Quote:
Originally Posted by MakoMike
A few qubbles. Menhaden eat photoplankton, they do not eat detrius, they also do not eat the type of algae that causes localized hypoxia as a result of the die off of an algae bloom.
Major quibble: All of this debate seems to assume that if ark bait is kicked out of the bay, there will be no commercial fishing for menhaden. I do not believe that is realistic. If there is a market for these fish it will be met, most likely by gillnetters, who collectively will take just as many fish as ark bait does, but the price for lobstermen will be higher due to more effort being expended to catch the fish. Another side detriment is that the gillnetters will close off much more of the bay to recreational fishermen than ark bait does. This will happen because the gillnets will bet set all over the bay, and they won't be removed, like the purse seine, after the fish are loaded into the boat(s). So you will have large areas of the bay which are unfishable by recreational anglers due to the gill nets.
IMHO, if this is a good idea (and I'm not taking a position on it one way or the other) it should have been written to prohibit all commercial fishing for menhaden in the bay. I don't fish the bay, so I really don't have a dog in this fight.
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Mike - I don't think that cast nets will remove the same amount as the Purse Sein - I am also personally not against commercial fishing for menhaden but just the more damaging gear types. Kind of like Street Sweeper gear for ground fish - far bigger problem that needed to be done away with as opposed to less intrusive methods of ground fishing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DZ
John,
One other huge hole in the whole debate is the fact that there are still millions upon millions of menhaden in the bay after Ark is done fishing for them. In August and September you can practically walk on juvenile pogies from Warwick to Bristol to Tiverton. These menhaden still perform the same cleansing function of large pogies. Many supporters of these bills make it appear like Narragansett Bay is a "Pogy Wasteland" once Ark leaves. Quite the contrary - probably more "pounds" of menhaden in the bay in August/Sept than anytime in the spring.
DZ
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Hi Denis - I was hoping you would respond as I wanted to see your opinion on this.
I see your point but the whole argument in the Menhaden Bill is that seining of Adult Menhaden. Juvies are imaterial in this bill - as they are immaterial to Ark Bait or anyone else. The juvies ebb and flow like the adult menhaden - I see this in my neck of the woods when I look - frequently (though that is far from scientific
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Not a Pogie Wasteland but the adult ones that make it are often in places not navigable by the pogie boat. The fact that some of these surving fish are way up in some of the rivers and shallow water bays that are not accessible to the Pogie Boat. Could they do more good running all over the place?
Thanks guys - keep the comments coming
