The proposal flies in the face of the role of the DNR and I am EXTREMELY upset over the precedence these proposals set.
They are restricting days despite a lack of science. I thought one of their roles was to foster access and opportunity. These regulations go beyond reducing mortality rates. Given the fact that they believe they should restrict certain types of fishing without a clear indication that it is a problem shows their willingness to make any regulation they desire without good justification. What is to stop them from reducing an access day or two next year without further study?
I also believe the day restrictions to promote risk taking by anglers. While some on the board have stated that they believe the safety concerns over day closures to be weak, I believe that view is nieve. It is real. Even if they will blame it on the individual and say it is personal responsibility, it still effects us all as tax payers. Should people make the wrong decisions it costs dearly and puts a huge strain on our system for unneccessary search and rescue operations. Lets face it, recreational anglers generally only fish a day or two a week anyhow. It will not reduce effort but dictate what days anglers will fish, many times regardless of weather.
The rod restriction is also unjust. What does the restriction accomplish? A single angler can run 6 rods or a crew of 8 can only run 6 rods.. I thought the MSSA concession to be MUCH more prudent. Their gear concession was stated as such:
"MSSA would concede gear restrictions based on per man basis. Given the Maryland freshwater precedence of 3 rods per angler or 5 rods per angler in ice fishing, the MSSA would recommend that the gear restriction fall within that range. This would ensure a manageable amount of gear is deployed per angler regardless of party size on a given vessel. Rod restrictions beyond those just stated, we believe would be viewed as “extreme” given the unknowns associated with which method of fishing is more detrimental to the health of a fish."
This makes much more sense in the fact that it ensures a managable amount of gear would be used by trollers, bait fishermen, etc.
The barbless hook regulation while trolling shows their unjustified bias against the practice.
The recommendations are clearly unjust and do not have good backing. Hopefully recreational anglers will be heard at the scoping meeting and both of these poor proposals will be thrown out.
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