Thanks for posting that, Surferman.
I'm a little puzzled by that video. I have been following that story and the events and outrage that unfolded shortly thereafter. I know they threw those dead bass back. High grading was the probable reason cited. Video is a powerful tool when you want to make a point about something. Look at all the views that video got in a short time, almost 15,000 views in 5 days.
What puzzles me is why they were high grading to the biggest bass. The reason given was the higher value for heavier fish. I accept that.
Yet, in terms of demand value, bringing in a box of 28-34" bass can have more of a universal appeal than a box of 40# bass. Finchaser and others will tell you that for bass and some other species, what end users (people who eat fish) like is dinner plate size fillets. I don't know if that holds true for down South or not.
It's just a minor point, but it puzzles me. What is wrong with the process, IMO, is how they net them.
Even though many hate gill nets, it's been said they are safer for conservation than trawling, which picks up and kills everything in its path. The incident described above, where the net was said to be so heavy the guys couldn't lift it, will still occur with this new law being in place.
It seems to me they lucked into a concentration of bass. They could easily have a "set" of 2000 lbs with one sweep, and then they're done for that short 5 day season. What happens if even with the new law, they start out fresh for the season, and in the first day, get 3500 lbs of bass in one pull? Based on it happening this time, I feel that's a likely possibility in the future.
So they bring the bass in, take the 2000 lbs they're allotted. 1500lbs goes back into the water, dead.
And that, folks, happens frequently in the life of a commercial fisherman. It doesn't happen every day, but it does happen often. I've talked to enough commercial fishermen that I know it's true.
So - the end result is still 1500lbs, or 150 bass, if you figure out an average weight of 10lbs, thrown back dead into the water. Multiply this by all the comm guys fishing for bass down there and you can see the potential dead discards still start to add up. These are all fish that will never get to spawn, and never get to market. Still a black mark on that method of trawling.
And this can happen frequently with comms if they set their nets in the middle of a large mass, like it happens in the winter when the biomass of the entire E Coast is highly concentrated off the coast of NC,
I don't have any answers for this except to suggest that the way these guys net the fish should also be addressd. Call me cynical, but I'm not optimistic that will happen.
For right now, that proposed law is a good one. At least it does address the issue. It will prevent many Capts out there from high grading. I just wanted to lay these thoughts out there so people didn't get a false sense of security and feel the problem is solved.
And again, I don't want to be too pessimistic on this either. Just trying to present all sides of the issue.
I applaud the DMF officials who pushed this forward. :clapping::clapping: There is a lot of lobbying pressure from Commercial fishermen down there. It must not have been easy. In my eyes, at least it's something, and I'm glad to hear of it. :thumbsup: