bouy gear poll

[quack quack]

Ok there seems to be a lot of debate going on about keeping buoy gear in the closed zone.

I think it should be allowed in this area as long as it is kept under control.

The 35 drop set is not easily done and it seems no one set more than 10 out here any way.They have been out there with us for a long time with no problems and they try to stay out of the rec guys way.The guys I know do not set on Fri,Sat or sun when most rec guys fish.

I think they help us to catch quota share and should stay.I know many may or may not agree with this.

There does seem to be a large number of rec guys fishing gear now for fun.I think it is theses guys that are making it seem like there are to many buoys out there and starting some problems.

[Broadbill-Pro]

Eric,

I do not agree with you, allowing bouys to continue here is the foot in the door that everyone opposes in regard to LL's. What if the bouys become exceptionally efficient? What if 35 bouys per vessel / per night becomes a reality and the kill rate increases to 15 or more fish per night? 15 fish in the Straits on a 50 ft. pelagic longliner is a great night of fishing, consider each bouy boat a LL'er in regard to conservation at that point. The reason these bouys are more efficient than LL is due to the mobility to set them on the meat and the fact that they fish better than LL (long explanation why that is).

Listen, I'm more proswordfish than I am procommercial or prorecreational. I respect the current bouy guys to legally fish under Federal regulations. I have access to a permit to bouy fish and I will take Beast as my mate . Believe me you do not want to see me back out here commercial fishing in the middle of the crowd. The rules must be for everyone, commercial means catching fish for monetary gain, it must be enforced. many fall into that category.

[Nick C]

looks pretty spilt right now... I have mixed feelings, but don't care to share my vote.

[Shark Tagger]

My vote is for no.. I prefer these Mini Long Lines out of here.

[Capt Ted]

Another No. This fishery has a long way to go yet.

[Broadbill]

NO!

[Warrior]

Sorry boys...NO!

[catching]

Kind of mixed feelings on the subject, it seems that the guys fising gear legally are probally already getting 10+ fish a night on a good night and respect us rec guys by not fishng it on the weekends and usually past the 48 when they are fishing gear :thumleft: .

QQ maybe you should have asked if the gear guys should stay to keep the LLing out of the area where if that happens if will kill all the fishing for all

I say yes if it can keep the LLing out of the area let the gear guys do their thing.

[e-money]

Personally I don't see how just 3-4 "legally" permitted guys who only fish 10 buoys a nite can put much of a dent in the quota. (to help the rec sector)

I mean we always hear that the recreational guys have "NO" impact on the fishery, how can these guys fishing 10 bouys have a "significant" impact on tonnage taken ?

IMHO the issue is the unlicensed guys who may be harvesting fish illegally, and rec guys who are doing it for "fun" and sometimes in tourneys (according to speculation).

If you ask me, hook and line only would be preferred path

[LIGHTINING STRYKER]

blah,blah,blah

[reel life]

as of right now the straights are closed to PLL and only PLL. if you do not like them fishing they need to change the laws.
and the rule will be 35 bouys in the water ollie for example drops 24 bouys with 8 drops and 16 hooks
sorry ollie not picking on you just using you for a example
and do not be suprised if you see me droping bouys in the future
right troy

[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.

[reeltherapy]

Guys,

It seems to me we're between a rock and a hard place.

On one hand, we certainly need to up our cathes to close the gap on our quota. It would be bad if they lowered the US quota to say 2000mt's and we filled it by September...season closes for us. Japan keeps fishing our waters since they have quota left. Hard to swallow that.

On the other hand, IMO we don't need long lining in the straights or at either gate. While the law is the law, I'm of the position that 10 bouy's are too many. Any more than 5 would be a commercial LL IMO. We only fish 3 to 4 rods. That's 3-4 hooks in the water at any given time. If you're not selling fish, then why more than 5 rigs??? 70 hooks on 35 bouys is a long line of hooks. In a controlled setting, maybe there's no harm with 5 bouy's, however, if it really catches on, it'll be like roping a 2200lb bull. Our pony "aint dat big". He's going where he wants to go and we're most likely looking at a wreck.

If guys are within the law, then they should be left alone. If the law is bad, it should be changed. How can we do it? If guys are illegal, they should be caught and held accountable.

How can the quota be upped without the LL'ing? Surely there's a good way to accomplish this. I would appreciate the insight of those of you who have a much greater knowledge of the fishery than I.

Since we are short on quota, would it be disastrous to up the LL'ers legal limit in some intelligent way as well as the rec guys to maybe 1 fish per person? The head boat guys business would surely pick up as well as regular charters it seems. Good for the economy, not hard on the fishery and no ll'ing. Just a thought, so chime in.

Anyway, as it is now, I'd be an humble no on the bouy gear if it's up to 35 rigs.

REEL T

[reeltherapy]

Ollie,

I think you & Iwere writing some of the same thoughts at the same time.

[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.

[LIGHTINING STRYKER]

When the wind stops blowing ray.

[The BEAST]

Originally Posted by Captain Ollie

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.

I recieve NOAA/NMFS notices almost every week and when the Kingfish quota is met I have yet to see them stop possession on sport limits for recreational anglers. They may drop it from 2 p/person to 1 p/person. I have NEVER seen them say you couldn't fish at all.

You rec guys can fish for anything you want to. You can fish for Queen Angels if you want. Goliath Grouper (Jewfish) are a protected species but you can damn sure fish for them. There are no laws against recreational fishing and no way to enforce a no fishing for a certain species law. The worst that may come of it is that you could have a closed possession period for a few months. You already have rules like that on snook, and slot limits on reds, and areas closed to muttons (during spawn). NOT ONE LAW SAYS YOU CAN"T FISH FOR THEM. Please keep that in mind as you wade through all this BS. I think this is simply a scare tactic. It definitely puts a dart in the head of Ollies' theory.

Capt. Jim
The BEAST

[The BEAST]

I forgot to vote! My vote is whatever! For every "right" foot you let in the door, the "left" foot will follow.

Capt. Jim
The BEAST

[RiskTaker]

Originally Posted by reeltherapy

Guys, Anyway, as it is now, I'd be an humble no on the bouy gear if it's up to 35 rigs. RT

Reeltherapy:
Looks like you 've been hunting in the wide open spaces. Maybe we can trade Elk tenderloin for swordfish loins. (Oh, maybe that could imply barter. Oh deer. )

Good post. However the main thing that called my attention and got me confused for a second was the RT salutation. I usually use that myself on this forum as me; and I cannot tell you not to use it, but if you thought about it, that would be appreciated.) . But it, for just a moment made me think that I was hunting in Montana, and I fired a long range missile and bagged that elk myself. Nice dream, but it was not me, yet. RT-RiskTaker

(P.S. - the Avatar is very cool. Maybe you are the reel risktaker, even if it just for therapy.) good content to your post.

[Captain Ollie]

It wasn't a scare tactic and in either case I didn't know that when the quota on mackerel was reached that it wasn't closed to everyone. I was merely giving a hypothetical situation of what might happen. Although I've caught plenty I've always let them go, as I would probably eat a dirty tennis shoe before I ate any kind of mack. I stand corrected then Jim, and you can go ahead and hit me with the dart. In all reality if a quota is reached for a paticular species then the harvesting of said species should be closed to everyone.

[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.