false limit

[Guppy]

I dropped off a couple of fish to a local buyer, there's a guy there doing the same, but he's got the 15 @ 34" on Monday and Thursday fish limit MA, ,,,, now I'm no expert on this but I'm pretty sure I know the difference between fresh caught fish and something that's been iced down of a couple of days! I can see going out at sunset the day before and spending all night out there,,, a trip is a trip
Should the buyer have questioned the condition? or maybe this is business as usual. This guy and his gear didn't look like any real sharpie that could do 15 fish on a 9 am tide,,,,,

At the end of the day its total quota that counts I guess, but circumventing (cheating) just pisses me off.

[ProfessorM]

This has gone on for years but with this format and with several days off In between and the high price per lb. it has been rampant. I have noticed the red fish totes several times this year. The canal has been the Mecca for this practice this year. Don't know how they will address this issue next year. The people who should be most pissed are the people holding a license who play by the rules, although I am not sure there are many of them left.
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[Slipknot]

Originally Posted by ProfessorM

The people who should be most pissed are the people holding a license who play by the rules, although I am not sure there are many of them left.
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I think that's a toss up for the customers who also should be pissed being served old fish

greed + lack of morals = banking fish in coolers til red

not fair to you guys Paul and Guppy, all you can do is keep going by the rules

I also can't believe the buyers don't refuse nasty fish

[Swimmer]

When I mated with my buddy we iced every fish. And I mean ee had cooler space for 30 fish, and enough ice. I can't tell you how many times we were at the wholesaler in N.B. when guys would come in with twenty fish or more laying in the boat uniced, and they were all bought.
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[Mike J.]

Back in the mid to late 70's at Foley's the price was based on the condition of the fish. If you didn't ice the fish and the gills were a dull pink and slimy you got rock bottom money. The buyers would open the gills, take a sniff, check the eyes for clarity etc. and then grade the fish for the auction.

[Guppy]

Originally Posted by Mike J.

Back in the mid to late 70's at Foley's the price was based on the condition of the fish. If you didn't ice the fish and the gills were a dull pink and slimy you got rock bottom money. The buyers would open the gills, take a sniff, check the eyes for clarity etc. and then grade the fish for the auction.

Ya, I worked tub trawling same era, much better product ( looking?) than the gill net stuff. Don't remember if it paid anymore...
I miss the cod

[Mike P]

Some look at it as, well, it all counts against the quota anyway, so what's the harm? Same way the justify bringing fish in from out of state.

The harm with the ice fish is to the buyers, although I have to say that bass keeps pretty well on ice. The greater harm is that it shortens the season for the people who play by the rules, and that also applies to the out of state fish.
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[niko]

The greater harm is that it shortens the season for the people who play by the rules, and that also applies to the out of state fish.
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Bingo
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[JohnR]

The greatest harm is getting spoiled fish to consumers

[Mike P]

Also, back in the 80s when I sold bluefish, it had to be ripped and gutted, gilled, and iced. Most markets wouldn't buy it any other way. Bluefish turn to mush if they're not iced.
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[WESTPORTMAFIA]

Just hope that if you buy and eat bass from the fish market or store that it's from a guy who sold it and kept it well iced for a day or 2 and not from the guy who had it lying on the deck of his boat for 12 hrs in the sun. This is old news and an old game. At the end of the day you are better off eating the iced fish. This has been happening forever and won't stop as long as there is a commercial season. As far as red fish? Put a 20 pound plus bass on the deck or any flat surface without bleeding it for a half hour after it suffocates and it will turn red (doesn't mean it's not fresh)
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[Mike P]

Originally Posted by NEWPORTMAFIA

Just hope that if you buy and eat bass from the fish market or store that it's from a guy who sold it and kept it well iced for a day or 2 and not from the guy who had it lying on the deck of his boat for 12 hrs in the sun. This is old news and an old game. At the end of the day you are better off eating the iced fish. This has been happening forever and won't stop as long as there is a commercial season. As far as red fish? Put a 20 pound plus bass on the deck or any flat surface without bleeding it for a half hour after it suffocates and it will turn red (doesn't mean it's not fresh)
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Good point. Since bass have be sold in the round, they're not bled. Post-mortem lividity sets in very quickly if a bass isn't bled. Red doesn't necessarily mean old. It means dead and not bled.
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[WESTPORTMAFIA]

Originally Posted by Mike P

Good point. Since bass have be sold in the round, they're not bled. Post-mortem lividity sets in very quickly if a bass isn't bled. Red doesn't necessarily mean old. It means dead and not bled.
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Yeah the fish houses look for cloudy eye balls to gauge the fish for the most part.
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[beamie]

Just because bass are sold in the round doesn't mean they are not bled. I always cut the gills and bleed whether eating or selling much better for the end user. Many comm guys don't do this but it is the right thing to do.

[Clammer]

MP

yep years ago that,s the way it went with blues & even more so Cod & Squetague

Now its don,t cut /gut any .all three are sold in the [WHOLE}