New legislation will be filed in the state house this month making way for a state recreational saltwater fishing license. State Representative Tim Madden said he plans to cosponsor the legislation and that is a good idea for all local fishermen.
“The federal government is mandating that there be a recreational saltwater license. This one, a state version is better, because it keeps the money here,” Mr. Madden said.
A 361-pound porbeagle shark was the winning fish in the weekend’s 23rd annual Monster Shark Tournament in Oak Bluffs. The fish was caught by the crew of a Marshfield fishing boat called Karen Jean II. The captain of the vessel was David Dion of Galveston, Tex.; the boat owner was John Anderson of Marshfield and crewman was William Murphy of New Bedford.
Editor’s Note: The following letter was sent to Paul Diodati, director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. The letter was also signed by Chuck Hodgkinson, Emmett Carroll, Jennifer Clark, Jonathan Mayhew, Virginia Jones and Tom Osmers.
Regarding the request for consideration of a tending requirement on bottom tending or sink gill nets in Massachusetts state waters: All nets must come in with the boat and not be left at sea when the boat is at port.
Bait fish that were once plentiful in the waters around the Cape and Islands have grown scarce. And recreational fishermen want Congress to step in to help do something about it.
Menhaden, also called bunker, have all but disappeared. Atlantic mackerel had a weak showing this spring. Even squid are down; the commonwealth has extended the spring fishing season into June to help commercial draggers meet the state quota, but the bigger question is what happened to the squid?
Fishing season has finally hit its stride. And if they can keep from getting lost in the fog, anglers are finding dinner. There are reports of bonito. Striped bass are still around, although in deeper water. Somebody caught a nice bluefish in Nantucket Sound on Wednesday morning. Someone else was seen toting five gallon buckets full of black sea bass.
A small but spirited group of fishermen met this week to discuss forming an advocacy organization.
The meeting was held Wednesday at the county administration building; 16 people attended. The idea of forming a formal fishermen’s association comes at a time when federal regulators are clamping down on fishing permits and a new bill has been filed in the state legislature to ban commercial fishing for striped bass.
Fishing tournaments seem to stick on the Vineyard. Invite a group of anglers together and hold a fishing derby and their fun tends to come around again, a year later. That is how the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby was started by the chamber of commerce and they are now entering their 64th year.
Quite a few of the fishermen boarding the party fishing boat Skipper in Oak Bluffs on Wednesday morning before 8 a.m. were repeat customers. They toted their own coolers loaded with refreshments, and towels for keeping their hands clean.
Vineyard commercial and recreational fishermen are invited to attend a meeting to discuss a plan to organize as a group; the meeting will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 5 p.m. at the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven.
Fishing boats are back out in Vineyard Sound, after what has been a long stretch of really bad weather, not just on the land, on the water.
The Menemsha fleet returned to fishing for fluke on Wednesday, after being kept shoreside since last weekend because of the wind.
“I haven’t fished for three days,” said Capt. Craig Coutinho of the Menemsha dragger Viking on Tuesday night. “The fluke fishing was going pretty good, before we got this.”
