MENHADEN ADVISORY PANEL MEETING

[afterhours]

this meeting was to review both arc's and the club federations proposals for the purpose of determining which if any proposals would be brought to the fisheries council meeting on feb. 22.

random observations.

nobody can agree where the menhaden actually spawn. some say the bay, others say the open ocean. this is a biggie.

arc bait being a small private entity sure has a lot of influence. they seem to be in a postion to play give and take with the state?????

a few members of the advicsory council cared only about how many menhaden they could kill per day if certain restrictions were approved. and arc seemed to be angling toward a monopoly. seemed like many at the main table were only concerned about what they could harvest...not the well being of the stock.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by afterhours

a few members of the advicsory council cared only about how many menhaden they could kill per day if certain restrictions were approved. and arc seemed to be angling toward a monopoly. seemed like many at the main table were only concerned about what they could harvest...not the well being of the stock.

For a surprising amount of people, that is all that counts. How many can we take.

I don't think economically sustainable fishery and a healthy fishery are one of the same.

[MakoMike]

Originally Posted by afterhours

nobody can agree where the menhaden actually spawn. some say the bay, others say the open ocean. this is a biggie.
.

As I said on the other site, this is a no brainer. Just ask the scientists. The life cycle of the menhaden is well known and fully documented. Just go to the ASMFC website.

[afterhours]

some scientists say they spawn in the ocean and the larve drifts into bays and they work their way up toward brackish water to beef up then drop out in the fall. others claim they they also spawn in the bays and estuaries.

some of us caught back then, granted the bass were way off because of over harvest but we had blues and giant squeteaque.