Comment from C apt. Mark Doyle

Dear Sir or Madam, I write to you in agreement of proposed catch limits for Atlantic Bluefish. I am a six passenger charter boat owner /operator with over thirty years of experience fishing the Gulf of Maine and Massachusetts Bay areas. While finishing a BA I studied marine biology,invertebrate zoology ,and microbiology. Over the past ten years I have noticed a decline in Bluefish numbers in both inshore and offshore waters. In the past three to five it has been a dramatic change in the the quantity and size of our catch. We now see more mature fish in the 6lb + size and far fewer school sized bluefish. Part boat pressure and recreational fishing has much to do with this decline in my area I feel your limit of 15 fish per person a day is too high. I would like to see a bag limit of five fish per person per day. The start of catch limits for this species is long over due. The combined pressures of commercial and recreational fishing have reduced our local fisheries to a fraction of the catch we had even five years ago. Best regards, Capt Mark Doyle Sundance Charters Merrimacport, MA 01860 www.sundancefishing.com