How is purse seining destroying the oceans?

[HOLWACHAGOT]

A wide open question, again one I hope can be discussed halfway politely.

How is purse seining destroying the ocean?

Is it?

I would like opinions and facts on this topic from any part of the world. The topic arose from a longliner thread in mix it up and got me to thinking, but rather than derail that thread I decided to try and start a discussion here.

Here in the Chesapeake Bay, I cannot help but feel it is crushing the Bunker populations. This is my opinion, not fact.

Let the discussion begin.

Holwachagot

[Ravens16]

The Omega mess down at CBBT in the fall is freaking crazy
When they come through you might as well forget about catching!
Spotter planes, nuts!
That's all I have to say, sorry!

[Bluewater Sportfishing]

there are many types of purse seining, with that I mean you have small boats from 45 feet to 70 feet that dont do to much harm to the stocks. for one they make a set and dont always catch the whole school. buy the time they make the circle some of the school gets away to live and breed. Now the big factory ships that have massive nets are the culprits... example, omega corp. what they do is simply absurd but if you stop them then you have to stop all commercial fishing. The purse seining is far better to the stocks of fish then mid water trawl boats. the mid water trawl boats are disasterious to the stocks. take the herring mess in the gulf of maine....now that they are out the herring is coming back this year. But whos fault is it? is it the captains fault or the corporation behind the boats fault?


Most people want to blame the crew or captain but they are trying to make a living just like the rest of us. I blame the corporations, some pencile jocky sitting up in a nice board room not giving a shit about the future of the fish stocks.
When I talk about the corporations I talk mainly about gordens and red lobster pet food corperations etc etc. Do we really need frozen fish sticks in the super market....no we dont...
this is another rant for another time


back to your question,
I dont believe purse seining is do much damage at all in fact its one of the cleanest ways to fish. the draggers are whats killing the ocean floor thus taking away the very food baitfish feed on and also habitat for sand eels. every one knows about the mud whole, no more whiting.
The commercial fishermen has a birthright on the ocean just as the sporties do..... the big question is how did the goverment get their claws into it and fuck it all up so that now they are doing more harm to the stocks then the commercial and recs?

[Sea Draggin]

Originally Posted by Ravens16

The Omega mess down at CBBT in the fall is freaking crazy
When they come through you might as well forget about catching!
Spotter planes, nuts!
That's all I have to say, sorry!

Three to four years ago you could walk across the pogies on the beach off shack. They are gone. I'm talking big green boils in 80ft of water..... to now fishing all day and only marking a few scratches. I wonder where they all went?

[Bunker Bouy]

Originally Posted by Sea Draggin

Three to four years ago you could walk across the pogies on the beach off shack. They are gone. I'm talking big green boils in 80ft of water..... to now fishing all day and only marking a few scratches. I wonder where they all went?

you don't purse seine porgies. you drag em.

[HOLWACHAGOT]

Originally Posted by Bunker Bouy

you don't purse seine porgies. you drag em.

A pogie is a Bunker. Are you saying you don't seine Bunker or you don't know the difference?
Holwachagot

[Bunker Bouy]

Originally Posted by HOLWACHAGOT

A pogie is a Bunker. Are you saying you don't seine Bunker or you don't know the difference?
Holwachagot

im sorry, i miss read. i thought it read porgy, little silvery fish.
i know that they call bunker pogie's up east.but not in cape may. and yes as i know what a bunker is. i fill my fish holds with them on a daily basis. i am a purse seiner, how do you make a living?

[fishpicker]

Originally Posted by Bunker Bouy

you don't purse seine porgies. you drag em.

BB you are right and wrong. We down here call Scup porgys , Up north they call bunker porgies.

[fishpicker]

Originally Posted by Bunker Bouy

im sorry, i miss read. i thought it read porgy, little silvery fish.
i know that they call bunker pogie's up east.but not in cape may. and yes as i know what a bunker is. i fill my fish holds with them on a daily basis. i am a purse seiner, how do you make a living?

BB has come a long way as a Comm fishermen. He works on one of the top seine boats on the East coast. BB will tell you just like I will that seinning is thee most cleanest fisheries in our industry.

The reduction fleet is clean and on a very strict quota. The bio mass off Menhadden is at all time highs. So to answer the question I would say leave the menhadden fleet status quo.

[dunn6253]

Nice thread to start a discussion on Holwachagot, as me and the guy I fish with always talk about this same topic.

I have to say that if I had to choose between midwater trawlers or a purse seine, 100 percent of the time I would roll with the seiners. First trip tuna fishing this year out on Stellewagon Bank, I counted at least fifteen different draggers, who were out there for Cod. Now this was early June, and the season just opened. While we didn't catch any tuna, we were catching monster stripers that we weren't allowed to keep because of the EZE zone. It made me sick thinking of all the bycatch of stripers these guys were dragging up and just tossing back over, dead and floating. Do I know that they were dead, no, but there is a little chance that they survived I think. My point is that with purse seiners, there is a lot less by catch, if any at all, compared to the draggers, who take up almost anything that is in their nets way.

Sorry for the long ramble, but thanks for everyone's time with this forum, as I think this one of the best ones on this website.