Or is it Sad News. Commercial season opens tomorrow

[gradymania]

Nets vs hooks. Use a hook/boat and spend about $25 per pound of fish, any fish and you have a $1.2 BILLION dollar economic impact for the state of va. The whole idea of catching wild fish for commercial sale is insane, given the doubling of demand and its only gonna get worse. Natural reproduction can NEVER keep pace with demand and its only going to get worse as our paid-for-by-the pound legislators continue as usual, to ignore it all. If we had any brains, we would insist on establishing a real source of steady income for commercial fisherman and their families by finally getting into the large scale commercial rearing of fish, that can grow over time. We dont even bother to replace the millions of pounds of fish with fingerlings - not to mention catching female spawners full of roe. How do you explain all this?

[gradymania]

What makes any of you think that natural reproduction can EVER keep up with demand, that poaching will EVER stop when money is involved and lastly, that commercial fisherman have NO right to earn a living? I think that our wild stock needs to be supplemented either by large scale aquaculture or the augmentation of the wild stock by a vigorous stocking progam of fingerlings. If we bothered to fund commercial fish farming, everyone wins, but mostly the commercial sector who then has a RELIABLE year round harvest that can GROW with the demands of a typical family and the cost of living. The other sector that would benefit are the recreational group, that $1.2 BILLION dollar part of the economy that our paid-for legislators routinely ignore due to lack of enough soft money flowing their way. If profit could be increased yearly for the commercial waterman as demand dictated and if recreational fisherman could see a responsible increase in catch limits, then everyone would benefit. Sadly, our managers are scared to death to do anything that would get critisized, or cause the loss of contributions.

[cfirth]

If they can commercially harvest rock fish during certain times of the year and the waterman being held to a limit , I agree with Gradymania it is sort of insane to capture and sell the fish, and not replenish the supply. What would be the outcry if the same was done for the deer population in Va ? At the end of hunting season the harvesters would be allowed to circle a piece of woods (much like a gill net ) kill everything that comes by. Do you really think that would fly ? In my opinion there is not a whole lot of difference. I agree the watermen need to make a living. So what is the answer, more government restrictions, I really don't know. If you took the money and campaign contributions out of it, probably no one would pay attention to it.

[Rex]

Bob Allen,

Thank you sir!

These are the best and most level headed posts I have ever seen come from you! I am impressed. As for the rest on here that are so absolutely biased against the commercial fishery including the OP that in my opinion only started this thread to stir the spot, you guys need to chill a little and educate yourselves. It is very evident that most of you do not know the regulations nor do you understand commercial fishing, especially gill net fishing. You are simply pissed because now the commercial fisherman has a chance to catch some fish after a full month of having the commercial fishery closed.

For istance, all seem to think that gill netting indescriminantly kills all fish that come in contact with it. That is a farce. Mesh size dictates the size fish that is caught. Although there a few exceptions, a fish too large to go in the net and gill will simply back out of the net and and fish too small will swim through. People that think that every fish that swims near a net will die are ignorant. A 7" gill net will catch an 18 to 25 pound rockfish. A 10 lb fish will swim right thru and a 40 lb fish will bounce off. Same is true for other size nets. No one size net will catrch all size fish.

The list of gill net regulations including mesh size limits and area restrictions is way too long to list here but they are listed on VMRC's website. Do yourself a favor and read them. You may be surprised.

As for letting the rockfish spawn, what is the difference in keeping one in June that just spawned and keeping one in December and keeping one on the way up the river to spawn in March? The net effect is the same. That is one less fish that will spawn the following spring.

These are the facts:

1. In the Chesapeake area, the open commercial season shall be from February 1 through December 31, inclusive. The minimum size limit shall be 18 inches total length during the periods of February 1 through December 31. The maximum size limit shall be 28 inches from March 26 through June 15.

2. In the coastal area, the open commercial season shall be February 1 through December 31, inclusive, and the minimum size limit shall be 28 inches total length.

A. The commercial harvest quota for the Chesapeake area shall be determined annually by the Marine Resources Commission. The total allowable level of all commercial harvest of striped bass from the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries and the Potomac River tributaries of Virginia for all open seasons and for all legal gear shall be 1,430,361 pounds of whole fish. At such time as the total commercial harvest of striped bass from the Chesapeake area is projected to reach 1,430,361 pounds, and announced as such, it shall be unlawful for any person to land or possess striped bass caught for commercial purposes from the Chesapeake area.

B. The commercial harvest quota for the coastal area of Virginia shall be determined annually by the Marine Resources Commission. The total allowable level of all commercial harvest of striped bass from the coastal area for all open seasons and for all legal gear shall be 184,853 pounds of whole fish. At such time as the total commercial harvest of striped bass from the coastal area is projected to reach 184,853 pounds, and announced as such, it shall be unlawful for any person to land or possess striped bass caught for commercial purposes from the coastal area.

For all you that claim that the rockfish population is being hurt by the commercial fishery, think about this. With the nice weather we had this past January, how many boats do you think are fishing recreationally on any given day? Multiply that by say 20 fishable days, multiply that by 2 to 10 people per boat and multiply that by 2 fish per person and multiply that by whatever you think the average size fish is, say 15 to 20 lbs. (I do realize that not everyone catches or keeps their limit every day so put in a success factor). Any way you look at it, that is a hell of a lot of fish. Not to mention the poaching that we all know is happening over the line or inside the bay. Compare that to the numbers quoted above that is the commercial quota. Now who is doing more damage.?

My personal opinion is that I don't care for gill nets. Hook and line fishing is my choice but I do understand the gill net industry and believe there is a place for it in our waters.

OK, I have my armor on so let her rip!

Rex

[caryman33]

Bob,
How could we work to get the voluntary catch recordings required? Do you think there would be support in the community if the incentive and benefit was to the fishery overall and more accurate assessment data?

I value your opinion on this based on the shared knowledge of both rec and comm.

As for the above previous comparisons and comments about commercial take/use of a public resource, I don't see how that opine started.
You want commercial folks to replace what they take for profit, but recreational anglers can take what they want without replacing it because......what? Because it's not for profit? But for food and recreation instead?

As I have shared, I am not biased to either side, but objectively there are regs for each group that are designed to "manage" a resource for the shared benefit of user groups.

I am a proponent of aquaculture, and any sustainable harvest mechanism that eases pressure on a shared wild resource. But to go around laying blame or attack on a group is misguided if it is based on unsupported/inaccurate information and intended for slander rather than constructive conversation to improve failings or gaps in the current system.

Dropping off the soapbox now.

Thanks,

Cary