Fishing

2010

December 2, 2010

State Seeks Recreational Anglers’ Input: Saltwater Fishing Licence

Mark Alan Lovewell
Fishing

Most Massachusetts saltwater recreational fishermen will be required to purchase a $10 license if they plan on putting a hook in the water next year.

There are exceptions. Fishermen who are younger than 16 or disabled are exempt, for instance, as are fishermen on a state permitted charter fishing boat.

The new license is going to have the biggest impact on charter fishing captains. While their patrons aren’t going to be required to have the license to go out on a boat and fish, some captains will be required to pay a hefty fee above last year.

September 30, 2010
Stearns

Vineyard Fishermen Challenge Absent Herring Rules in Court

Mark Alan Lovewell
Fishing
Herring

Vineyard fishermen have joined a federal lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission over the lack of management of river herring and shad in federal waters. The lawsuit targets offshore industrial large-scale fishing boats working the Gulf of Maine and waters south of the Vineyard as culprits in the sharp decline of the fish.

September 23, 2010
weighmaster

Veterans Enjoy Derby Battle With Fish

Mark Alan Lovewell
Fishing

Rahul Harpalani caught his first fish ever, a striped bass, on Tuesday. The 24-year-old active duty first lieutenant with the Army had a smile on his face like no one else on Menemsha charter captain Scott McDowell’s boat. Out fishing a mile south of Squibnocket, Mr. Harpalani was having the time of his life. “It is so serene out here,” he said.

“Now you are a fisherman,” said Joe Bennett, a 70-year-old veteran from Maine, who sat beside him.

September 9, 2010

Changing Catch Patterns in Stripers

Mark Alan Lovewell
Fishing
Striped bass

With the start of the 65th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby just days away, fishermen are concerned about the health of the centerpiece fish, striped bass, in these waters and along the coast.

There is perhaps not a fish more watched by commercial and recreational fishermen, not to mention scientists, than the striped bass. The fish is the swimming equivalent of the American eagle.

August 26, 2010
Greenberg

Author Casts Lines on Past, Future for Fish

Peter Brannen
Fishing

One evening when author Paul Greenberg was 10 years old his father dropped him off at Menemsha. That night he would pull six glistening iridescent squeteague from the waters around the jetty.

“I thought I was going to be rich beyond my wildest dreams,” Mr. Greenberg said in an interview at the same spot on Wednesday.

Everett Poole of Poole’s Fish Market sat Mr. Greenberg down and told him he would take the fish off his hands for 65 cents a pound. It was the first fish he ever sold.

August 26, 2010

Whither Striped Bass?

Mark Alan Lovewell
Fishing
Commercial fishermen
Fisheries
Striped bass
Fluke
Bay scallops

The commercial striped bass season ended last Monday and Alec Gale of West Tisbury said it was the worst season he has seen in the six years he has been hauling fish to the mainland for the local anglers. “It was a slow season, and it wasn’t because of overfishing,” Mr. Gale said. “I think it was a lack of bait and the warm water temperature.”

Pages