I cannot vote on this one, cause I do not have all the facts, and there is not enough to choose from.
I fished offshore out of Cameron for Snapper for 15 years before I had a back injury.
I never had any problems getting a 4 or 5 limit person, no matter how many people we had on board. Until they threw the seasons on us.
When they threw a season on us, that is when I had problems catching fish. They would let commercial boats fish when the Snapper were in shallow. They would fish them out, then the recreational season would open up.
My boat wasn't big enough to go out far enough to catch Snapper anymore, in deeper waters.
The Snapper boats are of sufficient size that they can fish farther out. They should make the commercial season in deeper water and let the recreational fishermen have the chance to catch their 2 legal fish in closer.
We used to go out fishing when the weather was warm, no clouds and no winds during the winter, when the ducks were not flying. It was a lot better than fighting moskeeters.
It was no problem to get a few limits of Snapper 30 miles out, then come back to the hunting camp and have fried fish.
Now the commercial fishermen have all the good seasons, catch all the good fish and take a break when there are not as many fish in close.
I know it saves them money on fuel, but we should at least be able to fish the same seasons as them. That would be fair.
It is only helping the commercial fishermen and hurting the economy. No one is going to buy new offshore boats if they are not going to catch fish. They are not going to buy tackle, gas, diesel or rod and reels either.
The only areas in La. that are not hurting over this is where there is deep water close in.
I am willing to bet that recreational fishermen spend a lot more money and contribute alot more to the economy than commercial fishermen do.
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