Maine fishery officials are proposing regulations to manage black sea bass, a species that is increasing in abundance in the state’s waters. Scientists say black sea bass are increasing in Maine’s waters because of temperature increase over the past 10 years. You don’t say! Read more here 15:14
NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?
While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here
Incredible….the range of the black sea bass now extends from the southern tip of Florida, northward to what I would image south of Portland Maine.
So if the range of a fish is expanding, wouldn’t you think that the MAFMC would take the boot off the neck of the for-hire and commercial fishing industry in the Mid-Atlantic and increase the harvestable quota for both sectors…..but NO….there are some really uninformed individuals on that council (one with initials J.M.) when it comes to managing this fishery, especially for businesses that need this fishery open during Wave 1.
Goodness folks, make a big change come this November on who we send to DC!
Be careful what you wish for. A main ingredient of the black sea bass diet is lobster. And they will devastate lobster populations if they get out of hand. In southern New England they are destroying the lobster fishery, yet the regulators continue to control harvest levels of these fish at such a low quantity that more often than not fishermen are not allowed to harvest them and are required to discard them. Often times dead. You would not believe how many we have been made to throw away. The regulators are clueless. Or perhaps continuing the destruction of the American fisherman that was started many years ago.