Future Of Fishing

[jackb185]

I Am New Here. Seems That The Fisheries Are In Bad Shape. I Have Been Writing Congress And The White House For Years About What Has Been Happening And Now It Really Seems To Be Getting Bad. West Coast Salmon Fishihg Closed. Susquehanna River Bass Fising In Trouble. Weakfish Almost Nonexistent Anywhere. Crabbing In Trouble, Now Stripers. I Haven't Caught A Snapper Blue In Several Years. It Makes Me Really Sick To See What Has Happened. There Are No Small Stripers In The Upper Bay To Speak Of. Just A Couple Of Summers Ago, There Were Huge Numbers. The Hot Spots That Had Great Habitat And Deep Fast Water Are Now Void Of Fish. Buying Bait Is Pretty Much A Waste Of Money. It Has Been About 10 Years Since It Was Worthwhile Trying To Crab In The Upper Chesapeak. I See Now That Va And Md Are Finally Closing The Dredging And Winter Crabing.

Is The Problem That Commercial Fishing Has Wiped Out These Fisheries?
Is There Any Lobbying Going On Anywhere To Point Out How Bad Things Are Getting? I Feel Like We Should Be Making A Lot Of Noise And Really Start Fighting For Fishing. Is There Anything Happening???

Jack

[KenY]

Any and all fishing that kills fish and other critters will harm the fisheries. You can't go on taking and taking and not expecting the fisheries to be depleted.

Fish and critters can only reproduce so quickly. With the way we are taking fish and critters from the water, there is no way that natural reproductive rates can keep up !!!

Not only that, we go and take the fish and critter's food source away !!! Menhaden are the basis for many fisheries. Think of them as the foundation to any house. Without them, there won't be anything higher up in the food chain. Same applies to Krill and other filter feeders. The reason there is so much "bait" is because you need that amount to feed everything else in the water !!!

[Bluejay]

We in the US slaughtered 17 billion animal last year, thats a lot of poop. Up the Susky the smallmouth is gone and they say they can't understand what or why. If you spread 2 inches of manure on fields before a heavy rain, where will it go. In Harrisburg last year there was a spill and the Mayor said that it must have came from upstream. Its all about the money. Also now with the Omega 3 kick there goes the bait fish.

Jay

[BILL H]

Any and all fishing that kills fish and other critters will harm the fisheries. You can't go on taking and taking and not expecting the fisheries to be depleted.

Fish and critters can only reproduce so quickly. With the way we are taking fish and critters from the water, there is no way that natural reproductive rates can keep up !!!

Not only that, we go and take the fish and critter's food source away !!! Menhaden are the basis for many fisheries. Think of them as the foundation to any house. Without them, there won't be anything higher up in the food chain. Same applies to Krill and other filter feeders. The reason there is so much "bait" is because you need that amount to feed everything else in the water !!!

That first statement is not supportable on its face. It certainly is possible to have catch and kill fisheries that do not deplete the species. It's just when the take and environmental pressures combine to reduce the species population beyond a replenishment level. So we need to engage our brains instead of just our egos and wallets when we establish (and enforce) a sustainable harvest.

[CSLUG]

We in the US slaughtered 17 billion animal last year, thats a lot of poop. Up the Susky the smallmouth is gone and they say they can't understand what or why. If you spread 2 inches of manure on fields before a heavy rain, where will it go. In Harrisburg last year there was a spill and the Mayor said that it must have came from upstream. Its all about the money. Also now with the Omega 3 kick there goes the bait fish.

Jay

The susky isn't the problem,

[jackb185]

A few years ago the water quality seemed pretty good and was continueing to improve. Something changed in a big way. There are fewer farms now so why more Poop in the water?

[paxfish]

This chart sheds some light on it too...

[Porkchunker]

Looks like Philly, Baltimore, DC and the ES chicken ranches are killing us.

Also looks like I need to accelerate my move to Williamsburg.

Dave

aka

[stanleybros]

If it wasn't for asphalt and concrete, the runoff from chicken farms would be minimal.

Stop building on the bay and tributaries and the problem would quickly go away.

[BILL H]

Looks like Philly, Baltimore, DC and the ES chicken ranches are killing us.

Also looks like I need to accelerate my move to Williamsburg.

Dave

aka

It would be hard for any pollution coming from Philly (which is in the Delaware Bay watershed) to affect the Chesapeake. I don't think that much makes it over the canal.