Charter boats and striper regs.

[Oldbayrunner]

Giving away a fish to exchange for another another fish is a form of culling for which your example of the gentleman catching 5 or 6 fish.

B. Possession of Striped Bass.

(1) For purposes of this section, "cull" means that after a person has a striped bass in possession, the person discards or exchanges that striped bass to possess another striped bass.

Money in their pockets? your own words " I'm not throwing back those fish for that one guy, not if I want to get paid."

You see I'm not anti charter I simply disagreed with what a captain stated and the further he pushed it and the more I researched and found, even through your own words, a lot of grey area fishing is being done on charters and they know it is tough to enforce, all done so the captains can keep paying customers coming in. That still doesn't constitute they are following Comar regs which is my main point. Hell if given the time and money I would charter a deep sea trip. I just don't feel the need to charter one for the bay I do well enough on my kayak. So if your offended then perhaps it may be because you don't like someone pointing out & verifying what the regulations really state and those are for everyone recreation or charter. There are no two sets of regulations between the two. Please if you can document there are I'll be more than happy to read them. I've pointed out and linked exactly what the dnr officer referenced me to and agreed with..

[mike o]

Went out on a charter in Ocean city a couple years ago. We went offshore for flounder. It was a good day and we caught some nice sea bass and the six of us caught our limit of four flounder each plus we kept 4 more fish for the mate and 4 for the captain. That what they told us the rules were.

[Memory Maker]

Ok you made your point I guess. Nothing will change. Most captains charter or not will continue to keep one for the boat and the DNR will continue to let it happen. This dog is dead you can stop beating it.

[mchottie]

I would think it is common courtesy or grandfathered in from years past.

One (or even a handful) of fish is not nearly as detrimental as a commercial harvest.

[Oldbayrunner]

You see it really doesn't matter what the captain stated the rules are. It is up to each fisherman fishing any state they travel to and fish those waters to know what the regs are for that state and follow them, so in reality those fishermen are more guilty then the captain for not following them. We are all governed by our own actions whether it be on our yaks or on charters. Like Memory Maker stated, nothings going to change so probably best to let this one go.

[mchottie]

The same as the speed limit is 55. If you choose to exceed it, you may get pulled over. I've been doing it daily for 5 years (since my last ticket ) and 99% of travelers around me are also speeding and exceeding mine, we all know that The Law can't pull over everyone, they target the worst offenders typically in excess of 80mph.

Same goes with DNR, i'd prefer they target the guys on the narrows bridge taking 5 gallon buckets of schoolie rockfish, rather than one charterboat with "a single" extra fish.

I'm not saying they aren't both wrong and aren't both breaking the law, but you have to agree that if they save 6 dozen juvenile rockfish that can return to the waters, that far outweighs taking one extra LEGAL sized which tradition goes to the captain and/or mates.

FWIW - I wouldn't be surprised if it's written in the waterman's code somewhere, not a legal document. And I fully understand you only take issue with if the captain catching it, but if he is paying for a Charter License it would seem he is putting money into the Chesapeake Bay economy.

[Slobber Bob]

Interesting discussion. I've never been on a charter boat in the bay, so I had never even heard of this before. How many fish would a captain want anyway if they are running 1 to 2 trips daily? I'd be tired of eating striper after a week at that rate.

And I wonder if opinions would be different if the plus one boat fish was a big, breeding 30, 40, or 40+ incher.

The transfer of fish issue was something that the USFWS and NPS had to address a couple years ago specific to Assateague VA. They made a regulation prohibiting people from transferring a fish they caught to someone else regardless if that person was legally licensed. They had problems with people catching their limit of big stripers and black drum in the spring and then giving any other legal fish they had caught after their limit away to other anglers.

[Shady]

Thanks for the discussion. I stand by the way I answered your concerns. If you had your feelings hurt, sorry... The CBKA facebook page was originally setup to coincide with our tournament which is to raise money for charities, so we want to keep it positive.

Tight lines

[suicyderider]

A maximum of 4 individuals, including crew members may be present on a vessel engaged in the Chesapeake Bay common pool hook-and-line fishery... seems to me they were 2 people over the allowable limit for a charter also?

[Oldbayrunner]

Thanks for the discussion. I stand by the way I answered your concerns. If you had your feelings hurt, sorry... The CBKA facebook page was originally setup to coincide with our tournament which is to raise money for charities, so we want to keep it positive.

Tight lines

My feelings weren't hurt, I just dont care to be a part of a group that doesn't really support their members. First off the captain posted an ad for charter boat fishing services in what is supposed to be a kayak anglers site, ok no biggie, but if he posts then I have every right to question something I saw within what he posted. There was no name calling or anything of that nature, we were discussing the legal limit striper regulations for which you chose to be a part of by interjecting your also incorrect thoughts. The last he posted was a hap hazard posting of "it's in 08 & 09 " without posting what those regs contain. Before I could answer with what those two regs really state, which are posted correctly in this thread, you took the whole conversation down with the exception of a nice post by him.

I do suggest you make yourself completely aware of the "real" striper fishing regulations especially since you put on a legal striper tournament. Even without that as a bay fisherman you are supposed to know them, just as we all are supposed to know. Though I do admit if you go only by the booklet the dnr puts out, those are in an abreviated form and do not contain the regs full content as found in COMAR.

[Memory Maker]

Hey dudes ............ THIS HORSE IS DEAD ......... bury it !!!

[Shady]

I buried the horse by deleting the post before it escalated... Thanks for your thoughts Mr. Old Bay, sir....

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

[Jimbo]

No you are not correct. The count is not according to the boat according to the Dnr police officer I spoke with. Each person on board minus the captain and mate has a limit of 2 after that they are to catch and release. I'll be more than happy to give you the officers number for direct information because he is in disagreement with the practice and wanted the boat and captains information.. The big stink is had the captain stated he caught the fish I would not have had an issue. He stated and argued regs that just are not correct but are a widespread misconception because they have gotten away with it.

Bignose ....sure they can continue to catch fish but after two they need to release them. If that one guy catching more than the others who haven't limited but is giving smaller fish to others while catching and keeping the bigger ones that is also considered "CULLING" which too is illegal. Plus that is the problem, charters are doing & getting away with grey area non legal fishing to satisfy money in their pockets while others like us kayak fishermen are bound by the real regulations.

(b) May land and possess one striped bass per boat per trip during the seasons described in Regulation .09 of this chapter, to be retained for personal consumption only.

I looked up the comar but couldn’t find the seasons described in Regulation .09. I assume it is the regular season. If so, the captain is allowed 1 fish. I can also show you correspondence with the DNR stating that a oerson with their daily limit can give additional fish to those that dont have their limit. So as long as the captain or mate take the “one for the boat” home, all is legit.

[Oldbayrunner]

.09 Recreational and Charter Boat Summer and Fall Fishery in the Chesapeake Bay and Its Tidal Tributaries.


B. Summer and Fall Season.

(1) The recreational and charter boat summer and fall season for taking striped bass is:

(a) June 1 through December 15 for the years 2018 and 2019; and

(b) June 1 through December 20 for all other years.

(2) The areas subject to the provisions of §B(1) of this regulation are the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries except for the tributaries of the Potomac River.

(3) Catch Restrictions.

(a) A person may not catch or possess more than two striped bass per day.

(b) Except as provided in §B(3)(c), a person may catch and possess two striped bass at least 20 inches total length, only one of which may be greater than 28 inches total length.

(c) During the periods June 1, 2018 through December 15, 2018 and June 1, 2019 through December 15, 2019, a person may catch and possess two striped bass at least 19 inches total length, only one of which may be greater than 28 inches total length.

Where in these Comar regs do you read it allowable for someone to catch their limit of two then keep fishing and giving away fish per your statement?......... I would like to see the written correspondence and who those individuals are that have written that. I have spoke with 5 other dnr officers from different counties since my original posting all of which admit they don't enforce who caught what as long as the charter boat isn't over the limit, however each one has stated that if anyone is catching fish over their limit of two on the boat and not releasing them they are in violation of Comar regs and if caught will receive citations.

Yep the captain or mate may Landand possess one for the boat and take it home. Clearly what is failed to be read is the landing part. Once again the issue I had with the captain is he didnt catch and land it had he stated that then I wouldn't have issue... Granted all this is rather moot because there is clearly a lot of grey are fishing going on that people get away with, ok I get that.... My point is what has or is being said differently isn't within what the regs ACTUALLY state......

[Jimbo]

I didn’t “fail to see” that part, I just interpret it differently. (Notice I didn’t say you failed to understand it). It says “may” land and possess. It doesn’t say “must”. It’s like saying you can use a spinning rod and a casting rod. You don’t have to use both. The notion that you must catch the fish to legally possess the fish for someone with a valid fishing license is just illogical if not silly. Btw, under the regs you cited, under B(3)(a) you are not allowed to catch more than 2 fish a day, thus catch and release, even with no fish in possession is prohibited. We all know that is not the case in reality.

Here is the correspondence I mentioned:


From: Fishbait
To: Samuels, Dianne
Subject: RE: Question about creel limits

Is this true for all species or just striped bass? In other words, is the creel limit a possession limit or a daily limit for everything else as well, like blues, flounder, tog, croaker, trout, etc.?

What if I were to give the first fish to a friend? Is that ok?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


From: Samuels, Dianne [mailto: DSAMUELS@dnr.state.md.us]
To: Fishbait
Subject: RE: Question about creel limits


As long as your friend is not board your boat with a creel limit also. You must have in your possession an amount that is equal or below the creel limit for the number of people on board the boat.