BigBendFishing.Net

A long but interesting read. Sponsored by the commercial fishing industry, so you can be sure there's some bias.
http://www.southeasternfish.org/Documents/commfish.html
Favorite quote from the "Conclusion".
"The net ban could have been drafted in such a way to have had less of a dramatic impact on fishermen's lives. Fishermen in Florida were totally dislodged and forever impacted in a single year. Many "honest environmentalists" were duped into doing the dirty work of the leaders of the development and leisure industries under a false banner of conservation. Many who voted for the net ban felt they were saving porpoises, turtles, birds and even the fish stocks.

What the electorate didn't understand is that the porpoises, turtles and birds were not being hurt by the inshore small-time netters and that the "saved fish" they were voting for were being saved for the exclusive use of anglers, not for sharing with the consumer voters who don't own boats.

It is to everyone's advantage to have a healthy, sustainable stock of fish, more so to the commercial fishermen who make their living from the fish stocks than the hobbyist who can always get another hobby."
Also, an interesting graphic.

It is to everyone's advantage to have a healthy, sustainable stock of fish, more so to the commercial fishermen who make their living from the fish stocks than the hobbyist who can always get another hobby."

Yea, just like the bison hunters!!

Mister Mullet wrote:Just wait until dead mullet carcasses, stripped of their roe, start floating to the surface. Who's making money off this disaster...why the fish houses. They keep out of the spotlight but continue to buy at a much lower price then ship the roe overseas for the wealthy elete to eat. You guys live in shacks down by the river, drive 20-year-old rusty pickups, and the swells laugh at you while they dine on the caviar you provide. You're being played. And now you're sitting out on a limb and sawing it between you and the tree. Damn, wake up guys. You're killing it for everyone.

Careful there MM, here you go again talking about folks you don't even know, about what they drive and where they live. Some of those guys could probably buy your lunch every day, pay your mortgage and buy your gas and never miss a dime. At least get to know some of these folks on a personal level before you criticize them.

This afternoon the First District Court of Appeals granted reinstatement of the automatic stay. Which means the appeals process will continue and the enforcement of the netting restrictions, including the current 2-inch maximum mesh size, will be in force again.

So gills nets or any other entangling nets exceeding 500-square feet are still illegal.

thanks capt dave

Great news! Do you think the netters know?

Red Yaker, that's the I remember it going down

I see Mister mullet Talks a lots when he doesn't know what he saying The Netters that live in themThare shack and drive the 20 yo rusted P/U Might get mad about how he has slamed them in mullet POOP i will post a pic tomorrow of my ole broken down P/U and my bird dog also i very sure i don't live in a shack nonth said

so mullet roe isn't the gold mine it once was for part-time carpenters, roofers, landscapers and others who tried to cash in on the get-rich quick scheme

Glad you know what myself, carpenters, and landscapers scheme about in our idle time. Nice!

I'm in the East Point area. I don't have all the information to be an authority on this stuff but from what I observe the big companies make all the money. The individual has to work hard to make a living. If commercial netting was for individuals only like recreational fishing is it would probably work. The problem is you have the big guys who have to make money quick and ruin it for everybody. The rec. limits have made it hard to justify a fishing trip from a profit stand point unless you live right there and offshore trips are a real negative. I sure don't have any answers.

Talltails wrote:

so mullet roe isn't the gold mine it once was for part-time carpenters, roofers, landscapers and others who tried to cash in on the get-rich quick scheme

Glad you know what myself, carpenters, and landscapers scheme about in our idle time. Nice!

I wasn't referring to successful full-time roofing contractors like yourself TT, only opportunistic types who were neither commercial netters or gainfully employed. No slight against any craftsmen intended, only a statement of the fishery at that time.

I wasn't referring to successful full-time roofing contractors like yourself TT, only opportunistic types who were neither commercial netters or gainfully employed. No slight against any craftsmen intended, only a statement of the fishery at that time

.

Yes, I've been reading this thread and the others on the Net Ban topic. I smell some rather elitist attitudes being expressed. Having lived and fished many of Florida's coastal waters in a life time of fishing, I've met many fine folks on the water. That's a lifetime that has lasted to Social Security and Medicare.

Some of them were fine fellas trying to make a living on the water. Very few of them found much financial success. Most barely scraped by. That includes both: 1) commercial fishermen, 2) Charter Captains, and 3) the fellas that participated in both.

I have also met many recreational fishermen. Usually, they had fairly nice boats and often fished on weekends. Some of them were retired. Some of them were fine folks, too.

There are plenty of @ss holes on each side of the fishing sector.

I very, very seldom have met a coastal developer, corporate type that I would call a decent fella. That fella only cared about making a profit and moving on.

I can't help but notice all of those Salty Gator's signature. Something about "if we don't like his football team, he guesses we can't get into that school"????? How do we take that kind of fella serious? Sorta sounds like something an elitist might say.

Reelbad and Sea Dog, it's a metaphor for people who work the hardest and get little out of it. For the record, my boat is 40 years old, truck 14 with one undented fender, and my bank account is a joke. I'm the last person who would throw stones.

My old daddy was a smart man. He once explained that statistics are only good for talking about groups, not individuals. He said an individual is always either 0% or 100%, never in between.

I knew a lot of good families who made a living as commercial netters. My old daddy was a doctor and when we went to the fish camps on the coast, he always brought a bag of sample drugs and several pints of whiskey to take care of the indigenous population. We loved those folks and they loved us. Most of the netters back in those days stayed well away from trout and redfish, because their neighbor was making a living guiding folks to catch those fish, but they all to a man believed that the ocean would always be teeming with fish and that the government limits were stupid and of the devil. I rode boats with guides who gator hunted to supplement income, netters with bird dog boats, early airboaters and on more than one occasions, we legally caught enough fish to feed quite a few families who would come by the house to pick up offered fish. The Spring Creek stories read more like a diary to me than the tales of another man.

As boats improved and the cost soared, the netters began to seek to catch anything that would pay and more tension grew.

The biggest problem was initially the big roller boats. Those guys really messed up the mid-shore and off-shore stocks. However, near the end, the inshore guys became more and more aggressive in their catches. This lead to a depletion of the stock of fish which affected the equally good people who ran marinas, served the rec fishing industry and guided rec fisherman for a living.

The truth is that there will never be enough fish again, because our population is growing and the spawning habitat is shrinking.

It is a shame that good families had to pay for the misdeeds of greedy folks, but there was no agreed upon way to split the catch and eliminate the greedy.

I loved Old Florida and I hate to see that good families got hurt, but because of what I saw with my own eyes, I did and I still do support the net restrictions. I understand those who don't and again, I wish there was a way not to hurt good families.