Hook and Line Permits

[Jigsmith]

Originally Posted by jigman90

I say there is a lot we could do about it! post there pictures of the boats and we can get a fleet to do circles around them all day they won't catch any fish and we can say we were just crusing all day
our gov't at its finest!!

Wow, if you're serious that's scary. Why don't you go do circles around the draggers instead?

[Life's A Beach]

Originally Posted by CaptTB

Why? They are not recreational fishermen. The fish they catch do not come from the recreational quota. These are commercial hook and line fishermen. It has nothing to do with you, with recreational fish or recreational fishermen. They have their own quota (commercial) that they fish on, same as a potter, same as a dragger.

Should the draggers only be allowed to fish when you can? Most hook and line permits have a limit to the number of pullers, but that is irrelevant.

Whether there are 2 or 10, it is no different than how many people work on a dragger. The fish are not going home in your cooler, they are being sold like every other commercially caught fish. The boat has both a limit to how many people can fish and it has a trip limit, just like a dragger.

Why are we even talking about LEGAL commercial fluke fishing in this forum? Why even start a post about a legal form of commercial fishing that is less destructive to the environment and fish than any other form of commercial fishing and that has existed since the dawn of time. Commercial hook and line permits have existed for decades. They have a quota, we have a quota. They can fish when their quota is available. Their quota is broken up into 4 parts and 4 time periods. At any point the quota for a given period is caught, they are shut down and cannot begin fishing again till the next time period opens.

Why wasn't anyone pissing and moaning when the commercial boats were catching fluke in January and February?

A. I think that we KNOW the commercial guys have their own season. The reason I mentioned it is because OUR season starts too late and finishes too early. Just comparing when commercial is allowed to fish compared to recreational.
The reason I asked about HOW MANY pullers were allowed is because Bird Chaser said his friend doesn't get his 400# every day. I was curious so I asked a question. I didn't ask ANYTHING about draggers. I was curious about the pin hookers and directed MY QUESTIONS to that only.

B. If you're questioning WHY this post was started in the MAIN FORUM is members just click and type; without regard to where the post SHOULD be posted.
Nobody disagrees that pin hooking is better for the environment than draggers; but then again, the thread wasn't about draggers.
No one was complaining about commercial fluke fishing in January because they were too busy complaining about sea bass being closed. Then their focus was on what kind of fluke season we would have. They question it NOW is because it's a week before fluke season opens and they see 5-10 boats fishing at the Bug Light, keeping 14" fish.

I hope I didn't come across as condensending (sp) or antagonistic