California DFG Threatens to Eradicate Striped Bass

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

SickSauce

Gambusia
MFK Member
Oct 24, 2011
805
0
16
Mekong Delta
[h=2]California DFG Threatens to Eradicate Striped Bass[/h] In an unprecedented move, the California Department of Fish and Game has been forced to propose regulations which will eradicate striped bass from the San Francisco Bay and Delta. A water contractor group known as the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta filed a lawsuit against the DFG alleging that striped bass are one of the primary causes of the loss of endangered salmon. The DFG was forced into a settlement on the lawsuit and the Department now has issued draft regulations that will eradicate the striped bass. Fisherman and the fishing industry are livid about the proposal. It will reduce the minimum size a fisherman can keep to 12 inches and it will allow a bag limit of up to 40 stripers in some locations.
This proposal stinks rotten. The lawsuit was funded by Stewart Resnick, the billionaire farmer and developer who sees this as an opportunity to once again try to blame the fish and fishermen for the problems in the Delta caused by overpumping. We see it differently. It is a brazen move to undo the public trust doctrine and the rights of the citizens of California to use and enjoy the water and aquatic resources of the state. We need to fight back with every mechanism at our disposal.
The action proposed by the organizations at the top of this page advocates a massive letter writing campaign to the Fish and Game Commission which has the ability to kill the DFG proposal. If the Commission votes for the proposal, it will go into effect. If the commission votes against the proposal, it is dead and the water contractors will have no further recourse. The regulations will then stay as they are today. We are asking every concerned striper and other fisherman to use one or both of the following procedures to send letters and emails to the Commission. If you want to write and mail a personal letter, click here to see a couple of sample letters http://water4fish.org/write-letters-to-legislators/index.php/ To use the automated email letter, click “to Continue” below and you will see the email letter to the Commission with copies to Fish and Game. On the email letter please do two things.

  1. Fill out your name address and email and click on the box that gives industry leaders permission to add your name to a mass protest that will be submitted to the Commission.
  2. Click “Send My Letter”, your email will be immediately sent and you will receive a confirmation.
We will protect your confidentiality. We will not give, lend, share or sell your email address to anyone except the organization that you list on the form.

Thank you. With your support, we will win this battle.

Click here to continue
 
Seems like alot of fuss over an introduced species. The striper is an atlantic species transplanted from New Jersey back in the late 1800s to promote the fishing industry on the west coast.
 
I've been a Stripped Bass fisherman my whole life. I was seriously under the impression that Salmon were VERY large toothy predator fish. Flat out, the Striped bass (SWALLOWS it's prey whole!!!!!). No such thing as a Striped Bass that we fisherman without hesitation will stick our thumbs IN THEIR MOUTH to pose for a picture.

Granted I have seen VERY REGULARLY the Maryland Striped Bass devoure the salt water Pirannah (Bluefish) when they are still small. I have caught the extremely toothy bluefish up to 5' long (WAY bigger that ANY striper could possibly eat!). The Striped Bass has lived in the Chesapeake Bay with the Bluefish for a century plus and the Striped Bass has NEVER come CLOSE to being able to put a dent in the Bluefish population.

Any Chesy bay Fisherman will GUARANARSE tee you that they BOTH share the same prey fish (Bay Anchovie, Norfolk Spot, Alewives etc...). We look for bait fish breaking on the surface, and understand that the Bluefish are in the upper water column, and you have VIRTUALLY no chance of dropping a live bait below them to reach the Bass. Live lining is not a successful tact once the water warms enough for the Bluefish to migrate from the Atlantic back up into the Chessy Bay.

I am going to call B.S. here!

The Striped bass is Freaking lazy as the day is long. I can't imagine this fish that I have caught thousands of "challenging" an uber active fish that I see pictures of swimming up a damn waterfall!
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com