Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission Unfair Representation
| At their April 4th meeting the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission MMFAC – which together with the Director has the power to set regulations in MA state waters – discussed and voted on a petition by Stripers Forever signed by upwards of 700 of our members, that would have reduced the recreational and commercial harvest in MA by 50%. In an open acknowledgment that things are not good with striped bass, and that ASMFC mandated reductions will likely be required next season, the commission refused to act now. This is, of course, the pattern with saltwater fishery management. The lack of proactive conservation, and management designed to accommodate harvest instead of safeguarding the species, is why our ocean fisheries are in a shambles.
This is nothing new to many of you, but we are pointing it out in detail in this e-mail to help everyone understand why we have taken our arguments to the MA legislature instead of working primarily through the regulatory process. What we found in analyzing the makeup of the MMFAC was that with the exception of one head boat owner the rest of the commission are all commercial fishermen – even commercial lobbyists.
Dean Clark has prepared a document called Why Get The Legislature Involved in Wild Striped Bass Oversight. You can find it attached above. It is an eye opener. Stripers’s Forever will be investigating steps in MA to correct this situation. |
