Here in Virginia all it take is a spotter plane, two boats with a big net and a mother ship with a big mama jama vacuum.
I was out running the buoys on my jet ski looking for cobia (saw one dink) again tonight. There were big schools of menhaden busting the surface on the eastern shore side of the Chesapeake Bay, it is really cool thing to see and hear on calm summer evening.
I saw a spotter plane and a big commercial boat not far away so I went and took some pictures of it. Here they are;
Bastards. What we need to do is next time a rec boat (or ski) is on the bunker school first is call in all other rec boats in the area and form a blockade around the school. Then call the news media so they can film the old fashioned show down. If I'm on the water.....I'll pull lines and form the blockade.
I'm no fan of Greenpeace but if they wanted to really do some good, they'd focus on preserving the menhaden stock rather than a handful of whales. The menhaden are far more valuable to the system; whales are just consumers at the top. "Charismatic megafauna." But groups like that are all about touchy feelie and not critical thinking.
I started taking fish oil as a diet supplement but I made sure I didn't buy Omega's, but Alaskan. Felt guilty the other day buying a flat of bunker (anyone here buy bunker? that's where it comes from!) but at least I'm putting it back into the bay--in my crab pots!
That is a sick sight! I would be right there with you Mike! My boat is a bit smaller these days as my McKee Craft was totaled, but the Skiff will work fine too.
Omega Protein is not the problem. They are engaged in a legitimate business. It is the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission that is responsible for protecting our marine resources. Thankfully the ASMFC is finally responding to a depleted Atlantic Menhaden population (current spawning potential is less than 10% of an unfished stock). They met Wednesday to work on a draft Fisheries Management Plan, which will be released Sept 10. Public hearings and a public comment period will follow. There are a lot of people and organizations (including Greenpeace) pressuring the ASMFC for action (harvest cuts) in time for the 2013 season. Here is the latest Menhaden Coalition bulletin:
Menhaden Coalition Leaders:
Yesterday the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) debated the final details for draft Amendment 2 to the Menhaden Fisheries Management Plan.
The finished draft will be available in early September, with public hearings to follow.
There was agreement that the stock is being overfished, and is at a historic low.
Unfortunately ... questions continue to be raised about the validity of the latest stock assessment data.
Some regulators expressed reluctance to prescribe harvest cuts without still more data.
Here is an article from the Baltimore Sun: http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/green/bs-md-fisheries-20120808,0,3290653.story
The substantial harvest cuts referred to in the article are highly unlikely.
There is still an expectation that some reductions will be prescribed for the 2013 season, but your continued involvement will be required.
September and October will be critical months for you and your members to influence the ASMFC, and the new management plan.
Stay tuned.
JB
Those who want to do something positive to influence the outcome should attend one of the public hearings and/or send a message to mwaine@asmfc.org.
JB is right. It's not a crime, and trying to physically interfere will do nothing but put you and your boat at risk. You're like the PETA people scaring the deer away when you go hunting.
It has to be stopped at the top. That will take finding out which politicians are in Omega's pocket. Many say they will support restrictions and then turn at the last minute, when the check clears.
Attack with logic, critical thinking and facts. Omega always says that the business provides jobs in Reidville and is good for the economy. Well, it's 200 jobs so let's say the average is $30k a year, that's $6,000,000.00. Look at how much more recreational fishing, commercial crabbing and commercial fishing in the entire bay (Virginia section) brings in a year, including marinas, boat sales/repairs, tackle shops, etc. CCA has the number; I don't have time to look it up. The state could make money by taking an Obama/Post Office approach and paying each Omega employee full salary not to go to work, and leave the bay alone. Besides, most of those employees would either migrate somewhere else, or find work on the water in our improved bay.
There are many many businesses that aren't around any more due to changes in the way we manage our resources for the better. There are more that aren't around because we don't manage our resources, too.
Think about this: in the "100 years ago today" section of the paper was a report of the mosquito control program in Portsmouth where they "successfully" dumped oil and kerosene in the marshes to stop mosquito breeding. that used to be the way it was done. Glad we woke up to that one; time to wake up to Omega.
Read the article. They are only considering whether to study how much to cut maybe starting no sooner than 3 years from now. Too little, too late.
JB is right. It's not a crime, and trying to physically interfere will do nothing but put you and your boat at risk. You're like the PETA people scaring the deer away when you go hunting.
Attack with logic, critical thinking and facts. Omega always says that the business provides jobs in Reidville and is good for the economy. Well, it's 200 jobs so let's say the average is $30k a year, that's $6,000,000.00. Look at how much more recreational fishing, commercial crabbing and commercial fishing in the entire bay (Virginia section) brings in a year, including marinas, boat sales/repairs, tackle shops, etc. CCA has the number; I don't have time to look it up. The state could make money by taking an Obama/Post Office approach and paying each Omega employee full salary not to go to work, and leave the bay alone. Besides, most of those employees would either migrate somewhere else, or find work on the water in our improved bay.
Your first line is spot on man. Anyone willing to throw themselves in harms way for a bunker is nuts. They would put themselves and the workers at risk. Not to mention the VMRC or USCG who would have to waste their time to come get thier worthless rears.
The second paragraph???? You'd rather promote socialism than push to have proper conservation measures in place. WOW. Way to go. I'd imagine you'd sing a different tune if they came into your office with that proposal.
I've driven my boat next to those guys once. I'll never do it again. I wanted some bunker for bait, so I had to wait a min so the guy could put some in my bucket. I almost threw up waiting. Awful smell.
These boats have been doing this for nearly 100 years. There are only a fraction the number of boats fishing now compared to thirty years ago. If they were to close the plant in Reedville, where would these people work? Have you been to the northern neck? There aren't employers exactly lining up to hire folks anywhere up there that I have seen.
So what happened to all the ones from the past that lost a job from when the Menhaden take and amount of jobs were at the peak ?.
Also,this fishery is Take,Take,Taking a fish that doesn't belong to them to the detriment of the fish and water they come from. They can't even claim to farm the fish because they are taking the seed.
At least a farmer Plants the Seed to grow to Harvest and what he harvest belongs to him to do as he wishes.
Meoff- No offense but I do not put my desire to catch a fish for fun ahead of someone elses livlihood. They have been at this for decades and have not caught them all yet. There is enough for everyone. I sure am glad I'm not a commercial fisherman based on some of the comments I have read lately...
No Offence taken. I am NOT a commercial fisherman hater btw. Just don't think what gets killed in THIS process and taking a beneficial filter feeder for fishoil and cat food justifies the practice. Stopping it would benefit all the other commercial fishermen. Look at the results in the gulf. Speaks for itself.
Glad to see that every rec fisherman on the bay has a degree marine biology. Complain, complain, complain.....every year, year after year and what, wait, we still have fish to catch? Amazing. If they were destroying an eco system like you guys claim over the past 100 years, it would have been gone a long time ago. Im sure they dont help, but niether to the 10,000 cobia you guys take at the mouth of the bay either, or the 150 boats per acre at the CBBT.
Not so much destroying the eco system as they are the fishery. The main reason that are so few Menhaden "fishermen" is the fact that they have almost wiped out the species so there is only the need for a few boats to catch so few fish.
Not to mention the sad state of Virginia is the only one left on the east coast that still allows it to happen. I wonder why, maybe those smart boys in the General Assm. could answer that ...
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