Ban Gill Netting in the Chesapeake

[Caribbean Soul]

From The Hull Truth


Many of you may be aware of the rampant problem with illegal gill netting of striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay. Literally tons and tons of fish, many breeding stock fish, are being netting illegally and sold out of state. This is a big problem for Maryland and the Striped Bass population as a whole. It is estimated that 75% of all East Coast stripers spawn in the Chesapeake and the illegal netting is having a big impact on the population of these fish along the entire coast.

There is a grass roots effort in Maryland to support a petition that calls for the ban of commercial nets in the Chesapeake Bay. This is not an anti-Commercial fishing initiative, but an effort to ban nets. Nets are indiscriminate and can kill thousands of fish in a single set. Maryland has a long-standing tradition on the Bay and is an important part of the social and economic fabric of many local communities within Maryland. The goal is to ban nets in the Chesapeake with hopes that commercial fisherman will develop a robust and thriving hook-and-line commercial fishery.

Please sign the following petition and spread the word to other anglers. It does not matter if you live in another state. Stripers do not know how to read a map and know no state boundaries.

http://www.petitiononline.com/yrrejmaj/petition.html

These signatures we help to support the long term viability of the fishery!

Caribbean Soul
40 O'Neil Jones