Gulf of Maine fishermen face 6-month cod ban

[shresearchdude]

surprised the newsman didn't find this one...

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/201...?event=event25

I just ended a 17 day trip on a NOAA survey boat.

Good news? BIG Whiting! Many smaller sizes too.
Numerous big and medium sized Haddock
Cod-not so much.

The statistics indicate that yes fisherman are catching lots of Cod-but the area that they are fishing for them in is shrinking. That isn't great news at all.

[shresearchdude]

I can list all the species that we saw and the sheer #'s but that would take an awful long time D. Plenty of herring.

[Capt. Lou]

What areas did u net ? Local or North ?

[shresearchdude]

Hey Capt Lou. I was on the Gulf of Maine leg.

If you want to check out where all the "legs" went go to this site.

http://shiptracker.noaa.gov/Home/Map

On the left under "filters" choose Henry Bigelow, then choose Autumn Bottom trawl. You can see where the boat went during the whole survey. Starts by going down off Hatteras, NY Bight, Georges and wanders all the way to Gulf of Maine.

[Dino]

Originally Posted by Blackfish Doug

Increase the quota's on dogfish let them hunt Whales & Seals those gigantic eating machines. No herring I wonder why? with no herring around what do you think those eating machines are eating? My guess it's the juvenile Cod. The Whale & Seal stocks are larger then they ever were & growing in massive numbers. The truth hurts but the tree huggers are protecting the wrong species. There is no balance on nature Giant Tuna as well can be increased. Big fish eat the small small fish plain & simple.

your absolutely right, the answer is to kill whales and giant tuna. that will save the cod. good call. how could we be missing it all these years. so simple.

[JBird]

Hook and line fishing is not what wiped out the cod. Period.

[Capt. Lou]

Originally Posted by JBird

Hook and line fishing is not what wiped out the cod. Period.

Got that right & never will !!! Just have to watch one of those Nat Geo shows & find out very quickly that RnR is no match for those floating process ships that work various oceans! Thoua=sands of lbs in one set ! Hell wonder anythings left ! Whales & Seals I dont think so, even they couldnt eat one those drags in several years !!!

[shresearchdude]

Originally Posted by JBird View Post
"Hook and line fishing is not what wiped out the cod. Period."

No dispute from me on that statement.

Dogfish/Whales/Tuna/Seals probably aren't the answer though I'm not saying that they don't consume fish.
Bigger nets, better electronics, faster boats and more fisherman probably really show as the main culprit. Just so this is clear I'm not against commercial fisherman.

Oh and after we work on the Fluke we have here in tanks the next species will be everyone's favorite spiny Elasmobranchii.

[tautog]

The problem with seals is parasites. Those worms can inhibit growth and quite likely reproduction.

[stevelikes2fish]

I would assume the pair trawling taking place each winter 1/2 mile from the beached scooping up all the herring coming out of the rivers plays a major role here. No Bait, No Food, Fish eat something else or move somewheres else......