NJ shark fishing closure????

[Capt. Lou]

I do not shark fish at all anymore, however I'll fight to the end to protect the rights of our anglers to do so!!
Those foreign ships do in fact slaughter these fish and many other species wholesale, lets keep supporting their efforts through us purchasing their products carte blanche!
You can't have it both ways either you draw a line or your done!! We fish to the letter of the law, while they take what they want and couldn't care less about limits, treatys etc. Thanks to our Gov't they are really looking out for us fisherman, & I mean all american fisherman, what a joke,it's hard to believe we pay their salaries to screw us over time & time again!! How dumb can we be? Anyone??

[DMac]

[QUOTE=Capt. Lou]I do not shark fish at all anymore, however I'll fight to the end to protect the rights of our anglers to do so!!
Those foreign ships do in fact slaughter these fish and many other species wholesale, lets keep supporting their efforts through us purchasing their products carte blanche!
You can't have it both ways either you draw a line or your done!! We fish to the letter of the law, while they take what they want and couldn't care less about limits, treatys etc. Thanks to our Gov't they are really looking out for us fisherman, & I mean all american fisherman, what a joke,it's hard to believe we pay their salaries to screw us over time & time again!! How dumb can we be? Anyone?? :mad


Dumb very dumb. People are not willing to stand up and fight or kick and scream because of being afraid of what people will think of them.

What if our founding fathers of this great nation were the same as we are today. i would think we would still be under control by the british.

These foreign fishing vessels coming in and taking fish from our waters has to be stopped. Send out a broadcast to every nation giving them the warning and letting them know there vessel will be sunk. I would be human and go pick up any survivors after the boat goes down, but they would be they woudl be sent back to thier country as soon as we docked. one way plane ticket to international airport close to port of call. From there they would have to figure it out. LOL

Sharks numbers are not at all a decline due to recreational fishing pressure. Anyone who states that is either in government or part of PETA LOL.

I personally will not even think about killing a mako before it gets approximately 200lbs. I know the average breeding weight is about 250-300lbs, but i look at it that it is a lot better than killing 54 inchers.

[sportfishingusa]

After seeing all the weigh ins and the size of the sharks we saw last season.. hm... something is going on.. something has to happen..

[DMac]

Originally Posted by sportfishingusa

After seeing all the weigh ins and the size of the sharks we saw last season.. hm... something is going on.. something has to happen..

That is the fault of the tournament rules. Put minimums on the size either length or weight. I prefer the length myself even though no tournaments currently do that in NJ. At least the SJ has a 200lb minimum weight. I think there has to be penalities too. Negative points for taking shark that is 10% below target weight. That should cover misjudging on length weight charts.

Keeping sharks for the "table" that never made it to the weigh station is the biggest crime during these tournaments. Last year at the SJ. I saw at least 7-8 makos that looked like they would not have even made the 100lb mark, but it is legal to keep a 54 inch fish so what can be said to these people.

They are closing our seabass fishery, where the species changes from female to male at or about our size limit, but they allow baby makos and other species to be killed. Shark fishing to me is more about the challenge of getting a big fish. I have and had no problem releasing every mako brought to the boat this year, because i did not get one at that two hundred pound mark. It was especially hard on last overnighter of year when sword rod went off and ended up being a mako in the 125-130 class. with the tuna season a bust once again I was thinking how good those mako steaks would taste in the middle of the winter, but instead practiced with ARC dehooker to retrieve the hook and tagged and let it go.

I do not think that these tournaments have caused the issue, just making a point of how they could modify rules.

Only thing that people will argue is at times this might result in no makos being caught over 200lbs like it did in the SJ two years ago, but that should show people that something needs to be done to stop the finning and other BS.

[sportfishingusa]

Originally Posted by DMac

That is the fault of the tournament rules. Put minimums on the size either length or weight. I prefer the length myself even though no tournaments currently do that in NJ. At least the SJ has a 200lb minimum weight. I think there has to be penalities too. Negative points for taking shark that is 10% below target weight. That should cover misjudging on length weight charts.

Keeping sharks for the "table" that never made it to the weigh station is the biggest crime during these tournaments. Last year at the SJ. I saw at least 7-8 makos that looked like they would not have even made the 100lb mark, but it is legal to keep a 54 inch fish so what can be said to these people.

They are closing our seabass fishery, where the species changes from female to male at or about our size limit, but they allow baby makos and other species to be killed. Shark fishing to me is more about the challenge of getting a big fish. I have and had no problem releasing every mako brought to the boat this year, because i did not get one at that two hundred pound mark. It was especially hard on last overnighter of year when sword rod went off and ended up being a mako in the 125-130 class. with the tuna season a bust once again I was thinking how good those mako steaks would taste in the middle of the winter, but instead practiced with ARC dehooker to retrieve the hook and tagged and let it go.

I do not think that these tournaments have caused the issue, just making a point of how they could modify rules.

Only thing that people will argue is at times this might result in no makos being caught over 200lbs like it did in the SJ two years ago, but that should show people that something needs to be done to stop the finning and other BS.

you 100 percent right mac... I dont think you should take anything small... I cut one off last year at about 150lb or so thinking it would never have been in the money.. boy was i wrong


But i would think just because they only have to be 54" doesnt mean that the tournament can not make the regs for their tournament 60-65 inches or so!! I would like to see it..

I dont think they cuase a lot of mortality either.. But i know that we are to far of a run to catch some big guns during the one day tourneys!

[DMac]

Originally Posted by sportfishingusa

you 100 percent right mac... I dont think you should take anything small... I cut one off last year at about 150lb or so thinking it would never have been in the money.. boy was i wrong


But i would think just because they only have to be 54" doesnt mean that the tournament can not make the regs for their tournament 60-65 inches or so!! I would like to see it..

I dont think they cuase a lot of mortality either.. But i know that we are to far of a run to catch some big guns during the one day tourneys!

65 inches is too small. that 150 pound fish you cut off was probably closer to 72 inches. I think minimum for tournaments should be 78 inches or 6 1/2 foot. that puts them close to 200lbs depending on how fat they are.

I hear you thing that makes me sick is listening to all the hooked up right before lines out. have some respect for yourself. Better yet all the fish boated right at end of day that they have had laying on their deck trying to fish to find better one.

[High low]

Originally Posted by DMac

...thing that makes me sick is listening to all the hooked up right before lines out. have some respect for yourself. Better yet all the fish boated right at end of day that they have had laying on their deck trying to fish to find better one.

I didn't fish the mania last year, but was out at the fingers on an overnight chunk bite when the fleet showed up after the start. We heard bang sticks going off all day, but hardly heard any calls of fish on till end of day.

[DMac]

Originally Posted by High low

I didn't fish the mania last year, but was out at the fingers on an overnight chunk bite when the fleet showed up after the start. We heard bang sticks going off all day, but hardly heard any calls of fish on till end of day.

That is because people will kill a smaller fish hoping to find a bigger one as the day goes on. It not only is against tournament rules, but what a waste if they do get bigger one and dump the smaller fish. hence why I would say have a6-61/2 foot size limit for makos or 200lbs for all sharks. hand out weight to length tables at captains meeting and take away tag and release points for those missing weight by over 10% or 20lbs. The whole tag and release is BS too. Some people are definately calling in fish they never caught to keep up. No class. Should have to have photo evidence with time in shot. At least it would help even though they would figure out way to fudge that too.