NMFS Announces decision to issue EFP's for the closed zone.

[CAPTINMITCH]

See, now that I believe. Lesson learned here for you: You CAN tell the truth without bursting into flames. Right BP? BP? You there? Anyone else smell smoke?

[Tuna Devil]

Jim,

The armed services as an example? A little melodramatic don't you think.

God bless them. They risk their lives for us everyday.

Based on what I know about BBP from this forum and people I know (you know people who have actually Long lined, Gil netted and pair trawled).

I can tell you he is well qualified.

So, why not stick to the point you are trying to make and keep the mud slinging to a minimum. Or don't.

Unfortunately, this place is getting old. Or maybe it is the way of thinking around here.

[The BEAST]

TD,

That was the first thing that came to mind when mentioning traveling far from home for long periods of time for little pay! My stepson works a tug boat/fuel barge in Puerto Rico and is there 3-6 weeks or more at a time and goes home to Virginia occasionally.

You don't have to tell me or us how qualified Vinnie is, we know it, he's told us enough. But how does that negate our right to an opinion? My wife has never gone hunting but she doesn't like the idea of hunting. Should I rant and rave at her and put her down because she has never shot an animal? She has a right to her opinions as much as anyone else.

I do try to stick to my points but I got the first mud clod in the eye. I try to contain myself. Trust me I edit the hell out of my posts several times before I hit the button.

I agree with you! It's pretty much a done deal now. Half the guys on here think tha NMFS can hoodwink ICCAT for another year. Maybe, maybe not! After 15 years of not reaching the quota, I beleive they have a pretty darn good idea of what is going on!

I'd love to stay and chat... NOT! But my dum ass with no expertise has to go provide my disservice for my fishing column. Vinnie, I promise I won't mention your boys!

[Tuna Devil]

Originally Posted by The BEAST

TD,

That was the first thing that came to mind when mentioning traveling far from home for long periods of time for little pay! My stepson works a tug boat/fuel barge in Puerto Rico and is there 3-6 weeks or more at a time and goes home to Virginia occasionally.

You don't have to tell me or us how qualified Vinnie is, we know it, he's told us enough. But how does that negate our right to an opinion? My wife has never gone hunting but she doesn't like the idea of hunting. Should I rant and rave at her and put her down because she has never shot an animal? She has a right to her opinions as much as anyone else.

I do try to stick to my points but I got the first mud clod in the eye. I try to contain myself. Trust me I edit the hell out of my posts several times before I hit the button.

I agree with you! It's pretty much a done deal now. Half the guys on here think tha NMFS can hoodwink ICCAT for another year. Maybe, maybe not! After 15 years of not reaching the quota, I beleive they have a pretty darn good idea of what is going on!

I'd love to stay and chat... NOT! But my dum ass with no expertise has to go provide my disservice for my fishing column. Vinnie, I promise I won't mention your boys!

I never negated your opinion.

My wife never hunted either.



Sorry.....I couldn't resist.

Nobody ever said you were a dumb ass with no experience. Or was that a self proclamation?

Anyway, I guess I look forward to your article.

[Broadbill-Pro]

Originally Posted by CAPTINMITCH

See, now that I believe. Lesson learned here for you: You CAN tell the truth without bursting into flames. Right BP? BP? You there? Anyone else smell smoke?

No flames Mitch, I had hoped to tell you in person but the timing seemed right tonight.

[quack quack]

Love that pic Dave put it up in the hunting section with the report please!

As far as the last 30 min of my life I spent reading all this stuff I missed I want it back.

This is all the same stuff we have been going over for a long time.

Simple truths and facts so listen carefully

1.We need to try and keep as much of our quota as we can.Because the more we loose the more fish will be caught to our south.The fish down that way are breeding and stacked tight together and make an easy target.We import most of our swordfish from Panama .Foreign fleets fish and export it through them.On those non US boats everything is killed.Every short sword every marlin,sail,dolphin,hoo,shark and nemo that swims.No circle hooks just 1000 J hooks being fished 24hrs a day.

2.Now if we loose quota to these boats not only will they continue to pillage on a large scale they will increase there efforts.As soon as they catch there new quota they will want more and it will come from us again.Because they will ship more fish to us at a lower price and no one will fish for swords at all.Then we will loose all our quota and that will lead to no fish for anyone because the south boats will have crushed them like back in the 80 and 90.

3. So go ahead and think about that for some time.The only reason for NMFS to open the Northern straights is to try and keep as much quota as possible.Because for every 1lb we give away it is going to cost us 1000lbs of fish in the future between all the by catch and breeders we loose.This is not fuzzy math just think about it.If we loose quota we will NEVER get it back.

4.Think like a fish for a minute.Would rather be chased by a US boat with giant circle hooks and no capture policy for billfish trained personal for the releases of turtles and a dozen other rules and regs concerning what fish and when they can be caught.Or a boat twice as big running 24hrs a day with big J hooks and almost no rules or regs or at least regard for them.


No one wants a pll in there back yard.But if you want a back yard at all we have to do something.


Again like me sticky post Say's give me a way for us to keep our quota!!any ideas? any ideas?any ideas?

Thank you for your time you can now continue with your life.But a bit wiser I hope.

[PURPLE FEVER]

THANKS ERIC

[ProfessorO]

Originally Posted by The BEAST

... I'll bet Professor O wonders why he continued his higher education when all he had to do was work a PLL boat to know everything about the fishery!

I'll answer that question at my next party with no tape recorders rolling
by quoting a well-known Knopfler song. cheers, arthur

[Tuna Devil]

Money for nothing and your chicks for free?


Could not resist.

[ProfessorO]

Originally Posted by Broadbill-Pro

Before satillite information the good Professor would have done himself service to spend some time at sea...

Vinnie, I appreciate the career advice. For the record, I have spent over
two years of my life at sea including two cruises in the Gulf Stream for
28+ days without land (and one in the winter); numerous 10-14 days
research cruises, etc. I've seen the Atlantic at its worst though usually
in a 180' RV built for it, e.g. watching the wind gauge hit hurricane force
winds and realizing that the wind meter was just blown off the ship;
watching your partner ship getting hit by lightening 700 miles from land;
waking up hung over and hearing that the ship is delayed for a few hrs
because regulations force them to wait 'till the winds drop below gale
force; securing a couple hundred thousand dollar piece of equipment
that weighs half a ton and that had come loose during a storm and it
is rolling on the deck-your whole experiment and someone's career
depends on it, so you risk life and limb..........

Satellite sensing of ocean temperature matured to a point of a believable product around 1978. That is also the time of a local maximum in swordfish biomass in the N. Atlantic. Any coincidence? Did the sat data make it much
easier for the PLL to find the fish?? cheers, arthur

[ProfessorO]

Originally Posted by PURPLE FEVER

THANKS ERIC

QQ, righ t on. cheers, arthur

[Broadbill-Pro]

Arthur,

No disrespect was intended, I was only commenting on Jim's sarcasm that a text book is as equal a learning tool as experience. I beg to differ with that opinion and am glad to hear that you have salt behind you ears.

What satillite data did to commercial fishing was give the 90% of fisherman who catch 10% of the fish more opportunity to produce. Before onboard SST imagery we would spend the better part of a trip steaming and recording SST by hand. When we did find a break that was holding, we kept that information close to our chest. Post Sat. imagery one only needed to follow an IR image until you ran into vessels who were on the meat. As handy a tool as it was for weather and IR images, I would gladly turn back the clock to force Captains to rely on their fishing ability and not a road map to the highliners.

In 1980 we were able to recieve SST images from a NOAA fax transmission, land base only. Around 1990 onboard recievers became affordable (Japs used them long before us). In the mid to late 90's altimetery and plankton charts became available, this again enhanced our catching ability. Fishing the calm, nearly currentless waters of the mid-atlantic ridge would not have been the same without altimetery data.

Being woken in the middle of the night to insure that a satillite pass was recieved was a way of life.

[ameristrat]

I am reminded of a Smash Mouth song.....
"Why can't we be friends, why can't we be friends, why can't we be friends, why can't we be friends....."

haha

So this thread is interesting to me because I didn't know a lot of this - basically, either we take more of our quota or swordfish are f****d.... okay! Let's do it. I wish things were really that simple...

[Relentless33]

Originally Posted by quack quack

give me a way for us to keep our quota!!any ideas? any ideas?any ideas?

Maybe each boat should be allowed to harvest 4 fish a night without depending on how many people are onboard i.e. if only two people are on the boat only two fish can be harvested. (Four fish per vessel or one per person, whichever is less)

I'm not here to debate over what to do with the meat, just throwing a thought

[CaptKen]

Originally Posted by ameristrat

So this thread is interesting to me because I didn't know a lot of this - basically, either we take more of our quota or swordfish are f****d.... okay! Let's do it. I wish things were really that simple...

Yep, We have to be able to supply the little old lady in Kanas some good OLD, rank, frozen swordfish.
The sad part is the average Joe has no clue, next time your in Publix grab yourself one of those fancy vaccum packed steaks and give it a try. It will gag ya !

[Broadbill-Pro]

Ken,

Your correct that the IQF sword sold at Publix and Costco is garbage. Keep in mind that none of that fish is domestically caught. It is imported from places like Costa Rica, Taiwan and the east coast of South Africa. Much of it is "cold smoked" enhanced with CO2, vacuum packed then sea freighted to a US port. Like tuna, much of what the US public believes to be fresh fish is processed with chemicals and gased in chambers to stop the decaying process.

Fresh caught swordfish has a long shelf like compared to other species depending on how it is processed. Domestic caught fish can remain in the fish hold no more than 10 days if freshwater ice is used. Saltwater freezes at 27f, when onboard ice machines are used the shelf life is extended by 5 or 6 days. Often trips are extended past the amount of days I mentioned, it is easy to see the difference in quality of the last few sets and the first few sets when offloading.

The Taiwanese fish is loined and frozen onboard at -40c, this stops the fish from decomposing within hours of being caught. The loins are not cared for very well or protected from the burning process of the freezers, the outer portion of the loin really needs to be discarded before being consumed.The fish from Costa Rica and East Africa are ice packed onboard, unloaded 1 to 2 weeks later then processed into portions, frozen and shipped to the US. Personally, I would rather take my chances with the -40c product from Asia.

This is what you are buying in most cases at chain stores:

Albertsons - More about Albertson's Grocery Stores

I find this to be another reason to support our East Coast Swordfisherman. ALL fish sold in retails needs to have the origin clearly displayed on the product. Often I am told by people that they have eaten swordfish and found it undesirable, many of those same people became sword fans upon eating fish that I prepared. The FDA needs to step up to the plate in regard to CO2 processed fish. Easy rule, if it looks bad it is, if it has a fish smell don't buy it. CO2 fish has neither, color is the clue.

Tuna should look red, not orange or apricot. If it does not appear to have a shade of a candy apple, don't eat it. If it has any smell don't eat it.

I read some of the posts that stated they would not eat fresh sword, even one who makes his living selling it (I find it ironic that someone would sell a product that they would not consume). Consider this, chicken eat their own and other animals feces. Cows eat from a pasture where chemicals are sprayed and again other animals deficate. Pigs, well lets not even go there. I have butchered many species and have never found the stomach cavity of any to be appealing. Fish are no different, but offshore species are the closest thing we have to a clean and healthy product, it's when man gets his hands on it that it becomes dangerous to eat.

[rollin]

"Unless someone has a better idea, move out of the way and let the proposed experiment take place."

i have a better idea. i think anyone reading this, comm. or rec. would have to agree with it, but i could be wrong - i've been wrong before - but here goes:

the ICCAT qoutas are not getting used up cause they're too high - not because the FEC or Charleston is closed.

lower the qoutas for all member nations - let the price go up

the fish win cause there's less pressure - period.

the comm sector wins cause less supply means a higher price, they can make as much money for they're families catching less fish

the NYC restaurant goer wins cause they really could care less if the're paying 35 bucks or 45 for a sword steak anyway.

anybody got a decent argument against this very simple solution?

R

[quack quack]

Good question would be who determined the entire quota number and how?