Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt Sal
If you saw the letter ''B'' on the hull it means it was a ''bait'' boat. All purse seiners and the ones in the bay have a B on the hull. It is the law. I hate reduction boats but they are not that stupid to go close to shore and risk hughe fines. There are plenty of bunker outside.Also the.6 from the beach is for bait boats not reduction boats. FYI it is also illegal for a bait boat to transfer there catch to a reduction boat.Keep them out of Raritan Bay like NY did but look at who your governor is ??? A joke and he could cre less about fishermen or bunker boats.
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Thanks, Sal. You are correct. “B” does stand for bait. I thought it was for bunker since that’s what they were targeting. Also, these were not reduction boats but private commercial netters. I’m not sure where they sell their catch though. As for the lobster baits, the lobster men will use whatever is available and cheap. The boats out of Pt. Judith often use skates strung together inside their traps. They last for a long time and are bought in large barrels as bycatch from trawlers.
The amount of bunkers that are still around at the beginning of September is highly unusual. If your business is to catch and sell fish, you’ll go wherever you have to in order to get a paycheck. In this case, the bait is here and therefore , so are the boats. We can only hope the bait stays around close to shore when the stripers come through. Maybe they will migrate closer to the beaches instead of 15 miles out.
