The shrimping industry

[Proheat]

I personally spent a week in Venice La. with Admin, Wahoonbox, Flatbottom and Capt.-D and saw how little the actual shrimper got for his catch. Ever since my return from there, when I buy shrimp at the store, I always check and make sure that it is wild caught and hopefully from the La., Ms., or Al. area.

[alex n]

I've seen the shrimp nets come in full of bycatch on Dirtiest Jobs on Discovery ,it seems to be a very wasteful form of fishing , aqua culture is the future even for species not yet farmed. ie. Bluefin Tuna

[Captain Michael Buffington]

Seems it is more of a geographic issue and how things are handled. Off the Texas coast, our sea floor is raked as smooth as the infield in Yankee Stadium. Not ONE rock / pebble, nothing.... until the 40 mile shelf and then you hit your first bottom contour. The shimpers here drag the bays, gulf, and would be in the lakes if shrimp grew there. The by-catch is horrible. Seems the only changes the "officials" keep making are ways to limit my fishing. Personally I am all for commercial shrimping, have them use cast nets...plain and simple. I wonder how well-received the "Deadliest Catch" would be if these crab boats drug HUGE metal plates across the bottom and brought nets packed with fish and marine life of all kinds (coral, etc) for a return of 1 lb of crab for 99 lbs of "by-catch".

Sorry... but the shrimping industry is killing itself by not improving techniques. I do not feel sorry for them and I enjoy my shrimp as much as the next guy. But if they can't figure out how to not have 99% by-catch and destroy coral growths and grass beds... See YA!

Barefootin is either lying or stupid as your bycatch numbers are appalling. Shame on you for saying that bs. You are baldfaced lying if you say your bycatch is not as I said. F$cking bullshit, you people rape the ocean...
Mike

[Captain Michael Buffington]

I personally spent a week in Venice La. with Admin, Wahoonbox, Flatbottom and Capt.-D and saw how little the actual shrimper got for his catch. Ever since my return from there, when I buy shrimp at the store, I always check and make sure that it is wild caught and hopefully from the La., Ms., or Al. area.

try seeing how many shrimp they catch in comparison to how many bycatch the kill indescrimanately...


Mike

[Captain Rich Adler]

Barefootin is either lying or stupid as your bycatch numbers are appalling. Shame on you for saying that bs. You are baldfaced lying if you say your bycatch is not as I said. F$cking bullshit, you people rape the ocean...


Mike- Why don't you tell him how you really feel??

[Captain Rich Adler]

For my two cents, I think shrimpers could go the way of commercial duck hunting (remember that?). The bycatch issue is very well documented, so is the loss of habitat from the nets. The snapper/ grouper fisheries would greatly benefit if this bycatch could be eliminated. I really am not worried about contamination of farmed shrimp, protein is protein! Likewise I'm not too worried if some third world country screws up their coastal wetlands trying to find a way to support their population. Our shrimpers need to find work in other fisheries or other industries, we need to give the live bottom a rest.

[Barefootin]

I agree with Galazio in that commercial shrimpers need to design better capture methods that reduce the bycatch %. I also beleive that keeping shrimpers from areas of known adolescent fish (nurseries) and that by creating 50% no shrimping zones in an area will improve populations of bait and sportfish species.
I would not call for the elimination of the farming industry in the central US just becaused the fertilizers and pesticides that flow down river create a dead zone of eight thousand square miles off the LA & TX coasts / offshore every year.
Somehow we can farm and keep from killing water, as well as shrimp & and retain a healthy fish population.
I have a CCA meeting on Thurs. and I will report on any relevant updates to this subject.
Chill out poon; bestill the hate.