Comment from david stallworth

I would like to respond to your proposal of limiting receration black sea bass catches to only 5 per person. I find this to be totally unfounded and a detriment to those of us who are limited in our ability to catch these fish. I can see a limit of at least 10 as reasonable. These fish are abundant and I have not seen any problem with numbers or size in the last 25 years. I am not a rich guy and when I can afford to got out, I need to catch enough to feed my fmaily for a while. Plus I have been working for the last 30 years to retire and enjoy what God has provided. and your rules make it extremely difficult to know what to fush for when. Also your size minimum seems arbitrsry and unfounded. A minimum of 10 is enough. Please stop picking on us recerational guys as there is not enough of us to have any impact on the fishery nunmbers. Also, The curcle hook rule is not going to implact the numbers. I rarely "gut hook" a fish offshore- the secret is to use big baits! Smallwer fish cannot swallow them- Uave you ever studied that? In addition, this applies to Sheephead which is impossible to catch with a circle hook because of their teeth. So please retract this insane rule. Have you studied how many fish are "gut hooked" that are too small to keep ersus a larger keeper that is gut hooked and will be kept for food? Do you have data on that ? I doubt it. it is strictly a subjective idea. David David