Quote:
Agree with you 100%. Jewfish they are. We need to do something about that endangered crap also. They are about as endangered as our northern brethrens' dogfish.
|
Fantastic fish Terry!
I won't pretend to know the status of the Jewfish but I have talked to some guides that regularly pull up and release some pretty cantankerous customers from the pilings and channel holes along the TB Skyway...
On the other hand, the endangered issue of many species is very real and conservation of their quarry is something every outdoorsman should take ownership of.
If not for quotas and scientifically monitored management programs we would have no white seabass on the west coast and the weakfish and striper fishery would not be what it has returned to be on the eastern seaboard.
Sometimes a stock just needs some time recover. Out west we can't sell sport caught fish. It's a good thing in a way or we'd have a mess of irresponsible anglers trying to make an extra buck and watching fish go to waste cause they couldn't find a buyer. Even so the PETA crowd is trying to shut down some of our healthiest fisheries.
Akin to your gigantic Jewfish groupa, we have a similar situation with the Giant Black Seabass. It was annihilated by drag nets and spearos in the 50's 60's and 70's. Unlike your big grouper, ours still hasn't come back. They are very approachable and will easily allow a diver within a couple of yards of them. Makes a big target pretty easy. Takes 15 years for population to double. Not very good odds for them without protection.
Dorado, err, dolphin fish, in contrast might be the perfect game fish - fast growth and reproductive rates, thrilling game if a bit easy to hook,
and excellent table-fare which also freezes well. Even so our dolphin fish stocks are not what they used to be and I'm pretty sure 50-70 lb fish are virtually unheard of in FL now, too...
Nothing wrong with limiting your kill rather than killing your limit, take what you need and leave the rest...
Here's a 27 lb young white seabass I caught in La Jolla kelp... 50lb fish are turning up more each year thanks to good management and elimination of coastal drag nets...
