View Single Post
  #7  
Old 12-16-2009, 12:53 PM
Ray's Avatar
Ray Ray is offline
Great White
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: House
Posts: 10,432
Cash: 1,167
Default

No one seeds oysters in Big Lake. It is all natural reefs. Public oystering. Anyone with a license can oyster. For years it was manual tongs only in Big Lake. A few years ago, the state allowed dredges. But the limit is 15 sacks per day per boat. The dredges are letting them get their limits faster, but tear up more reef faster. Manual tonging didn't tear up near as much. Dredging was stopped a long time ago due to wiping out oysters, it will happen again pretty soon.
Oyster fishermen usually find the reef by dragging a metal ring with 7 or 8 pieces of 1 ft. chain on it. The ring is tied off to the bow of the boat and drug under the boat, about half way. When they hit a reef, they will drive a pvc pipe in the ground and drop the dredge. When the noise stops, they turn around and head back. I don't see many PVC pipes anymore. They probably use GPS now and mark the edges of the reefs.
They do have a minimum size they can keep, so anything undersized, they have to throw back. This is all the seeding that gets done in Big Lake, undersized oysters.
At one time, there were only a few oyster fishermen cause it was so hard work. Now, when Pogy season ends, a few of the East Coast oyster fishermen stay and oyster cause it got easier, and they shut down oystering in the Chesapeke Bay(they dredge over there too). So we have a lot more boats hitting the reefs.
Bad thing is, we have a lot of clam reefs too. Or clams mixed in with the oysters. If they hear their chains drag across some shells, they will drop the dredges. They won't know that it is clams or oysters until the dredge is full. So, our clam reefs are getting tore up too.
Big Lake is too small of an area for dredges. Everyone knows it, but it won't change until the oysters are wiped out again. We have no public or private seed grounds. Our reefs are all natural. It will take years to get them back after they get drug over by 30 or 40 dredges a day.
If you haven't seen them out lately, go to the steam engine or 9 mile cut on cold days, they are all on the same reef. When tongs only were allowed, oyster fishermen were all over their secret spots, not wiping out the same reefs at the same time.
Just like the quote, you won't wipe out the fish with rod and reel, you won't wipe out the oysters with tongs. It is too hard work for 15 sacks a day at $20/sack. Only the hard core fishermen who grew up doing this kind of work will keep going with tongs.
I oyster fished for about 10 years between the ages of 15 and 25 for extra money. I did the tonging and got 1/3 the money, the boat got 1/3 and the boat owner who culled got 1/3, at $15/sack back then. It was hard work, but it was cash.
I hate to say it cause I have a lot of friends who are commercial fishermen, but if you allow some of them to fish out their living, they will, then they will gripe cause there are no oysters left.
Some didn't want the dredges cause they know oysters will get wiped out one day. But if they tong, it won't be fair cause all the others are working less and making mor
Damaging the oyster reefs with dredges give less protection for shrimp and small fish. They have no place to hide from big predators like Reds and Specks.

The above is just my opinion based on what I know about oystering and what I have heard from oyster fishermen(some concerned, some don't give a crap).

Last edited by Ray; 12-16-2009 at 01:51 PM.
Reply With Quote