Mr. Christopher Miller addressed the Council regarding making spear-guns a lawful means by which to take striped bass for commercial purposes.  In his view, current law on this issue is confused and confusing.  One section of the law lists various gear that are not legal for the taking of striped bass; this law explicitly excludes spear-guns.  Another section of law explicitly lists those gears that are allowable in commercial striped bass fishing; this law does not include spear-guns.  Mr. Miller cited the use of spear-guns as a very eco-friendly method of fishing and extremely selective because you can discriminate the size of the fish before you catch it, as opposed to other methods of fishing where the fish usually dies before you determine its size.  Spear-guns have no impact on fish habitat.  When a fish is spear-caught, it will bleed out and is harvested immediately - this creates a top quality product.

Mr. Colvin responded that use of spear-guns to catch striped bass for commercial purposes is illegal.  Councilor Jordan said that no matter how astute a diver is, there really is no way to accurately determine a fish's size while it is in the water and there is no way to release a speared fish that doesn’t fall within the commercial slot size for striped bass.  Mr. Miller countered the same can be said for commercial trawl gear, for which there is a striped bass allowance. 

Mr. Colvin responded that there are by-catch and discard issues with other gear types.  However, those issues are addressed by things like minimum mesh size in gill nets, by the allowance for retention of a by-catch and by-catch only, and many other mechanisms.  DEC tries to come up with the best combination of measures to authorize gear that minimizes by-catch mortality.

Councilor Freierman made a motion to add spear-guns to the list of acceptable gear for the harvest of striped bass for commercial purposes.   Councilor Squeri would like to see more documentation before making a decision.  Councilor Freierman asked how many spear fishermen there are in New York with a striped bass commercial harvest permit; Mr. Miller said there are approximately 5.  Ms. Freierman's motion was adopted.  The vote was 6 in favor; 5 opposed; 0 abstentions.

 

Page last modified Tuesday, June 26, 2007 by George E. Carroll