212 West State Street Trenton, NJ  08608 Phone: (609) 392-6174 Fax: (609) 392-6347

The Honorable George E. Pataki
State Capitol
Albany, NY  12224
 

Dear Governor Pataki:

The title of Mr. Revkin’s article and the quoted piece say about all that needs to be said about allowing a commercial striped bass bycatch fishery in the Hudson River. Thanks to the sacrifices of recreational anglers, commercial fishermen and the non-angling public together, this species that is so pleasing both at the end of a line and on the table is once again available in numbers that justify both increased bag limits for anglers and increased availability to consumers.

It’s undoubtedly come to your attention that some groups and individuals are opposed to any ac-tions that would allow working commercial fishermen – and the consumers they serve – to share in the coastwide resurgence in the striped bass stocks. Their “we deserve all the striped bass” po-sition seems to depend on trumped up arguments about the healthfulness of the fish (which, somewhat confusingly, while being forbidden to the average consumer for “health” reasons would be ok for their angling members to catch and eat) and the supposed impossibility of con-trolling the commercial harvest.

As far as the healthfulness of striped bass goes, in view of your above stated enjoyment of these delicious fish from the Hudson’s waters we don’t think there’s anything we can add to the discus-sion.

We would, however, like to bring some information to your attention concerning the present status of the striped bass fishery that our colleagues on the recreational angling side might possi-bly have missed. 

Most importantly, for every one striped bass caught by commercial fishermen, at least three are caught by recreational anglers (this is from data provided by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the body responsible for striped bass management). 

If there is any threat to the continued abundance of striped bass due to increased fishing pressure, it’s hard to imagine how the threat could be coming from the user group that has the least impact on the resource.

Also, the managers know who are fishing commercially for striped bass, license them, regulate their number, where, when and how they can fish and what they can catch. The managers keep tabs on them through a variety of mechanisms that have been in existence – and have proven to be effective – for years. With fines for fisheries violations regularly ranging into the thousands of 

dollars and occasionally reaching the hundreds of thousands, and with boat/gear confiscation and license/permit sanctions often a part of the penalty package, commercial fishermen take manage-ment restrictions extremely seriously. This is in stark contrast to the situation regarding recreational anglers, who in many states are still unlicensed, in all states can pursue their hobby in unlimited numbers, and who can go from season to season or year to year without being checked once by enforcement personnel for bag, size or season infractions.

If there is any threat to the continued abundance of striped due to a lack of compliance with con-servation regulations, it seems somewhat disingenuous to suggest that the threat is coming from the user group that is most intensively and most effectively regulated.

Finally, the claim is often made that more fish should be allocated to the recreational anglers be-cause, they spending so much more to catch a fish than a commercial fisherman is paid for catching the same fish, the overall economic benefit per fish of recreationally caught fish is much higher. The economic naiveté of such a claim deserves no response beyond a referral to the menu of the closest white tablecloth restaurant. A recreationally caught fish is generally the end-product of an expensive recreation experience. A commercially caught fish is generally the raw-product for an expensive dining experience. Any forced comparison of the dollars paid for the two is in the “apples and cinder blocks” realm.

We appreciate our recreational angling colleagues’ ongoing attempts to make this gastronomically renowned fish - along with others - their own exclusive property. The cry of “the netters want your stripers!” has been a guaranteed method of attracting the attention and the dues dollars of the more enthusiastic and less public-spirited saltwater anglers for generations (Peter Matthiessen covers this issue with great insight in his book Men’s Lives). But a handful of commercial fishermen and the millions of non-fishing consumers deserve much more. They deserve their fair share of a fishery resource that they had a significant role in returning to its former state of abun-dance.

Thank you very much for your attention.
 

Sincerely,