|
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.
|
Threaded Mode