My son, Ryan, is a freshman at Wando High School. He is writing a paper about the argument over the population of fish in our waters, and that they are being over-fished.
There are plenty of government bureaucrats and publications that support this claim. We wanted to get the thoughts and opinions of locals. Thanks! Eddie and Ryan
OH MAN, here we go[:0]Please PM the answers and opinions!
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Originally posted by Nut 3There are plenty of government bureaucrats and publications that support this claim.
For the 500th time, this is why you don’t let environmental groups and bureaucrats make fishery law. Lets look at Black sea bass first. About 5 years ago, we were told by the SAFMC how black sea bass were being overfished. This was at the same time that most of the fisherman were talking about catching some of the biggest sea bass they had caught in years. The limits were 20 fish per person, and we only had a few commercial boats trapping them off our coast. MSA was working, and the fishery was very healthy. Well leave it to the SAFMC to screw this up. They close the fishery, lower limits to 5 fish and before you know it, EVERY piece of bottom from the Don Holt bridge to 140’ was covered in BSB’s. They eat EVERYTHING! Anglers were catching them on bare hooks, sinkers and two at a time on one hook! You can’t get a bait past them on any of the nearshore structure to catch sheephead. Now the SAFMC comes along and takes fools credit for rebuilding the species, opens them back up and still only gives us 5 fish per person. Most anglers fill that quota in 2 drops. Nobody has taken into account that fewer and fewer people venture offshore because of $4.00 per gallon fuel, there are no headboats in Charleston anymore, and the number of commercial boats drops every year. But what do I know, I don’t have a PHD in fishery science, I just go out there more than these “scientists”.
I am sick of typing, but will come back later and tell you what I think of Snapper and Grouper.
.
Oyster Baron
NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
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Originally posted by Nut 3My son, Ryan, is a freshman at Wando High School. He is writing a paper about the argument over the population of fish in our waters, and that they are being over-fished.
There are plenty of government bureaucrats and publications that support this claim. We wanted to get the thoughts and opinions of locals. Thanks! Eddie and Ryan
What fish are you talking about specifically?
Inshore, offshore?
Reds, trout, flounder?
Grouper, snapper?
The argument differs on what species and habitat you want to discuss.
I personally like this topic and enjoy discussing with intelligent people.
Redfish Baron Extraordinaire
quote:
Originally posted by 23Sailfishquote:
Originally posted by Nut 3My son, Ryan, is a freshman at Wando High School. He is writing a paper about the argument over the population of fish in our waters, and that they are being over-fished.
There are plenty of government bureaucrats and publications that support this claim. We wanted to get the thoughts and opinions of locals. Thanks! Eddie and Ryan
What fish are you talking about specifically?
Inshore, offshore?
Reds, trout, flounder?
Grouper, snapper?
The argument differs on what species and habitat you want to discuss.
I personally like this topic and enjoy discussing with intelligent people.
Redfish Baron Extraordinaire
Talking about offshore as it relates to bottom dwellers. I remember the SAFMC scoping meeting i attended with Sells and On the Mark, and the dooshbags kept referring to “best available data,” and when questioned by me, they couldn’t give me a definite answer as to where they were obtaining this data. All credibility was shot at that point. Not one of these liberals sat in a DNR boat at the Jetties and took count of what fishies were being brought in.
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Originally posted by EasyOH MAN, here we go[:0]Please PM the answers and opinions!
NO PM’S HERE! Stand up and be heard!
Not me Nut 3! I’m just saying that there will be 16 pages of argument posted and sorting through it will be a bear!
There is no Overfishing at this time…
Eddie there are meetings coming up this week I believe where yall might be able to obtain some more information to help with his paper. Can’t believe you have high schooler
Charleston Fishing’s most hated guide!
Back on topic, here is the link to an article in the P&C regarding the issue. It says local are allowed to speak their minds so you may be able to get some better info for your sons paper
Charleston Fishing’s most hated guide!
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Originally posted by Gut WrenchThere is no Overfishing at this time…
compared to 40 years ago- everything is overfished
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Originally posted by Nut 3Talking about offshore as it relates to bottom dwellers.
I’m no scientist and don’t fish like I used to. Tell your son this, or better yet take him out on a charter and let him see with his own eyes how healthy our bottom fishery is. It is utterly amazing and abundant! The biggest pain in the butt is BSB. But then they were always a pain in the butt if targeting another species. Now you just cant’ get away from them. In the past you just had the option of bringing home 60-80 along with a few lucky grupper, and some delicious and abundant Red Snapper.
It is so easy to just get information from strangers, but what you really need to do if you want to make a lasting impression and a true research paper for your son. Go fishing. There you will find the truth and how plentiful our waters are.
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Originally posted by Dockmanquote:
Originally posted by Gut WrenchThere is no Overfishing at this time…
compared to 40 years ago- everything is overfished
40 years ago you could keep everything and any size,not so now my friend…
Now we have seasons,size limits and creel limits and some are closed except 3 days a yr(red snapper)
Add in the economy and the number of boats actually fishing offshore has shrunk in the last 5 yrs,i know i have been out there many saturdays and felt all alone,no other boats on radar or insight,
Back on track…yes i agree take your son fishing we are catching some huge BSB and Red Snappers now…
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Originally posted by CaptFritzCan’t believe you have high schooler
Charleston Fishing’s most hated guide!
He’s my youngest. My oldest is a knobbie at The Citadel!
I think the clock is up against us on the meetings. Paper due tomorrow.
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Originally posted by Fred67quote:
Originally posted by Nut 3Talking about offshore as it relates to bottom dwellers.
I’m no scientist and don’t fish like I used to. Tell your son this, or better yet take him out on a charter and let him see with his own eyes how healthy our bottom fishery is. It is utterly amazing and abundant! The biggest pain in the butt is BSB. But then they were always a pain in the butt if targeting another species. Now you just cant’ get away from them. In the past you just had the option of bringing home 60-80 along with a few lucky grupper, and some delicious and abundant Red Snapper.
It is so easy to just get information from strangers, but what you really need to do if you want to make a lasting impression and a true research paper for your son. Go fishing. There you will find the truth and how plentiful our waters are.
Oh yes, friend! I have had him offshore a few times. Last time he was on the Penn 750 reeling in two 16-17" BSB’s at a time. It was ridiculous!. Unfortunately he was too young to enjoy the 20-limit per person days, and to appreciate what we are talking about now. Hence the great idea of his paper. Thanks for the input.
quote:That is not true at all. 40 years ago bottom trawlers were dragging nets across areas like the red banks scooping up thousands of pounds a day in snapper, grouper. And when those were outlawed, people were setting bottom longlines with thousands of hooks, which are now currently outlawed.
Originally posted by Dockmanquote:
Originally posted by Gut WrenchThere is no Overfishing at this time…
compared to 40 years ago- everything is overfished
Also, the foreign fishing fleet accounted for about 90% of the harvest out of our domestic waters. Really it’s perceptions like yours based on only “gut feeling” without looking at the cold hard facts that get us to the current state…
Maybe in South Florida overfishing is still happening, but anyone with half an intelligent thought floating around in their head can look out across our back yard at the hundreds of thousand of acres of benthic habitat can see that the pressure just isn’t there like it used to be.
Part 2…
The Magnuson?Stevens Act was originally enacted as the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976.[2] The act has been amended many times over the years. Two major recent sets of amendments to the law were the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996[3] and then 10 years later the Magnuson?Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006
The MFCMA was enacted to promote the U.S. fishing industry’s optimal exploitation of coastal fisheries by ?consolidating control over territorial waters? and establishing eight regional councils to manage fish stocks.[5] The act has been amended several times in response to continued overfishing of major stocks. The most recent version, authorized in 2007, includes seven purposes:[6]
Acting to conserve fishery resources
Supporting enforcement of international fishing agreements
Promoting fishing in line with conservation principles
Providing for the implementation of fishery management plans (FMPs) which achieve optimal yield
Establishing Regional Fishery Management Councils to steward fishery resources through the preparation, monitoring, and revising of plans which (A) enable stake holders to participate in the administration of fisheries and (B) consider social and economic needs of states.
Developing underutilized fisheries
Protecting essential fish habitats
Additionally, the law calls for reducing bycatch and establishing fishery information monitoring systems.[7]
Now that we have all the government crap out of the way, let’s really talk about what MSA has done. When I started commercial fishing these waters in the mid-80s, both grouper and snapper had 12 inch size limits, and there were no limits on most of the bottom fish. When MSA started being enforced in the late 80s to early 90s, it was rare to catch any large snapper and most of the grouper, we caught were between 12 and 20 inches. Over the past 20 years I have seen the average size of the scamp grouper grow to about 22 inches and the average size of the red snapper com
He can call me anytime, and I would be glad to discuss. Beware though, I work for the government.
Robert W
953-9363
So, on 2.9.14 a son is writing a paper…
And on 2.10.14 the paper is due tomorrow…
Nice planning…
sellsfish, your idea of allowing licensed fishermen to vote on who represents us on the SAFMC is something we need to push for in the Visioning Project. We could have much more influence over the projects outcome if we simply coordinated our message before submitting comments. The NGOs will have enough coordination to advance their agenda if we fail to do this.