For the first time since the haddock season opened last week, we had two beautiful, fishable days over the weekend. Chris Megan, Andy Nabreski, and I joined our friend James Debney for a Sunday ride to Stellwagen Bank in hopes of bringing back the season’s first fillets to the OTW Office.
We set up in a big fleet comprising everything from small center-consoles to large headboats, and everywhere we looked, fishermen were swinging fish over the rails. The fish were a mix of haddock, which we destined for the cooler, and codfish, which had to be released.
Working alongside the fleet was a boat from the Massachusetts Environmental Police, going boat to boat to make sure everyone was playing fair.
And while most of the fleet stayed within the rules, keeping their limit of 12 haddock per person, one boat felt the need to take a little more.
Around lunchtime Monday, the Mass Environmental Police made the following post on Facebook:
Cod regulations have been a hot button issue north of Cape Cod where harvesting the iconic groundfish is off-limits. Many fishermen argue “there’s so many cod out there, you can’t help but catch them,” and while that may be hyperbole, we did catch roughly one cod for every two haddock. Over the course of the day, that ended up being quite a few, but the most recent stock assessments suggest that Gulf of Maine codfish have fallen on hard times.
This controversy over the cod regs hasn’t made the job of EPOs any easier, but regardless of where you stand on the regulations, you can appreciate the hard-work these officers put into protecting our resource.
When are the DEC officers going to hold the charter boat companies and crews accountable for whats going on? The mates and the captains know customers aren’t playing by the rules so they are enabling the poaching. This was an issue in Montauk last fall as well. Two separate head boats were found to have customers over their limits by HUNDREDS of sea bass and porgies! Additionally, several coolers representing hundreds of pounds of fish were also abandoned on the boats. Something needs to be done!
When are the respective agencies going to hold the head boats and their crews responsible? The captains and mates play dumb when they know full well what is going on. Last year in Montauk two separate party boats were found with customers severely over their bag limits. Additionally, many coolers with hundreds of pounds of sea bass and porgies were abandoned on the boat. At this scale the crew and captain know whats going on. Only when they are held responsible will things change!
Went yesterday for haddock, lots of good market size cod thrown back. The cod look to be making a nice comeback on Stellwagen.
Revoke the captain’s commercial permit.
Emergency cod closure as of May 1 for rec fishermen in state water as well. Thanks draggers!
The cod are NOT making a nice comeback because the draggers continue to hammer them 24/7/365 and the commercial guys are at every meeting, every step of the way because it’s all about lining their pockets. Cod are aggregating right now up on the bank and WGOM that doesn’t mean the stock is healthy.
Support NOAA, support science, support policies that safeguard the base of the food chain all the way up to the game fish that make this sport possible.
Even when dragging for haddock and pollock they’re throwing back dead discarded cod, high-grading, destroying coral, flaunting regulations and disdainful of enforcement. Recreational fishermen need to push back against the commercial fleet – join the CCA.
Revoke his permit.
Emergency cod closure as of May 1 for rec fishermen in state water as well. Thanks draggers!
The cod are NOT making a nice comeback because the draggers continue to hammer them 24/7/365 and the commercial guys are at every meeting, every step of the way because it’s all about lining their pockets. Cod are aggregating right now up on the bank and WGOM that doesn’t mean the stock is healthy.
Support NOAA, support science, support policies that safeguard the base of the food chain all the way up to the game fish that make this sport possible.
Even when dragging for haddock and pollock they’re throwing back dead discarded cod, high-grading, destroying coral, flaunting regulations and disdainful of enforcement. Recreational fishermen need to push back against the commercial fleet – join the CCA.
Action Alert
New England Groundfish Anglers Need to Oppose Commercial Access to Closed Area!
The Recreational Fishing Alliance realizes that this is very short notice, but we need cod and haddock fishermen to submit comments to the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Regional Administrator in Gloucester, MA, in opposition to an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) that would allow commercial groundfish vessels into the Western Gulf of Maine Closed Area (WGOMCA).
The Cape Cod Commercial Fishing Alliance has submitted an application to allow five vessels to target haddock and pollock with hook gear and jigging machines within this area. The WGOMCA was closed to commercial groundfishing years ago years in order to protect the large numbers of cod that aggregate there. According to NMFS, these vessels will make 150 trips, averaging 1,500 lbs. of haddock, pollock, and other species per trip.
The WGOMCA is where many anglers and for-hire vessels fish, and this proposal comes after party/charter vessels and private anglers have been mandated a zero-retention for cod and a bag limit of only 12 haddock per person for 2018. The recreational sector has been allocated 3,358 metric tons of haddock for this year, but we will only be able to catch a fraction of that due to our projected bycatch of cod. Do we really want commercial boats coming into this sensitive area that will catch a lot of cod, some of which will be landed and the rest discarded overboard? Does this make any sense? Where is the fairness here?
We understand that these vessels fished in the WGOMCA in 2017, but this needs to stop now! If access by the commercial sector continues, it will likely lead to even more vessels in the closed area, which was created to protect aggregations of cod, in the future.
Please submit your comments today, as the deadline is this Friday, April 27th. Tell NMFS that allowing commercial vessels into this area after many years of closure is irresponsible and runs counter to cod stock rebuilding measures. The proposed EFP should be disapproved!
A sample letter to Regional Administrator Pentony can be found here. Either sign this letter as is or use it to draft your own letter. Comments can be emailed directly to the following email address; NMFS.GAR.EFP@noaa.gov and be sure to copy Regional Administrator Pentony, michael.pentony@noaa.gov
Massachusetts Environmental Police Dispatch can be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-632-8075.
Violations can also be reported online at http://bit.ly/MEPReport.
The very idea that a few hundred or even thousands of men with fishing rods is going to effect the entire atlantic oceans out put of cod is almost insane. The REAL problem is foreign fisherman dragging nets and all fisherman know this..jailing a customer or captain over this is UN-american and goes against all liberty loving people in the country. Law abiding Captains are easy prey for agencies looking for a quick buck and taking it out of a working mans pocket
Boy…you have a lot of hate for foreigners. I’m assuming you’re a proud Native American?
?? I was waiting for the ignorant comment. Only foreigners poach i guess ??
How about the custom lure builders like “lights out lures”
a canal regular that was taught by the other regular poachers that haven’t been caught yet!!! Don’t see his company being boycotted or even being mentioned. ????
?? I was waiting for the 1st ignorant comment. Only foreigners poach i guess ??
How about the custom lure builders like “lights out lures”
a canal regular that was taught by the other regular poachers that haven’t been caught yet!!! Don’t see his company being boycotted or even being mentioned. ????
It has to be those illegals! They’re taking our jobs, raping our women and now stealing our fish! We need a wall! ?
“ UN- American , Against all liberty loving people “ it’s called called inforcing marine resource/conservation laws ! God save us from the Trumpers
Think about this again
In case you didn’t know it there is a 200 mile limit keeping foreign commercial boats out of our waters. Over my 30 years of fishing Ma. waters the decline in cod is a disgrace! Yes most of it is from commercial fishing but private boats and charter boats are just as much to blame. I myself have turned both party boats and private boats over to the EPO for breaking the law. The ocean is not an unlimited resource, and when people realize that, our fishery will be a lot better.
Most comments are from people named Chris. What is going on here? 😀
First of all, cod don’t migrate across the seas so local fishing DOES matter. And how can law abiding captains fall prey to agencies? Are you the Godfather?
Just obey the laws on the water, just like we all have to. That’s not unAmerican, its following the laws of the USA!
“Codfather”
Whole thing is a hoax. NOAA experts say there are no cod on Stellwagen. I don’t believe those photos for a second.
How many times do we hear about these issues. When is something going to finally be done about it?? Commercial, recreational and unlicensed anglers are the culprits and they only get a slap on the wrist. Do you think that this really sends a message? How come the name of the Charter Boat wasn’t put in the story? People need to be held accountable for breaking the rules!! The punishment need to be stern and send a message to everyone. Every time someone gets caught , nothing happens to them. Start pulling licenses and fine the Party and Charter Boat captains and mates along with their patrons. They are responsible for their customer’s safety so why shouldn’t they be responsible for their actions. Until we do this, nothing is going to change. Report anything you see to the authorities so that we can try to make a difference. Let’s do our part and hope the justice department will do theirs.
if people from the start played by the rules we would not be even talking about this
Why was the guy throwing the fish over only given a citation, he should’ve been arrested for trying to destroy evidence
Like stripe bass line fisherman should be able to keep one cod.
One by one we keep losing species to fish for. I grew up fishing in that area when we shared the water with Russian Trawlers, Stripers may yet pull disaster from the jaws of victory as every time they rebound ‘we’ hammer them back down. I expect the ‘success story’ of fisheries management during my lifetime to be that the Spiny Dogfish was saved, great choice!
Zandyclams, cods migrate everywhere. Icelandic and Alaska just to name a few location. Banned all drag netters. Long liner only.
Fire Escape, you are right. The best example of this is the striped bass. I am 62, and I watched as the stripers were almost wiped out by the 70’s and 80’s. By the time I was in my 40’s the fish had rebounded and the limit was still 1 fish and the size limit was up in the 30’s. We had fabulous fishing for a few years, lots of big fish, and we had days on the Merrimac where we caught 20 plus fish a day in the 32 to 42 inch range. Then the greed set in, fisherman screaming to keep more fish, smaller fish and the decline began. The fishing is still decent, but imagine what it would be like if we had stuck with the 1 fish/32 inch size limit. My guess is that around 2020 to 2022 they will be closing the haddock season because the fish are “in trouble”. How long can we target these fish, keeping 12 fish per day, before they are gone. I haven’t really seen any increase in the size of the haddock we are catching, which tells me they are not really out of trouble. Greed is always the culprit.
Raise the poaching fines. Even if cod sold for $3 a pound — 3*132 = $400
It makes sense economically to poach.
gburg61 I think local Rec fishermen are easy prey for the MEP. They’d have to actually work to police everyone else!
I have been fishing cape cod bay and stellwagen for 40 years. The last 2 years I have caught and released more and larger cod than I have ever seen on every trip. Since the regs against recessional cod taking have only been in effect for a couple yeas it does not account for the numerous cod caught. They just don’t appear overnight. Whatever facts and figures the govt has ga there’d are not true especially the recreational part of the study. Not one recreational fisherman that I know have ever been questioned on their take. Who’s fooling who and where is false this info being gathered. I guarantee if I took these officials out on my boat we would fill it with cod. We were throwing back an average of 80 every trip while targeting haddock. Give me a break. I don’t want to buy old fish from Alaska and canada to eat.
Chris & Roman are correct ..seizing catches and donating them, do little. Hit em in the pocketbook. Pull licenses and permits from the captain and charter company for a season, AS A START.
I was a federal and state law enforcement officer for 40 years. I have nothing but respect for EPO’s, wardens, conservation officers, or whatever name they go by. They are among the lowest paid LEO’s, work all kinds of irregular hours, and in Massachusetts, get no respect from the courts. The public would be shocked if they learned how few crimes are felonies and actually arrest-able. Only a handful of specific misdemeanors are arrestable w/o a warrant. Judges don’t see poaching or unlicensed as serious. Seizure can’t happen under current state law, and that won’t change; most legislators are lawyers. The Mass legislature just passed a Criminal Justice Reform Act; guess who benefits most? Hint: not the law abiding public. It’s always been hard to go to jail in Mass., it just got even harder.
The size of the fish explains alot!!! Both cod and haddock are small…telling us that there is too much pressure…need the breeders too be present to keep a healthy population…no need to fill freezers guys…take a meal or 2 and be happy…greed is the culprit.
Hard hitting George’s Bank for 2 years straight didn’t help. Look were it stands now.
Everybody should keep the rules,,,Those lowest paid fish police,,they sined up for that job,,,,,Waste of money,,,I;d like to see terrorist in those boxs,,the fish could waite ,,,That cop must be proud,,wasting our money.time,etc,,GO CATCH THE BAD GUYS… PUT those cops to work on keeping us safe,,
0ne 911 is one to many,,,,,BUT U GUYS GO AFTER KIDS HIDE IN BUSHES,,ETC JOB IS A JOKE
WAKE UP
FOR THE POLICE ITS A WASTE OF TIME,,PUT THEIR TALENT WHERE IT BELONGS,,,KEEPING US SAFE….
FOR THE POLICE ITS A WASTE OF TIME,,PUT THEIR TALENT WHERE IT BELONGS,,,KEEPING US SAFE….LIKE TODAY IN TEXAS 1O KIDS, 1 COP,MAYBE A TEACHER,,SHOT DEAD…KEEP CHECKING THE BOATS.
LETS HEAR IT FOR AL..,