bouy gear poll

[reeltherapy]

RiskTaker....RT,

My fingers talk slow and just makin an easy abbreviation. However, I sure don't want your sign off so maybe I could add an eel in it for clarification. Reel T

[Captain Ollie]

Its good to see you getting in on some of this debate MR. STRYKER. :thumright:

I only imagine with this weeks forecast that this can only get more interesting.

For those of you that think a 35 bouy limit is too many, I would have to agree with you. However, you have to go back and read what I posted earlier as to the whys and hows of the gear.

10 drops with no limit on # of bouys to float each would be ideal and is easily manageable when the lighting is redundant and is set up at the proper height.

[Larrry!]

my vote is yes. I do not see why you guys are ragging on the hand liners. They contribute to the quota and dont put as near a dent as rec fishing does. The only people I know of that are actually fishing 35 drops are a couple of hot rods down in lauderdale, most can only handle 8-15, there are more rec hooks in the water than commercial and very few handliners are out there so can some one explain to me why there is so much hatred against them. :???:

[Boboe]

I've heard of them closing down kings in the Gulf, but that--to my understanding--was only commercial harvest. You could still go out and recreationally fish for them.

Originally Posted by Captain Ollie

The real question that is still on the table here is what can we do to increase our take of the quota.

Basically it comes down to the choice of the lesser of two evils.
I know that it doesn't sound like much of a choice to most of you rec guys out here.......BUT........

What you guys don't seem to be taking into account is what will happen in the fishery if we end up losing a significant portion of the quota. I've never seen anyone even make mention of this.

I'm sure most of you listen to the NOAA weather radio from time to time.
Have you ever heard the announcements periodically made on the weather radio by the NMFS that pertain to the mackerel fishery. When the quota is reached THE SEASON IS CLOSED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE YEAR. Obviously the length of the closure varies but I'm sure if they shut down swords in the same way there's going to be some serious unhapiness.

Look at the bigger picture here.

What I'd like to know is how many of you have had any encounters with this gear that have caused you any problems while drifting. I know what happened during the tournament and that wasn't set by one of the commercial guys.

[Boboe]

Originally Posted by LIGHTINING STRYKER

The best quota sugestion for all concerened is to reopen the charleston bump where it has been closed for quite awhile. There is also huge areas of the desoto canyon that probably could be opened. N.O.A.A. could regulate seasons in these areas without a lot of impact on the recreational fisheries. This would draw our local fisherman away from the straights an help meet the us quota.

Yeah, thanks for putting the trot-liners out of your own back yard and into mine. THey already long line the Gulf pretty hard. I didn't know that there were areas of the Desoto Canyon that were off limits, but they surely do LL in other areas around the northern Gulf. Remember, that these are HIGHLY MIGRATORY SPECIES. That's what that whole HMS thing stands for. Long lining for them in the panhandle indeed affects your fishery.

[LIGHTINING STRYKER]

Do people understand that we are selling huge amounts of our quota to the japanese,an spanish fleets who then come and fish where our comm. fishermen are not allowed to fish. We have the spanish fleet fishing off cuba.If we want to help the swordfish population we should put preasure on noaa to stop selling or trading our exess. The department of comerce trades some of our quota to countrys that we entered into treaties with and have not complied with.Such as greenhouse gases.

[Broadbill-Pro]

Originally Posted by LIGHTINING STRYKER

Do people understand that we are selling huge amounts of our quota to the japanese,an spanish fleets who then come and fish where our comm. fishermen are not allowed to fish. We have the spanish fleet fishing off cuba.If we want to help the swordfish population we should put preasure on noaa to stop selling or trading our exess. The department of comerce trades some of our quota to countrys that we entered into treaties with and have not complied with.Such as greenhouse gases.

Do we "sell" our quota every year? Is it not the "selling" of that quota that has allowed us to retain it since we last filled it in 1992? If the possibility of "selling" our qouta allows us to retain it and continue being a force at ICCAT, then it gets my vote. Please explain how losing the quota rather than "selling" it helps swordfish? Greenhouse gases is a major concern, should I post the porpoise video again?

The only place our comm. fisherman can not fish is without a permit inside another Countrie EEZ.

Spanish? Cuba? Are you speaking about Longlines? I do not believe the water around Cuba holds enough product to keep a Spanish LL content, I will have to get back to you on that. If it is true, it is a recent development.

[quack quack]

They can't fish in our ezz but 200miles is to close for me :shock:

[Captain Ollie]

I agree with QQ, 200 miles is WAY to close. If a large number of the foreign longline fleet set up shop there I'm sure the effects would be just as disasterous in the long term for our area as just opening the whole thing back up in the first place.

[LIGHTINING STRYKER]

The eez where two countries are closer than 300 miles, split the water, in cubas case thats 90 miles. Were lucky the bahamas don"t sell there allotment. We have not made our quota since the early 90 s the left over quota rolls over to the next year.This has caused a large excess. There is plenty of good water on the back side of cuba you will see the carol ann leaving regular out of ft lauderdale during the winter.

[Broadbill-Pro]

Funny you should mention the Carol Ann, I built her with Joe Mott in 1983. I was the first PLL to fish the Windward Passage in 1986. Been North, South, East and West of Cuba, Caymans and Jamica with LL gear far more advanced than anything the Spanish are using today. There is not enough sword or shark there to interest them and tuna is not a target species.

Just because there is fishable area close to a Countries EEZ, does not mean that it is a productive area. Spanish vessels are mostly in excess of 100ft., they carry a crew of +16 men, they need to catch 1.5 to 2.0mt per day to survive. That catch rate especially with the gear they use is seldom possible South of the Grand Banks or west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the North Atlantic. If Spanish PLL Captains are fishing Cuba they are there for the Senoritas not the fish.

Ollie,

Foriegn vessels want inside Canadian waters, they are not interested in our water, unless they can set on the bank and that is not going to happen. They want our quota so they can catch it elsewhere. There is no threat of foreign PLL vessels in or around our waters.

[Uncle Buck]

On topic... Buoy gear: Keep it legal. Keep it controlled. Abide by the rules. Illuminate the buoys so we don't run 'em over. Prosecute those that fish 'em without permit or in tournaments. Ebony. Ivory. You know the rest.

RECs... If ya happen to come across a set, hail out on the VHF approximately where the set is so the rest of us can be aware if it's in our path to port. But don't complain about a well-marked set. Those are the legal commercial swordfishers.

Ollie, Klink, whoever else is legally fishing buoys for swords: GIT'R-DUN. I'll never be upset at someone making a living fishing... legally and conservatively.

[Uncle Buck]

BTW... OLLIE... after meeting you and finding out that it's your buoys that I usually see, I must commend you. You take the extra steps to fully illuminate your gear. I've changed course to avoid your gear several times in the past year. THANK YOU for taking the extra effort to make your gear visible! :thumleft:

[Barnacle Bill]

I vote no. I have no problem with someone making a living but the last thing we need to do is to increase pressure on the recovering nursery area. Fishing pressure continues to increase daily in the straits due to rec. fishing.
The US LL fleet did not catch their quota when the area was open and they are not currently putting much pressure on the areas that are open.
How do we increase the quota? The answer is; Increase fishing pressure in the open areas. Stop importing foreign swordfish so our guys can get a decent price and will increase their fishing effort. NMFS can permit more or bigger boats in a directed sword fishery in the open zones.
Trying to boost the quota here is short sighted. the average fish size is so small that it will take several small fish to make the same weight as one large fish. These fish need to grow up and reproduce to keep the stocks up.
We are talking thousands of metric tons here. Our LL fleet needs to step up and catch fish in the areas currently open.

[neptune]

BP if you can get "The Beast" on your boat as a mate I'll pay for the fuel (for a few sword steaks of course) :lol: With regard to the post, the current handline effort is minimal and well managed, the recs fishing gear shouldn't be allowed, limit imports of swordfish, raise local prices, don't conceed to the ICCAT to re-distribute the US quota, the US is the second largest consumer of swordfish, they need us more than we need them, if swordfish went to $10.00 per pound wholesale would anyone really care, consumption would drop and the commercial guys would be making the same amount of money with less fish.

[Ron.38 Special]

On October 2, NMFS published their proposed rule, and bouy gear is defined and will be legal for direct permit holders or handgear permit holders only. No recreational use will be legal in any way.

Bouy gear will be limited basically to 35 total flotation devices for a maximum of 35 sets of gear. Two hooks max each. There is no limit on the number of fish to be taken, and indirect permit holders can not use the gear. ( if you fish more than one float per gear, then the number of total gears is controlled by the 35 total bouys). All gear must be marked as required under CG regs.

There most likely will be some enforcement checks of gear and users after a short period of notice time for regulation.

The rule becomes effective on November 1, 2006.

[shawnbenyo]

My vote is Yes.

I think that the buoys are not a problem so long as there are not more than 12 - 15 in a set. From what I hear from buoy fisherman that I know, any more than that, and it becomes hard to be able to work them fast enough in order to be able to release fish.

The great thing about buoy fishing is that the hooks can be pulled up selectively. In other words, you can see when there is a fish on, and you can pull up that buoy. This allows the fishermen to be selective. Remember, the problem with longlines is not that they put hooks in the water and catch fish. The problem is that they are not selective. You cannot pull up each longline hook individually, shortly after a fish hits.

Commercial fishing for Swords will happen. There is demand in the market, and that means that someone will supply. Buoy fishing is a great way to be able to selectively target swordfish. In all reality, I wish they would ban all longlines, and issue more buoy and rod/reel permits.

[DIRTYFOOT2]

My vote is yes. Lit up well monitored bouys are not the enemy, and they help boost the quota. Catch em up fellas.. Somebody fill me in. What catches of swordfish are legal to market in the state of fla, or does all the swordfish sold at market here come from somwhere else?

Thanks,
DIRTYFOOT2

[Flyers Up]

I vote yes...

And ban all long lines PERIOD!!!