I tried doing this on the crab population thread but it keeps telling me that the topic doesn't exist.
Back in the 70's a few of us would make two trips a year down to Rock Hall Maryland for striper fishing. We chartered a boat and always had good catches and loads of fun.
Then the big decline. After many years of fishing the same boat the captain told us he wouldn't be available for the next season. Said the fishing was getting harder and harder and he was switching over to crabbing.
The company I work for has a plant down in Maryland right on the bay. One of the guys down there has just retired and worked there for over 40 years. The plant sits right at the edge of a marina. The marina is more of a working marina with just a few recreational boats. Most are the 25 - 35 foot work boats that thrived along the bay.
My friend recalls back in the 60's when these boats would come in just about every day loaded with stripers. He said that the mind set down there was the bay is full of them and you couldn't catch enough to hurt the population.
Then the decline and fish were hard to find. The water was polluted, the fish were over fished and development was killing off the spawning grounds.
He watched as the majority of the boats switched over to crabbing and once again life was good. Bushels and bushels for every boat. Didn't have to go far or work as hard and the crabs covered the bottom. Then the decline.
He would laugh when he listened to the crabbers complain that the stripers were eating the crabs. Even when there weren't many stripers around they were blamed for eating all the crabs.
Now he said that the boats have switched gears again. Somewhere a market is thriving for oyster crackers. The buyers can't get enough to meet their needs. Now the fleet is potting oyster crackers and every day they are landing basket after basket.
My friend told me that he has always been fascinated by these commercial fisherman. When something is hot they go after it non stop and their attitude is the supply will never fale. Every time it does and they start pointing their fingers but never look in the mirror.
My friend is a laid back local. He has no axe to grind because the man has never fished a day in his life. He is content to sit back and watch the trends along the waterway.
When he retired he told me that he wonders what will happen when one day there is nothing left for these guys to catch. I told him to keep watching because when you hit oyster crackers the bottom of the barrel is about one more scoop away.
Back in the 70's a few of us would make two trips a year down to Rock Hall Maryland for striper fishing. We chartered a boat and always had good catches and loads of fun.
Then the big decline. After many years of fishing the same boat the captain told us he wouldn't be available for the next season. Said the fishing was getting harder and harder and he was switching over to crabbing.
The company I work for has a plant down in Maryland right on the bay. One of the guys down there has just retired and worked there for over 40 years. The plant sits right at the edge of a marina. The marina is more of a working marina with just a few recreational boats. Most are the 25 - 35 foot work boats that thrived along the bay.
My friend recalls back in the 60's when these boats would come in just about every day loaded with stripers. He said that the mind set down there was the bay is full of them and you couldn't catch enough to hurt the population.
Then the decline and fish were hard to find. The water was polluted, the fish were over fished and development was killing off the spawning grounds.
He watched as the majority of the boats switched over to crabbing and once again life was good. Bushels and bushels for every boat. Didn't have to go far or work as hard and the crabs covered the bottom. Then the decline.
He would laugh when he listened to the crabbers complain that the stripers were eating the crabs. Even when there weren't many stripers around they were blamed for eating all the crabs.
Now he said that the boats have switched gears again. Somewhere a market is thriving for oyster crackers. The buyers can't get enough to meet their needs. Now the fleet is potting oyster crackers and every day they are landing basket after basket.
My friend told me that he has always been fascinated by these commercial fisherman. When something is hot they go after it non stop and their attitude is the supply will never fale. Every time it does and they start pointing their fingers but never look in the mirror.
My friend is a laid back local. He has no axe to grind because the man has never fished a day in his life. He is content to sit back and watch the trends along the waterway.
When he retired he told me that he wonders what will happen when one day there is nothing left for these guys to catch. I told him to keep watching because when you hit oyster crackers the bottom of the barrel is about one more scoop away.
I can tell you though that there had to be over 500 fish in that tank, that tells me that they are a big seller or if they don't sell them all, they have to be doing something else with the ones that die. Throwing them away? Using the dead ones for some kind of dish? 
