Oyster Protest!

["W"]

Originally Posted by greenhorn0598

does any body know the worst thing to ever happen to commercial fishing GOVERNMENT!!!!!!!!!

Do you know the worst thing that happened to big lake? Dredging

[greenhorn0598]

actually dredging is not the worst thing to happen to the lake since the dredge has been allowed the reefs are bigger the worst thing is the people who do not cull their oysters right the people who sell the undersized oysters and buyers who buy them is the main problem

[mcjaredsandwich]

Originally Posted by greenhorn0598

actually dredging is not the worst thing to happen to the lake since the dredge has been allowed the reefs are bigger the worst thing is the people who do not cull their oysters right the people who sell the undersized oysters and buyers who buy them is the main problem

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.

["W"]

Originally Posted by greenhorn0598

actually dredging is not the worst thing to happen to the lake since the dredge has been allowed the reefs are bigger the worst thing is the people who do not cull their oysters right the people who sell the undersized oysters and buyers who buy them is the main problem

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

[Capt.B]

Originally Posted by greenhorn0598

actually dredging is not the worst thing to happen to the lake since the dredge has been allowed the reefs are bigger the worst thing is the people who do not cull their oysters right the people who sell the undersized oysters and buyers who buy them is the main problem

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. 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??

[greenhorn0598]

Originally Posted by Capt.B

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. 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??

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

["W"]

Oyster men have zero respect for our lake.....they might have a hand full that do respect it but its a small group!

Again...violations prove this by the numbers!

["W"]

I bet I called WL&F on oyterboats 15 times last year...I caught 5 of them north of Yank Jon...

[ckinchen]

It is great to see several oyster fishermen on here presenting their side. Welcome to the site, thanks to everyone for keeping this civil so it does not have to go to the gill net/ premium area.

[southern151]

Originally Posted by ckinchen

It is great to see several oyster fishermen on here presenting their side. Welcome to the site, thanks to everyone for keeping this civil so it does not have to go to the gill net/ premium area.

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

[greenhorn0598]

Originally Posted by southern151

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

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

[Raymond]

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

[Ray]

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.

[greenhorn0598]

Originally Posted by Ray

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.

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

["W"]

Originally Posted by greenhorn0598

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

[greenhorn0598]

Originally Posted by "W"

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

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

[southern151]

Originally Posted by greenhorn0598

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

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.

[ckinchen]

Originally Posted by southern151

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.

[southern151]

Originally Posted by ckinchen

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

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!

[Ray]

Originally Posted by greenhorn0598

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 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.