New Regs

[numbskull]

The whole thing pisses me off. Years ago I could go out to F....ing Middleground for Christ's sake, 3 miles from Falmouth, in December and catch cod to 50lbs! We would catch them trolling sow and pigs in Sept. We'd fish SW shoal each spring with good results (other than losing a million jigs on trot lines). Year after year I've listened to the same wishful crap from commerical fisherman and fishery managers alike. I've watched the price of cod exceed that of lobster and swordfish. I've watched my father grow old without the fishery he planned to spend his final years enjoying. I trudge around barren ponds hoping to catch a single 10" man made trout, when years past I'd be jigging cod. Pathetic. Inexcusable. Wrong. Long past time for drastic action. This fishery should have been closed 10 years ago, and not reopened until it was fixed. That is still what is needed, regardless of the impact on the people who have brought it to this sorry state.

[BasicPatrick]

I find it sort of sad that in the article above it reports that Our needed two Gill Nets to get his daily limit but set three nets. This "game" has been played for years. Why put more gear in the water then is needed to take your limit? The answer is simple, because on the days when there are no observers you can land more than your limit and sell it or have someone else sell it. As the fleets have become more efficient, and as cutbacks have been enacted, commercial fishermen have continued to "overfish"(also noted in the above article). None of the current failed management plans have succeeded partially because of the constant "games" being played with the regulations. When the government has sponsored buyouts of permits and boats, many, and I mean many commercial fishers just sold their old boat and permit then bought another, never really getting out of a business, which was the purpose of the feds having the buyouts to begin with. It is just sad that the WHOLE system has deteriorated into the mess that it is. I hope some day there is a solution.

[Sluggoslinger]

Originally Posted by numbskull

The whole thing pisses me off. Years ago I could go out to F....ing Middleground for Christ's sake, 3 miles from Falmouth, in December and catch cod to 50lbs! We would catch them trolling sow and pigs in Sept. We'd fish SW shoal each spring with good results (other than losing a million jigs on trot lines). Year after year I've listened to the same wishful crap from commerical fisherman and fishery managers alike. I've watched the price of cod exceed that of lobster and swordfish. I've watched my father grow old without the fishery he planned to spend his final years enjoying. I trudge around barren ponds hoping to catch a single 10" man made trout, when years past I'd be jigging cod. Pathetic. Inexcusable. Wrong. Long past time for drastic action. This fishery should have been closed 10 years ago, and not reopened until it was fixed. That is still what is needed, regardless of the impact on the people who have brought it to this sorry state.

I can't say I disagree with you. The new regs are a step in the right direction but in reality we need a serious evluation of how to fix it with no care for the impact on the fisherman who did screw it up. Gill nets are not a good thing... trust me. You name it, we caught it. Just think of all the Ghost nets out there resulting from this method of fishing. They will catch fish for thousands of years now...