Salty,
Thanks for the heads up on yet another proposed encroachment on the ever-shrinking access areas for surf fishing.
It’s more than just an issue of screwing up where you’ll be able to cast. These nets take their fair share of fish out of the water. I was hoping that when George Mendosa got out of the business we would see fewer of these “grandfathered” pound nets…how foolish of me. Another company bought the rights and now we seem to have even more of them. Enough is enough! I understand that these are among the best methods (little bycatch) to commercially catch a multitude of species, however, with more than enough commercial pressure around to assure the market demand for fish, I say screw another net. Besides, they are not totally without impact; yes, they can release a lot of undersized or non-targeted fish in relatively good shape, however, the lead lines that draw the fish into the funnels are a curtain of death for a lot of different species…AND they don’t lift these nets often….end result, lots of dead and wasted fish.
I have personally seen an endangered sturgeon die in one of these (the one of Black Rock) and here’s a look at what the one on the West Wall does to menhaden when they are passing by.
I hope to see a lot of SB.com folks at the meeting.
Mike
Hybrid Mode
