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#1
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liberals at it again trying to hurt shrimpers
http://www.tlgnewspaper.com/louisian...ea-turtle-laws I want to know why I haven't seen any stories of mass overpopulations of sea turtles because of these teds that they claim are needed? it was never shrimpers hurting turtle populations but the wholesale slaughter of them on Mexican beaches as a food source and that has never stopped AFAIK. just another example of liberal feel good regulations that hurt fishermen |
#2
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The feds may well have the power to make stupid laws, and they've givem ample proof of that in foolish laws like the unreasonable and unscientific snapper regulations. But the state of Louisiana would do well to maintain its refusal to become an enforcement authority of stupid federal laws in all areas. |
#3
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Its because most turtles live well over 50 years. I'm all for commercial shrimping, but the damage that they do to fisheries stocks are unimaginable.
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#4
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If commercial shrimping efforts are harming fish stocks, then they should be curtailed on that basis (rather than turtles) after sound science demonstrates which species are being harmed and the time and locations of commercial shrimping efforts which are causing the harm. As far as I can tell the present assertion that current levels of commercial shrimping effort are causing "unimaginable" harm to fisheries stocks is completely unsupported by the data. The stocks of red snapper, triple tail, speckled trout, red drum, and most other important species are very healthy in Louisiana waters and in federal waters adjacent to Louisiana. To which stocks has "unimaginable" harm been caused, and where is the supporting data piblished? |
#5
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that said I agree with you and hate how trawling is hugely wasteful in the massive bycatch slaughter and I wish they could find a way to stop the killing of dozens of small fish every drag with a recreational trawl and hundreds of small fish per hour by the big trawlers. when I used to trawl I would raise more often and pick out and throw the fish back first before picking the shrimp so only a handful might not make it, but the seagulls ate well lol. many small trout reds and croakers and even an occasional snapper was seen and I never shook the feeling of wanting a way to not kill these little ones I wanted to grow big so I could catch later. but the question is how to "not catch" something not much bigger then the species you are targeting. I often wondered if there might be a way to "pool" the catch in a holding tank so its taken out of the water right away while the boat is in motion so fish can swim and separate from the shrimp that settle to the bottom. but i have no clue how something like that could work to bring the catch instantly onboard like an escalator to separate out the shrimp and lets the fish back to the water still alive and frisky. Last edited by keakar; 04-02-2015 at 02:49 PM. |
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#7
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I'll be the first one to say that I would love to see them recover. I've heard from several people who have traveled and spent time of pacific islands that turtle is great eating. And a pair of turtle boots would be sweet. |
#8
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most times birds follow trawlers like flies on turds so anything floating in the water instantly gets eaten and not wasted but I would rather them get returned to the water alive if there was a "reasonable" way but they never do anything "reasonable" with regulations or gear restrictions. the bycatch question is a tough one because the never ending question is how do you find a way to let 2"-3" fish get out easily but not let 2"-3" shrimp be able to escape at the same time? short of forcing trawlers to raise the nets every 15 minutes and exclusively use salt barrels (fish float, shrimp sink) instead of dumping the catch on deck or in picking boxes, I don't know how you can keep the bycatch from drowning in the trawl on you |
#9
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BRD's
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#10
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im just fantasizing about finding a way to not allow "any" shrimp to escape and still remove the bycatch. at present, only half of what a shrimper has go through his net stays in his net because of these flawed devices that work without caring how much shrimp can get out. most shrimpers I know will stitch the teds closed to stop the loss of shrimp and if checked they pull the extra rope that unzips the ted so when the net comes up the ted "appears fully fuctional to anyone checking or watching nearby. that's why they have that seamingly useless extra rope hanging from the trawl, its run through the webbing to keep the flap closed but slips right out when pulled on |
#11
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The thing about "Bycatch reduction devices" is that they are also inevitably catch reduction devices.
BRDs reduce the intented catch as well as the bycatch, thus driving up operational and fuel costs for the fishers and thus product costs for the customers. Adding more burdens to commercial (or recreational) fishermen is only warranted if there is solid data showing that the ongoing resource impacts of not adding the burdens is significant enough to justify the added burdens. Even without TEDs, turtle catch rates in the Gulf are very low, under 1 turtle every 300 hours of trawling. |
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#13
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right now they barely make any money at all and if something breaks they lose money on the trip. |
#14
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I think markets should dictate prices. With that being said we should restrict imported shrimp.
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#15
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Markets should dictate prices, but the prices should be based on reasonable production costs, not production costs that are inflated due to irrational, unsubstantiated fears that bycatch is harming resources in an unsustainable way. The more important issue is separation of powers. The Feds need to enforce federal rules without strong arming state agencies into acting like federal thugs. DO WE REALLY WANT LDWF AGENTS ENFORCING ALL FEDERAL FISHING RULES (including red snapper)? |
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#18
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Is it crazy to assume that most of the bycatch is not eaten by larger fish and other marine life? I know the seagulls get plenty of it but I have to think that other predatory fish get in on the easy meal as well? I mean they catch Tuna 15 miles out of mouth of the Mississippi behind shrimp boats, I am sure other bigger fish have caught on as well . I worked as a deckhand one summer on a skimmer in southwest pass and I can remember catching 1 speckled trout that was big enough to filet. We would dump the nets in salt saturated brine and skim the dead fish off. It was mostly eels, croakers and needle fish. I have to think that a good portion of by catch would have been consumed by predators if it hadn't ended up in a net. What difference ecologically does it make if the by catch is consumed after its sorted and dumped? Shrimpers don't catch all the shrimp out there, I have to assume the same for by catch. There's always by catch. As for Sea Turtles, I think there would be a lot more of them if they moved out of the way of boats. I've worked and fished offshore long enough to see more than a few plowed into by recreational fisherman, commercial fishing boats, head boats, work boats, pretty much any boat around a rig or platform.
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#19
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I think we all agree on that. Quote:
and to be accurate if you bother to look into the facts behind this strange request, they are doing this under duress, only because they want the feds to impose more tariffs on imported shrimp which the feds aren't willing to do until we show more compliance with fed regulations. so this is a way they believe they can get the feds to go along with higher import tariffs. and to be clear the name doesn't mean they just work for the benefit of the fisherman, the "shrimpers" only make up one third of the task force and the other third is shrimp processors with the final third being LDWF agency members or affiliates so this is NOT a group of shrimpers begging to be regulated more as you may wish to think. not to mention it is run by the DWLF and operates under their guidance so it is not a private entity CCA constantly works against fishermen against all manner of common sense and fair fisheries management despite having "so-called" fishermen and sportsmen making these decisions so assuming things based on the name something is called is flawed thinking. Last edited by keakar; 04-03-2015 at 11:12 AM. |
#20
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