Move to ban fish nets grows

Concerns over rockfish poaching sparks online petition
By PAMELA WOOD, Staff Writer

Capital Gazette Communications
Published 02/25/11
As watermen go back out on the water Friday to net rockfish, an online effort to ban fish nets is growing.

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About 3,000 people have signed an online petition asking the state to ban commercial fishing nets in the Chesapeake Bay.

That's on top of 800 who signed a pen-and-paper petition over the weekend at the Pasadena Sportfishing Group's annual flea market.

Jerry Collier, a self-described "avid outdoorsman" from Severna Park, said he started the petition to channel all the anger and frustration he'd seen since large-scale illegal rockfish netting operations were discovered in the Chesapeake Bay.

"Everybody was complaining and there was all this finger-pointing," Collier said.

He rented a table at the fishing flea market, where the petition was a popular draw.

After that, he created an online petition that spread rapidly this week, as signees posted links on Facebook pages and talked about the petition on the popular fishing discussion boards at TidalFish.com.

"It highlights just how concerned people are, because it's growing like crazy … If it wasn't an important issue, I don't think people would respond," he said.

Collier doesn't see himself as a crusader or activist. And he emphasizes that he's not trying to put watermen out of business - he just wants to spur discussion (and maybe action) on the issue of netting for fish.

He enjoys fishing and worries that the rockfish population could be in trouble - which makes recent poaching activity all the more worrisome.

Since Jan. 30, Natural Resources Police have found scores of illegally anchored nets containing nearly 13 tons of rockfish, also called striped bass.

The latest find came earlier this week when 400 yards of nets containing 400 pounds of fish were found near Bloody Point Lighthouse off the southern tip of Kent Island.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Natural Resources temporarily shut down the gill net season. But they reopened it for today and Monday because the state had not hit its monthly quota of rockfish, even with the fish from the illegal nets included.

While gill nets have been at the center of attention in recent weeks, the online petition seeks an end to almost all commercial netting of fish.

Watermen use various kinds of nets to catch different species, such as pound net enclosures and cylindrical fyke nets.

The online petition also seeks tougher penalties for violations of netting laws.

Tom O'Connell, the DNR's director of fisheries, said he thinks the swift response to the petition is a reflection of passion stirred up by the illegal netting activity.

"It definitely shows people are very concerned about what we experienced over the last several weeks, and that's a valid concern," he said.

That said, O'Connell would prefer to hear specific comments about problems with different kinds of nets.

"I'm more interested in knowing what the issues of concern are, rather than knowing 2,000 people have signed a petition," O'Connell said Thursday afternoon.

Specifically, O'Connell said the state must consider any biological, ecological and enforcement issues related to each kind of net and fish that are being caught.

The DNR likely would not ban all nets in one fell swoop. Rather, O'Connell said it would consider any changes on a fishery-by-fishery basis, and only then if there are specific problems.


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The petition can be found at www.tinyurl.com/gillnets.