Plenty of Fish

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

Regarding the Gazette story last week about striped bass, I would just like to add a few thoughts. First of all, stripers are one of the most sought-after fish on the East Coast. Sport fishermen landed more than 2.2 million stripers, weighing in at 12,310 metric tons. Landings from the commercial fishery are a lot lower at 3,281 metric tons. The 2009 Atlantic bass stock assessments indicated that the resource remains in good condition according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which announced the results in early November. Now, speaking from my own observations, I have never seen so many bass around as I have the past couple of summers. The fish are changing their habits, though. They are hanging further offshore, spending a lot of time outside the three-mile limit. This past summer saw huge amounts of bait fish just offshore attracting huge schools of very large fish. For six weeks they milled around out there every day on the surface, as well as down deep, feeding on squid, herring, mackerel, small pollack, sand eels and hoppers. I haven’t seen as much bait in years. (Bass go where the bait is!) I actually had them chasing bait under my boat while hauling traps. I couldn’t throw the shorts (short lobsters) over or they would never make it to the bottom. We used to have a large fall migration in late October; however, in the last 10 years or so it seems they move off early, following the bait more to the east. Tuna spotter pilots report huge schools every year off Provincetown on Stellwagen during October and early November. I’m no scientist but I have done my share of bass fishing and was taught by some of the best like Oscar and Dick Flanders, Phil Thatcher, Buddy Oliver, George Maury and many more who were kind enough to take me along as a kid. I really don’t think the fish are in any danger. I just think the combination of warmer water and lack of bait inshore is the cause for a scarcity during the derby. Also we don’t have access to a lot of the better beach spots. Especially on the south side. And some of the junk I see attached to the end of a line would make a fish swim the opposite way. Try an old Atom swimmer and see what happens. The old stuff still catches fish. Anyway, leave the commercial guys alone; there are plenty of fish.

Wayne V. Iacono

Chilmark

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For a Sustainable Fishery

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

If the striped bass bill (HD 245) passes and takes away the commercial striped bass fishery from historical small-working harbors like Menemsha, it will be another nail in the coffin for the commercial fishing heritage, culture, and history of our New England coast.

I can understand the instinct to err on the side of conservation. When we think of commercial fishing, the images of the mega factory trawlers that destroy the ocean floor probably come to mind.

Please know that the small-boat commercial fishermen hold no resemblance.

We hold stern solidarity to the waters and fish that we dedicate our lives to. We consider it a privilege to make a living from the sea and want nothing more than to see our fisheries thrive sustainably forever. The striped bass fishery is sustainable as long as our estuaries stay clean for reproduction and our regulations reflect current stock assessments. If there are too many commercial boats, then let the Department of Marine Fisheries (DMF) use their already existing control date to reduce the permit holders, and to limit out of state boats from crowding our waters. If striped bass becomes over-harvested, then let the DMF reduce the quota. However, it is important to understand that the commercial quota only makes up 17 per cent of the recreational catch.

The misguided and politically minded legislators who have no understanding of the fishery should not determine its future, let alone write the script for its demise. We ask to work together with you and the DMF on rational, science-based regulations allowing striped bass, as well as other fish species to thrive sustainably, so our kids and grandkids can share the privilege of fishing, for work and for pleasure.

Wes Brighton

Chilmark