Quote:
Originally Posted by hammer4reel
Commercial guys don’t care what the largest part if the biomass is . They care about filling their nets with the most profitable fish .
Instead of fishing with the minimum size net , they bump up the net size to target larger fish .
Bigger 7 day boats are making long steams to get to areas holding the biggest fish . It makes them an extra 30 grand a week to do so .
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Biomass means nothing to commercials but you missed my point by a mile. One point of your post we agree on is when mesh sizes were increased to facilitate the harvest of larger fish, the fishery went into a prolonged decline. That coincided with the continued increase in recreational size limit minimums to insure a large portion of the sexually mature biomass, fish between 15" and over, became the exclusive harvest of the commercial sector. Regulation shifted access of a substantial portion of the biomass from recreational to commercial. That's what size minimum increases have been about from day one. Problem is that's not a viable strategy and we're seeing the proof in recruitment, a decline in the biomass and a decline in the spawning stock. When nets get plugged, even with larger mesh sizes, they kill millions of underaged, smaller lesser market value fish which get thrown back dead. Fishing related mortality in the commercial fishery is arguably 5 times greater than reported and probably exceeds the commercial sector's entire annual quota. If as you say, 4 lb. fish are the primary target of commercial netters, they're targeting 22" and above fish. Imagine then how many 22" and below fish are being thrown back dead. That's the future of this stock and includes all the fish the recreational sector is mandated to release during our short 4 - 4 1/2 month season. You think that conservation minded actions by the commercial sector or effective regulations by NMFS, ASMFC or MAMFC?
