Welcome to our staff . . .
Pat Augustine will be writing a series of interesting articles. These
articles will be directed towards current problems, conditions, situations
confronting the Sport Fisherman and possible solutions being considered.
Pat has served continuously since 1998 as NY’s Governor Appointee to
the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which is the 15 coastal State
compact. The ASMFC has active
management of 22 near shore fish and shellfish resource species. Concurrently, he holds the NY
Obligatory Seat on the Mid Atlantic Fisheries Management Council that manages
13 species of fish & shellfish in the Exclusive Economic Zone the 3-200
mile corridor around the continental US. He also serves on the National Marine Fisheries Service Highly Migratory
Species Advisory Panel. As former
Executive Director of the New York Sport Fishing Federation, he has served on
the South Shore Estuary Program, the Long Island Sound Estuary Program, and the
NY State Boating Advisory Council.
June 1, 2008
Sport
Fisherman or Fisherman?
By Gus Savaros
It was an early Saturday
morning in May. It looked like and
felt like a great day to go Stripped Bass fishing. My fishing buddy Bob from
Freeport arrived at the Yacht Club early and started to get things ready for
the trip. He usually gets there much earlier than me, his day normally starts
up at a 3 a.m., where as my day starts at 7 a.m.
Shortly after I got to
the club, I started up the engines and we were on our way. It felt like a great
day for fishing. We normally troll wire and Bunker Spoon. We put one line in
the water to start and in a few minuets the poll bent over and the clicker on
the reel sounded off. Both our hearts started to pound with excitement while
you could see the biggest smile on our faces. We thought what a day this was
going to be.
I put the engine in
neutral and Bob started to reel in. Much to our disappointment when it came to
the surface, it was a plastic bag, all that work and all that excitement and it
turns out to be a plastic bag someone through overboard. Oh well that's the way
it goes.
I put the boat into
gear, got the speed up and Bob put the lure back into the water and set the
depth for 300 feet of wore again. We ran for about a minuet or two and there went
the pole again, the smiles were back and both hearts started beating fast
again. I figured this is it when Bob yelled "fish on" and I started
the routine again, transmission lever to neutral and Bob started reeling again.
You got it right it was a plastic bag again, but it was a bigger bag. Needless
to say we were somewhat disappointed
OK, we started the whole
routine again. This time the pole really bent over and we figured for sure,
this is it. Not so quick, but it was the biggest plastic bag I ever saw. I was
going to weigh it and have it stuffed to hang in the bar at the club.
Actually, catching all
that plastic, we did have a pretty good day, two bass well over 30 inches and
11 Blue fish between 7 and 9 pounds. By 10:30 between the plastic and the fish
we were exhausted. We fished for a few hours more, but frankly we were tired of
picking up all the plastic in the inlet, so we called it a day.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN
A SPORT FISHERMAN AND A
FISHERMAN . . .
A sport fisherman
respects the environment, especially our waterways. He would NEVER through
plastic and garbage overboard. Keep your garbage in a bag or a pail and then
discard it when you return to shore. Can you figure out how many fish were
killed by the plastic we picked up that day? What a shame, what a waste!
Bob and I were invited
to the Sportfishing Federation Show at the Freeport Recreational Center in
February. There were many exhibitors displaying all kinds of fishing equipment
and accessories. We purchased some gear for fishing and stopped at a booth that
was exhibiting Power Up Lubricants, products I have not seen before but was
very interested in because they increased performance and efficiency and
economy among other things.
While standing at the
booth talking technical stuff with the exhibitor, the representative at the
booth next to us was talking to someone who stopped at his location. My blood
started to boil as I overheard their conversation. The exhibitor was talking
sports fishing regulations, techniques and quality of fish caught!
Now, here is the difference between the sport
fisherman and a fisherman
This guy said, "I
don't care if there are any fish tomorrow or next year or the year after."
He said loud and clear "I want as many fish as I can catch now and I don't
care about anyone or anything else, & I don't worry about the future
generations."
I will be 74 this July,
I had to stand there and listened to this low life rambling on, years ago it
would have been a different story.
I choose to be a sport
fisherman and take whatever steps needed to protect our fish and our waters. I
remember, and it wasn't to long ago when even at Montauk you could catch a
Stripper. Do whatever you can to keep fishing fun.
April 30, 2008
News for the
Sport Fisherman
SUMMER FLOUNDER – ONGOING SAGA ON A SLIPPERY SLOPE
Contrary to popular belief, there is no quick fix by
Congress to change the Magnuson-Steven Fishery Conservation & Management
Act for Summer Flounder rebuilding schedule go away. Hopefully, one of the
Bills in progress in Congress (Jones or Pallone) is successful. Sure a change in the ten (10) year
rebuilding schedule for any species may ease the pain Anglers will feel in the
short term. Facing short seasons,
large minimum sizes and small daily bag limits is not pleasant, but the
alternative of no season is not acceptable either.
The reality is we have to bite the bullet in 2008! We have to remind ourselves, its called
fishing not catching, although catching is fun!
REALITY CHECK & LIKELY SOLUTIONS
In June 2008, the North East Regional Science Center is
conducting a full blown Summer Flounder (fluke) Stock Assessment Workshop (SAW)
followed by a Stock Assessment Review Committee of internationally recognized
experts. This workshop is charged
with analyzing the key driver of the rebuilding program, which is, the BRP
(biological Reference Point). We
will finally determine whether the stock is or isn’t already rebuilt!
The “TEAM” of scientists is charged with reviewing several
other related “terms of reference” including all of the scientific assumptions
and models that were/are used to develop the projections of stock size and
quotas, challenge the “levels of uncertainty” that scientists constantly use,
or to cover questionable data or analysis. Remember, no matter what the results or recommendations of
the Workshop & Review is, they will not affect the 2008fishing year!
CONSERVATION EQUIVALENCY CHALLENGED
In the last several years state-by-state quota setting
management of summer flounder has left several states out in the cold. New York
has been stuck with a 17% quota share of the overall quota while New Jersey has
enjoyed a 39% quota share!
In 1998, the ASMFC Board evaluated “conservation
equivalency”, as a tool to allow states to develop a daily bag limit, set
minimum fish size and determine the season length that would allow anglers the
best opportunity to catch their daily limit while not going over their state’s
quota share. Unfortunately, no
matter how strict NY’s and other states regulations are, many continue to go
over their annual quota share! The
conclusion: "Conservation Equivalency" in its’ present form does not work!
COASTAL
MANAGEMENT OPTION
The problem
with same size, same bag limit, and same season disenfranchises many of the
states south of Maryland from the fishery, as 17” and larger fish are rarely
caught. Fluke migrate north and
then east as the season progresses and the bait moves. NY waters hold a large abundance of
bait while we have a very low quota.
MANDATORY REGIONAL MANAGEMENT
One of the more direct fixes that would level the playing
field is implementing mandatory regional management. Several states that fish in common waters, such as NJ, NY,
CT, and DE could combine their respective quotas and adopt the same daily bag
limit, minimum size, and season. All anglers would be treated equal no matter what state you are residing
in!
Mandatory regional management will help level the playing
field it will not fix the overall problem. Until the summer flounder stock is declared rebuilt, quotas
daily bag limits minimum size and seasons will continue to the restricted.
LIMITED CHOICES
NY is refuting the “Performance Factor Penalty” being
imposed in addition to the overage penalty against our 2008 quota. The combined quota reduction for 2008 is
64%!
The performance factor reduction was developed based on
states under/overages during the last seven years. Unfortunately, NY has gone over its’ quota five of the last
seven years. Hence, our overage averaged 34% and the ASMFC Technical Committee
deducted that from the quota. NY’s
Technical Staff options developed and methodology used were correct.
NY will again challenge the MRFSS data collection, reporting
and the models used to determine harvest levels and angler participation at the
next MRFSS Constituent Workshop on May 5-7 held in Alexandria, VA. The MRFSS data remains suspect.
NY could decide to go out of compliance to draw attention to
the inequitable quota share of summer flounder. This will likely create a whole new set of restrictions and
problems. Hence, the best
long-term approach is to solve the root problems as discussed.
So, at the end of the day, we are forced to work with a
limited daily bag, size, and season once more. As this writer pointed out in the past, we do pay back for
overages in the form of a shorter season, small daily bag, and usually a larger
minimum size. That’s how the
system works; there are no shortcuts! Until the system is fixed, payback will continue to be hell for our NY
anglers!
Coming soon… Saltwater license a solution to accurate data
collection.
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April 7, 2008 - Anchor 101
This week I read an article I thought you might find very interesting and useful. It is from the Boat US Trailering magazine, Volume 9, April/May 2008 issue. The article is named 'Anchor 101' - it deals with the many types of anchors, anchoring situations and vital information for safe and secure anchoring. We strongly recommend that you go to the BoatUS website (http://www.boatUS.com/), look up the article and spend a few minutes digesting its content. We are saure it will be very helpful and informative.
Anchor 101 from BoatU.S. Trailering
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