I disagree. Dredging is a major problem with reef size and structure. Yall dredge and displace oysters giving them no natural habitat to "cling" onto. Not very smart for reproduction purposes. It will take years to repair what yall have destroyed. Go back to to tonging.

This probably makes to much sense but the best way to protect and expand our beds is

Tong only and dredge once every 7 years to break up muscles and revive beds

This is how you become successful

Here is the bill intotal, oystermen should make sure to read the last page dealing with penalties since it will affect your livelyhood.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...eu177_oAaXA4Dg

100% agree! There are two sides to everything and those of you here representing your way of living are appreciated!;)

There is a misconception that the majority of the oyster fishermen outlaw. I don't condone it at all and am not justifying it but how many sports fishermen keep over their limit? It's not fair to say that just oyster fishermen are "greedy". With that said I really think that we need more enforcement and checks. There are, in all facets, people that break the law. There always will be and the ones who do it one time are most likely the same to do it next time. That lake is a humongous "sandbox" and it's not my job to check other fishermen to make sure they're doing their job. It's hard enough to do mine. That's what LDWF is for. There is an enforcement division for a reason. They don't know the "right people" to check? Neither do police officers but they're out there everyday putting the fear in people. And I don't think outlaws should get just a slap on the hand for breaking the law. lol punch them in the face with some brass knuckles! That'll make them think twice next time. The ones who do outlaw give us all a bad name. It's not fair.

9x's outa 10 if you were tonging you would cull and clean and dump right back on the spot which kept the integrity of the reef instead of removing reefs completely....I mean I've had oyster fisherman come brag to me how they wiped out a secluded reef in a day....no more hump no more rock....went and checked it and I couldn't hang up a grub drag'n the bottom.:rolleyes: It cost me a ton of time and money to find those reefs and marks...I go to them now and there is nothing!! And Im supposed to be upset why, abt the reduction of permits??

Will agree with some of your post but the po po cannot be everywhere all the time. Operation Game Thief has an 800 # you can call without having to give your name for violations. I have this number on speed dial and will use it for all violations including fishing violations. If you don't believe you should help protect the resource that makes your living there is nothing left for me to say. To look the other way while someone in your business steals a resource actually makes one complicit in the illegal act IMO.

i have personally called and i do not have operation game thiefs # i have a game wardens personel number and when i called and told him the ones he sent did not go anywhere near the place or fishermen reported so more enforcement is needed i am a oyster fisherman i have tonged and dredged and dredging helps the lake if the people follow the laws the ones who are cought should loose their license for a while in my oponion

Dredging will not hurt, if the number of fishermen didn't sky rocket after they let them start dredging.
If limits are the same, it doesn't matter how you catch them.

Too many jumped on the Oyster bandwagon cause of the easy money when tonging changed to dredging.

i would like to thank u to be willing to hear our views and oponions

just beacuse they allowed the dredge is not why people jumped on the band wagon alot of the new fishermen had jobs and were laid off and when there are not alot of jobs out there to get they did the only thing they could to feed their families now they will not be able to do that

I would put $1000 that if the lake was tong only....they would have 75boats or less working the lake

This is the exact reason I went to commercial crawfishing. There was no work in the second quarter of 09 and, I had a family to feed. I did what I had to do. The reception wasn't warm for me either but, until any of them were willing to pay my mortgage, I didn't mind the occasional taunting. Some people will hopefully never understand what its like to have the way they are accustomed to living jerked out from beneath them.

Well done, you did what you had to do for your family, nobody can fault you for that.

thats y as far back as i rember there has always been at least 150 boats fishing oysters in the lake

As in this situation, you'd be surprised how many would like to fault you for it, though! Lol. To be real honest, I've never worked a harder day in my life than I did on any given day on the water. I also never enjoyed doing what I did more than when I was out there, either! Yellowjackets suck but, riding in the boat all day, harvesting what the Good Lord put here for us was great!

I know one Oyster fisherman that had 1 license when it was tongs only.
He now has 5 boats with 5 licenses after dredging was allowed.
Dredging gets a quick limit. Tonging in the winter time is not near as easy.

Just to clarify, I am law-abiding. I take what the law allows while practicing good habits to help preserve the reef such as not pulling the dredge too long and culling out on the reef so that I don't displace from the natural habitat. I do what I can to aid in preservation. And I didn't say I turn my head when I see wrong. What I meant to convey was that I don't personally go sit out in the lake at night like a cop setting a speed trap. THAT's not my job.
By the way, can you post that operation game thief # for myself and anyone else who may not have it?

Agreed. You make some good points.

I will admit that this is a problem and that is one issue that I was actually "for" with the permits. I think that every commercial fisherman should have the same opportunity to fish our lake just like anyone has the right to recreationally fish it. The permits chose WHO was able to fish and nothing was guaranteed from year to year. I think every fisherman with historical trip landings should receive a permit. Alot of oyster fishermen are ONLY fishermen. That's all they know and for some it's too late to attempt to get out into the job market with their lack of experience and/or education. I believe permitting, with revisions, could work by limiting each fisherman to only 1 boat, 1 load, 1 day. The commission can set the sack limit as necessary to accommodate the number of oysters being harvested compared to the amount determined available by LDWF. This would give everyone a chance and a choice.

800-442-2511 LDWF
This thread started with division, us against them winner take all. I have come to believe through each post that we may not be that far apart in our ideas about what is best for the lake.

x2

EVO

i have to admit i am one of the people with multiple boats and i am part of the cause but i do agree with the one person one boat one limit i did catch 2 loads legally and i culled them right i also agree with the commission setting the limit on how the oysters are holding up i DID NOT get a permit luckily i am young enough to get other work

I wish we could get more oyster fisherman on here and debate it out!

well i understand about you not being upset about the permits but to the fishermen who did not get a permit and i am one of them that takes our jobs from us and i have a wife and kid to support . i dont know if you are a guide or just a sport fisherman but you can still go fishing the reefs are not the only place to fish ,but it is the only place where we can catch oysters. how would you feel if someone came up to you and said that you could no longer do what you do for a living?this is the second time in two different fisheries it has happened to me oystering and snapper fishing now i have thousands of dollars in boats i can not use

thank you for wanting to hear our side of the story

Well here is what I can say' You claim your losing your jobs. But what happens when and it will happen soon because WL&F already said it..they close oysters down for 10 years to let reefs repair???

Also Our oyster beds are natural and part of our estuary and help keep our estuary healthy

You can not keep raping these reefs.

dredging does not exactly make a quick limit what really decides the time on how it takes to get youre load is if u cull them right that might be y he has that many boats he might not cull his

There are people on both sides who are next to impossible to compromise with. All I can say is thank God u are not the one in ldwf making the decisions. If u were, we would have a communist lake.

i was informed dont know how true it is but what i was told today is the congressman who pushed this permit system is asking the governor to veto the permit bill and drop the limit to 5,to 8 sacks a day and if the fish houses pay what the oysters are worth then the fishermen can make a living not anything extra but they will pay bills and keep food on the table

I heard Morrish say on KPLC that he called Jindal and asked him to veto the bill, but he had already signed it the day before.

How convenient. :shrug:

EVO

Talk about playing both sides of the fence!

Ballz, why are they in such short supply with politicians??? It would have been just as easy to tell the media why the bill was needed instead of pandering to one group to look sympathetic to their cause.

Don't pizz on my leg and tell me it's raining!!!

I had no idea that starting this thread would lead to such big discussion. I have really enjoyed hearing everyones views. Keep it up!

I just wonder with all the pressure on the oyster fisherman right now..If they will obey the laws and not outlaw

some will and some wont..

Just like life...law says dont rob or steal...some do and some dont.

Read my post again friend....I said nothing abt you or any commercial fisherman making a living on the lake....you can still make a living tonging. My point is that entire reef structure's are being wiped out completely and flattened by dredges...and hauled off!! Thats where I make my living on reefs 90% of the time....Every oyster boat will be in west cove this year....you'll have nothing for next year....reef in the cove is a thing of the past....

Entire reef structure is not being wiped out. Just the oysters. There is still hard bottoms on the East side with a few Oysters. But nothing on the hard bottom, nothing for the shrimp to hide in.
Thing is, everyone knew the Oysters were gone from the East side last year and they still opened that side up.
Other thing, I don't care what anyone says, dredging wiped out the Oysters. Tonging is not easy, dredging is a lot easier. Easier work, more people doing it. If dredging wasn't easy, there wouldn't be no more boats than if there was tonging.

IF nothing changes...This will be the last year for a long time.....By the end of this Season WL&F will know there is nothing left to harvest and have to close the season down for a 7 year minimum if not 10years

You should see what a reef looks like on side scan sonar after dredging. I just wish I had the forethought to save my sonar runs.

It will take 3 to 5 years for the Oysters to get to legal size after they close the season. That is just legal. Not the ones the market buyers like.
West Cove Oysters were not as marketable as East Side Oysters. East Side were more plump.
West Cove Oysters are actually overpopulated. They should have let them hit those first and save the East side.

Last time they closed it due to dredges was from 1967 to 1975.
During that time, there were many caught dredging at night and
during bad weather, when they thought the LDWF was not looking.
That's how long it will take to get the reefs healthy enough to
harvest again for marketable Oysters.

Here is the problem.
It not the dredges, it is the number of them.

They had more than 145 boats last year......I counted 69 on Basket one day..and they had about 40 on LSU south and another 50 in front of old jetties

Most landings in one day for 2010 was 190 in January.
Those numbers in the graph were average boats per day for the 2009/2010 season.

And those numbers were for the dredging only. Not tonging.
Dredging started in 2004.