We trust that you are enjoying the winter weather and finding your way south to fish this winter… In a few short months, stripers will be here and we’ll let you in know when the action begins.  Having said this, it has been an eventful winter on Island as we have worked hard to protect our fisheries for the near and long term future.  A big effort which we have taken up is to protect our inshore bait.  As we always say, find the bait and you’ll find the fish!

Below is something that Pete Kaizer wrote, which best sums up what we are looking to accomplish.

“In 1993 The state decided to allow all small mesh squid boats to fish from April 23rd to June 9th in state waters and after June 9th all small mesh boats had to move outside of state waters (beach to 3 miles). This was in an effort to protect the squid spawning event and squid mops and also avoid the excessive by-catch that occurs that time of year with small mesh gear. THEN 3 years ago in 2014 Dr. Pierce and Colleagues at The Division of Marine Fisheries amended the 1993 regulation to allow state boats under 72 feet to fish on the back side of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard within state waters until the end of fluke season (end of the fall) giving them longer time inside of the 3 mile mark. In 2015 local concerned Nantucketers had a meeting to rescind that amendment and they were successful. After that no small mesh boats were allowed to fish in state waters past except from April 23rd to June 9th (it went back to the way it was thankfully). Currently the state restriction from Falmouth to Chatham and north to Eastham is from May 1st to Oct 31st, no draggers have been allowed to fish within the 3 mile mark, that is what we are asking for. The same fair and equitable protection that 90% of MA coastal communities have. At this point in time the small commercial and recreational boats have been traveling 15-25 miles to the north because that is where the forage food, predator fish and bait exist, inside the protected area. They have been able to maintain healthy ecosystems because they have the protection that we too are seeking.”