. A perfect example of this is the 10 year striped bass moratorium on the east coast. Striped bass were totally protected for a ten year period. At the same time pollution in the rivers that drain into Chesapeak Bay was cleaned up. A two sided effort was succesfull, and the striped bass fishery on the east coast has rebounded. A former director of Cal F&G made the statement once that shutting the pumps off for 15 minutes during the spring striped bass spawn, would have more effect on the fishery than a complete moratorium. This is because the problem with the striped bass fishery is not over fishing, but the effects of enormous water pumping!
I would be in favor of more restrictive regulations, if and when major efforts are made to correct the effects of pollution and mainly the pumps on the marine enviornment. Will this ever happen? At this time I doubt it.
There are laws on the books that give Cal F&G the power to "go after" any practice shown to be harmfull to the marine species that F&G are mandated to protect. Yet our F&G dept repeatedly fails to even admit that the pumping of water has any effect on the fisheries. The politics involved of blocking the dept. of water resources revenue generating practices seems to be to great for our F&G dept. Rather than be an advocate for fisherman, our F&G seems to be content with restricting the rights of fisherman, as the only means to preserving our fisheries, and not just striped bass.
This is where your club (RFA) can take a stand to help make a difference. Many answers are there to striped bass restoration. Supporting efforts such as having the striped bass declared a native specie, and then the return of the pen rearing program, would have far more reaching effects, than just a regulation change.
I hope this rather long and rambling reply has helped to answer your question.
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