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Ask him what he thinks of "Marine preserves"...like if they put one off HIS port....Yeah, that would be a good question.....after all...science and all that....:rotflmao
Many things to do.
Knots to be unraveled
'fore the darkness falls on you
http://www.news-press.com/story/news/local/2014/11/29/gill-net-vote-mislead/19684073/
It was more about the preceding decade in time we had just lived thru, while watching how well your "Good ole Net fishermen" were taking care of the fisheries they "cared so much about". They even had major influence over the long defunct (thank God) Marine Fisheries Council.
So I would say articles such as the one below had primed the pump for a landslide victory long before any so called "propaganda ads" were ever run. Those who collected the signatures to get it on the ballot, did just that, got it on the ballot. But those such as the one mentioned below helped the most to get it passed.:grin
Son's Arrest May Cost Raffield Commission Job
November 24, 1985|By Don Wilson, Sentinel Outdoors Writer
Sportfishing and conservation groups are demanding the removal of Florida Marine Fisheries Commission member Gene Raffield after Raffield's son was charged with catching 70,000 pounds of illegal red drum.
Officials also are trying to determine if charges should be filed against Raffield's commercial fish business for its role in the case.
The Florida League of Anglers, Florida Conservation Association and the Everglades Protection Association all have written to Gov. Bob Graham asking that Raffield be suspended or forced to resign from the fisheries commission. Randy Raffield was arrested Nov. 14 by the Florida Marine Patrol and charged with violating a marine fisheries commission rule that limits all fishermen to keeping only one red drum that is 32 inches or longer. Marine patrol officers confiscated more than 4,000 redfish -- all longer than 32 inches -- at the family's Raffield Fisheries in Port St. Joe.
To Florida League of Anglers Executive Director Philip Cady, the case requires Raffield's removal.
''Certainly this flagrant disregard for conservation of this species and the rules of the State of Florida by Commissioner Raffield's fish house, coupled with the conflicting interest inherent in his membership on the marine fisheries commission, warrants his suspension from the commission until the issue is resolved,'' Cady wrote in the letter to Graham.
The Everglades Protection Association, calling the case a ''grotesque violation,'' told Graham that it ''is highly appropriate that Mr. Raffield be asked to step down from his post on the marine fisheries commission.''
Alex Jernigan, chairman of the executive board of the Florida Conservation Association, said his organization also has written Graham asking that Raffield be removed from offive.
Although the marine patrol only cited Randy Raffield for violating the maximum-size rule, patrol attorney Kevin Crowley said he is discussing other action with the Gulf County State Atorney's office.
Crowley said the boat used to unload the illegal fish was owned by Raffield Fisheries.
Meanwhile, the governor has ordered his staff to check into the case.
''We are reviewing the case,'' said Deputy Press Secretary Anne Nelson. ''We have asked DNR for information.''
Raffield said Friday that although he regrets the violation, he has ''not the vaguest intention'' of voluntarily resigning from the fisheries commission.
He said his son was not aware of the new marine fisheries rule, which took effect in September, limiting all anglers to only one redfish 32 inches long or longer.
He said although copies of the new rule were distributed to all the fishermen who worked for the fish house, Raffield did not know if his son had read the rule.
''I had never gone over the changes with him and I probably should have,'' Raffield said.
But he said he was not trying to excuse his son's actions.
''Ignorance of the law is no excuse . . . he violated the law . . . but he has learned a good lesson,'' Raffield said.
and you still did not answer the question of who knows what the law suit brought up by commercial fishermen was about , maybe if you knew you might agree with it
Thank heaven for that amendment. Long may it last and every one of us needs to keep defending it since pushback by the netting industry will never stop -there's just too much money involved.
As far as the big reds go, yes, they're primarily an offshore proposition (with the exception that they do come inshore for a week or two each year in fall along the gulf coast of the Everglades...). But wherever you find them allowing any take from the fish that are the spawners is just terribly short sighted, period. That didn't stop the slaughter, though... did it?
Bob LeMay
(954) 435-5666
Regulations were put into place like closed weekends and smaller nets and the common response from the commercial fisherman was that they had been fishing this way all their lives and they weren’t going to change the way they did anything. There were some honest hard working commercial fishermen that were getting hurt by greedy people that were only interested in making fast money. I love how they still claim that he landings data proves that the fishery was not being overfished but, what is always left out is how the effort had increased substantially mainly by undocumented commercial fishermen that were unlicensed and would go out and buy a net and sell their catch at fish houses that didn’t care who brought them fish as long as they could fill an export order.
Every effort was made to try to rein in an out of control situation and the commercial industry was simply not interested, money was being made. The net ban amendment was a last resort.
Our inshore fishery is better than it has ever been in my life time fishing Tampa Bay, in spite of the fact that recreational fishing and trips are at an all-time high. Heck the FWC has even increased limits for rec fishermen recently.
The really big lies came from the people that claimed that thousands of people would lose their jobs and that Florida’s economy would collapse. These guys post this stuff at least once every other year and it is the same old argument they try to make. This was also challenged in a court of law where judges have heard testimony over this very thing many times and every single time they have decided on the side of the net ban amendment and the SOS campaign.
The last thing Florida needs is to put gill nets back into state waters. Thank you Karl and CCA, keep up the good fight.
My posts are my opinion only.
Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for. Will Rogers
"Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr
but thats all well and good but why do yall keep ducking the question ??? answer the question of who knows what the law suit brought up by commercial fishermen was about
since all of you are ducking it ill tell you why : commercial guys have brought the law suit due to the fact that they want a 3 inch mesh to relive the nets of juvenile fish which would pass thru the bigger mash and fwc can change this any time they feel like it and had promised to do so in 1995 which they have fail to do as of yet and that was what the suit was about
My posts are my opinion only.
Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for. Will Rogers
and the law suit im referring to is in supreme court right now !
the smaller mesh is what is killing the juvenile fish unnecessarily!! get your facts right before you blow up like that the 2 inch mesh is 98 % by catch while the 3 inch mesh is 12% by catch and that is from fwc them self and thats what there trying to do is get the correct gear
What do u get when you can connect the dots, color inside the lines, and get your release papers.....sentence served, times up at Felon sentenced university.
Floridas first woman's college.
The only difference between FSU and all the other colleges are other colleges accept you into the university's. At FSU you are taken into custody.
One of them was the future president of Citrus county Florida Conservation Assn (now CCA), Mr. Ted Yant.
He bought himself a wellboat and went redfishing and mullet fishing, weren't too successful though, as no locals would help him out.
When fishing legally didn't line his pockets, he took to net fishing in closed waters up in Kings Bay and the manatee zones during the roe season.
Alas, his cojones weren't suited for the poacher life and he finally gave up and became a guide/president of FCA.
He failed as a guide too.
Apple doesn't fall to far from the tree either, his son Jerry Yant lost a successful business after an employee was killed on the job and the investigation revealed Workmans Comp fraud on Jerry's part.
He closed his business and fled the state for severl years to avoid fines and lawsuits.
Such fine upstanding folks.
SURFMAN since your logic is a little off i thought id let a 3rd grader explain it to you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLFe4h696FU
between New Smyrna and Port St. Lucie that changes in regulations including both net size and type
as well as recreational regulations were both needed and produced results. I have been on boats running
old school nets in the rivers when multiple trips were necessary to unload the haul. I have seen the tons
of unintended fish killed as a result. I have also seen the abundance of fish plummet to near nothing shortly
before the overhaul. That said, I can also relate to what it quickly became once the commercial pressure was
cut and recreational limits were changes. Recreational angling continues today at high levels, but our stocks
are also remaining high. It may not have been the nets themselves but also the number used and the amount
of fish as a whole that were landed by them, but the difference seen with that move alone on the east coast
was dramatic. The addition of adjusted recreational regulations only added to the resurgence and growth of
nearly depleted stocks. It may not have been a good move for the commercial netters of that era, but it allowed
a new generation to adapt and grow and the economic impact that has resulted state wide with recreational
fishing has dwarfed any potential losses from the net restriction. As said, I have seen the results on the east coast first
hand to the changes made. Even with the seagrass issue now, the fisheries remain healthy with current regulations.
It's a conspiracy I tell you...FWC is in league with aliens on spaceships to deprive poor net fisherman of their God given right to harvest a public resource as they see fit...
It's a puzzle...shrouded in a mystery...wrapped in an enigma..... :rotflmao
Many things to do.
Knots to be unraveled
'fore the darkness falls on you
Thank you CB....I asked Art to refresh my memory on this but I knew the numbers were shocking...and disgusting..... but time has a way of letting the magnitude of this slip away. The fact that his daddy was in an official capacity points to the "eff them" attitude of the industry back then.
Does anyone think this was a "first" or "isolated"....not hardly!
What I find amusing is that most recently in constitutional amendment land...There were a lot of potheads out there that wanted "medicinal marijuana" passed....did they get 72 % of voters...Nope! Proof positive that catching fish is better than getting high! :grin
Many things to do.
Knots to be unraveled
'fore the darkness falls on you
It was all political anyway.
Well, no matter how he legally circumvented the intent of the law.....he was violating in what was done. He stole from all floridians and his thumbing his nose...possibly with his fathers blessing...was wrong for Florida.
Art, Do you really feel everything was sustainable at the rate it was going?
I had to sell my Kingfish rig in 1983.....it wasn't in that fishery.
Many things to do.
Knots to be unraveled
'fore the darkness falls on you
Yes..it is.
And my morning coffee make me $h!+.....
Many things to do.
Knots to be unraveled
'fore the darkness falls on you
In that light then the citizens of La. are stealing from Floridians buy having a redfish bag limit in excess of Florida's.
I don't know how y'all's king run is doing this fall, but I know it's been dismal the last 3-4 years... Ain't because of the roller rigs now, is it?
We got the same problem here with redfish...
Nets kill fish, like bullets kill people; neither does.
Fishermen kill juvenile fish. If you are concerned about that, stop fishing, or take extraordinary action to prevent it.
Personally I disbelieve the concern for undersized discards and believe that this argument for larger net size is a prelude to growing the pompano fishery.
"Well Gary, the easiest way to look tall is to stand in a room full of short people." - Curtis Bostick
"All these forums, with barely any activity, are like a neglected old cemetery that no one visits anymore."- anonymouse
While I don't doubt you had a kingfish boat, I kind wonder if you weren't like some of the gold rush mullet fishermen and crabbers I have seen thruout the years.
I call them Gravy Soppers.
Gravy Soppers sit back at their real job(fire/policeman, pipefitter, Fl Power employee, etc) and they see some fishermen/crabbers have a good year with decent markets and prices and a little light bulb goes off.
Next thing is they buy a boat and some net/traps etc and now they is a commercial fisherman ready to sop up some gravy, problem is, it ain't that easy.
To many fish/crabs and you can't sell them or no fish/crabs where they fish but abundant elsewhere and the price tanks or just no fish/crabs period (don't matter how high the price is, just can't make it).
Most end up selling out and going back to their job on the hill.
Most of the crabber Gravy Soppers I've met left their gear in the water (that was one of the reasons for a stone/blue crab plan).
By the late 80's there were good plans in place for kings/spanish, and most inshore species.
Redfish were a sticking point.
BTW Joe, when I was a kid (60&70's) any red fish over 3-4lbs was considered crab bait and most commercial fishermen didn't target them.
I still consider all red fish crabbait.
How about we take that full circle for ya'll. How about we pass a law that says if you are a commercial fisherman and have a child, the only job they can ever legally hold in their life is a fisherman. So if they want to be a policeman, fireman, doctor, lawyer, etc., well too bad we got enough of them already suck it up and do what you were born to do.
That sounds pretty far fetched and absurd now don't it:huh
But truth is, it ain't far from being the reality a young right out of high school kid, who has never fished or has any relatives that has, is facing today if he is trying to break into "Your Business". If he wanted to open a restaurant would he be told he has to prove a "servings history" or "income threshold" from hamburgers and hotdogs sales in prior years before he could qualify for a "Restricted Cuisine" endorsement to sell chicken and steak?
It is a stacked and prejudiced industry in it's sad current state. So forgive me if I don't feel sympathy or cry a river every time I hear a "we poor career fisherman have it so bad the rules are stacked against us story". :rolleyes
I started at the bottom catching mullet out of a 15' jon boat and worked/fought/bought my way up the ladder.
The restricted species endorsement is a way to professionalize the fishing industry, much like a state contractors license.
From your post I surmise you were turned down?
No, I wasn't turned down. But I have stayed abreast of all the "protectionism type regulations" the commercials have gotten pushed thru since around the early eighties.
Don't worry I don't have any desire to be a "Gravy Sopper":rotflmao
But please do go on and educate us all on how an R.S. endorsement is so "much like a state contractors license":rolleyes
I have yet to meet a licensed contractor who showed up at a job and come to find out it was his "pickup truck" that was "licensed, bonded and insured because he had got a taxpayer ID number issued to his truck and qualified it with that. :grin
Is it "Gravy Sopping" when a mullet fisherman has a slow year or family gets sick or something and they have to go take a few moonlighting side jobs???
Truth is lots of guys with the R.S endorsement wouldn't have it if they were only qualifying themselves and really being honest and reporting "all sources of income". And that goes for both sides of the fence, their are weekend warrior types (who might even call themselves recreational), as well as what most would consider true "full time commercials" who have bent and twisted the "rules" to their advantage.
IMHO to try and say one side is more guilty of it than the other is not only, not being true and forthright, but is somewhat hypocritical.:shrug
Boats are being manufactured at record pace, sales backed by a strong economy. Demand for seafood is high with prices highrr than ever. Bicker and fight amongst yourselves, all the while, the Federal Government chips away at your freedoms....for the people, by the people. The United States of America is over...Roll the credits.