Winter Giants of the Gulf of Maine

[ifish4tuna]

Yeah baby, that's right. Winter hook ups. Thats the word anyway from long liners. So thick in numbers, they had to up and move their gear since it's offseason.

Between this news and herring adjustments, this looks to be a great season.

Ed

[Bluewater Sportfishing]

Yeah baby, that's right. Winter hook ups. Thats the word anyway from long liners. So thick in numbers, they had to up and move their gear since it's offseason.

Between this news and herring adjustments, this looks to be a great season.

Ed

For real? aint that some shit? Are these inshore or offshore? and what are they eating?

[Chris_K]

ifish4tuna,
What is the herring adgustment(where and when)? Our friends up there have been bitching about the over fishing of herring for years!!! They atribute the dwindling grounds fish and patchy BFT to the decline of herring stock.
Hopefuly that will all change soon.

[capt. jakeg]

And from all I have heard, they haven't left the canyons here off the midatlantic all winter as well. One report I heard had a longliner fishing for swords in the norfolk in late january with over 200 fish. The bad side of it was that I believe the longlining season was not open or something and all had to be cut off the lines.

[oldmud]

This is some of the reason it is so hard to discuss both sides of an issue .

The joke is over and we must face factsPublished: Monday, 5 March, 2007, 09:29 AM Doha Time

By Paula Moore
WASHINGTON: Al Gore didn’t mention the giant squid during his appearance at the Academy Awards, but he certainly could have. Experts say that the rare colossal squid recently caught by New Zealand fishermen may not be unusual in coming years. Thanks to rising temperatures, squid and octopuses are gradually becoming larger.
The experts interviewed by reporters were practically jovial about this. The upside of global warming, some suggested, is that we could soon be enjoying meaty calamari rings as large as tractor tyres.
One expert on cephalopods even offered this fascinating insight: “They taste great.”
While some scientists cracked jokes — “calamari, anyone?” — I wasn’t laughing. Aside from my very real concerns about global warming, reading about an animal who fought for his life for two hours — two hours! — before finally succumbing to exhaustion didn’t strike me as funny.
New Zealand Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said that the squid was “almost dead when it reached the surface” — who wouldn’t be after struggling for so long? — and was hauled on board the fishing vessel, then frozen in the ship’s hull. The squid was taken back to New Zealand to be poked and prodded by researchers.
Now that the ‘joke’ has run its course, we must face facts. As commercial fishing vessels go farther and farther out to the deeper ocean — because they have over-fished coastal waters — we will see many once-elusive animals like the colossal squid entangled in their nets and lines. This is not reason for celebration.
Commercial fishing is decimating our ocean ecosystems. About 90% of large fish populations have been exterminated in the last 50 years and a recent report estimates that by the year 2048, our oceans will have been completely over-fished.
Many fish as well as sea turtles, birds, seals and squid, are caught by ‘mistake’, tangled in nets or hooked by long-lines. Scientists recently found that nearly 1,000 marine mammals are killed every single day after being caught in fishing nets.
To make matters worse, all marine animals, including fish, suffer horribly when they are impaled on hooks or sliced open by the thin mesh of a net.
One of my colleagues at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) witnessed this firsthand when she went out on a commercial gill netter for a television documentary. On gill netters, every fish caught is entangled in the net, and the fish come aboard one by one as the net is reeled in. My colleague watched as fish after fish was torn out of the tangle, the net slicing into their bodies.
From the net, the fish were roughly tossed into a metal bin. Some were still thrashing, some were too tired; many were vomiting up their guts, their eyes bulging from the pressure changes. After a few minutes, their gill arches were slit and they were thrown into the next bin, where they twitched and gasped, slowly bleeding to death.
None of this is necessary. Leaving fish (and other animals) off our plates is the most humane choice — and the best way to help replenish the world’s fragile oceans.
It is the only way to ensure that spectacular animals like the colossal squid, surely one of the most mysterious beings of the deep ocean, are spared the indignity of being violently hauled out of their watery homes and turned into the object of cheap jokes. – MCT
* Paula Moore is a senior writer with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 501 Front Street, Norfolk, Va. 23510.




Gulf Times Newspaper, 2007 ©

OK ED I'M READY TO STICK ONE , OR TWO



Don

[fmoore]

Oh, that's so sad, a poor squid fighting for it's life for two hours.
The only thing sad about that is the meat might deteriorate a little bit, espically if it was a tuna.
As for depleting the giant squid population, Catch 'em up, boys.
30 foot squid with a girth the size of tractor trailer tires, I'm in, I wish

[Bluewater Lady Charters]

Leaving fish (and other animals) off our plates is the most humane choice.

Ain't gonna happen. Born and raised on fish and meat and potatos

[waterman482]

And from all I have heard, they haven't left the canyons here off the midatlantic all winter as well. One report I heard had a longliner fishing for swords in the norfolk in late january with over 200 fish. The bad side of it was that I believe the longlining season was not open or something and all had to be cut off the lines.

Comm longliners are allowed 1 gbft for the first 8000lbs of yft,bet,albacore and sword and then a second gbft once you catch 15,000lbs of other pelagic species i believe that is how it is structured i will have to look at how the rule reads specifically next time i am on the boat i am not 100% sure of the exact #s but it works like this i know we had to cut a few BIG BOYS off this fall while swordfishing but they were in good shape and swam off

[wrap-check]

Comm longliners are allowed 1 gbft for the first 8000lbs of yft,bet,albacore and sword and then a second gbft once you catch 15,000lbs of other pelagic species i believe that is how it is structured i will have to look at how the rule reads specifically next time i am on the boat i am not 100% sure of the exact #s but it works like this i know we had to cut a few BIG BOYS off this fall while swordfishing but they were in good shape and swam off

I wouldn't mind drifting nearby, and taking a shot at a couple of those "releases".

When I was a little kid, the tuna seiners would sometimes let a couple out of the nets if they had a really big set. Sort of a peace offering, if they took a big school out of an area where other boats were working. Didn't happen often, but a pretty nice bonus - they would come over the top of the net a little disoriented, and right on the surface - easy stick.

[waterman482]

I wouldn't mind drifting nearby, and taking a shot at a couple of those "releases".

When I was a little kid, the tuna seiners would sometimes let a couple out of the nets if they had a really big set. Sort of a peace offering, if they took a big school out of an area where other boats were working. Didn't happen often, but a pretty nice bonus - they would come over the top of the net a little disoriented, and right on the surface - easy stick.

pretty much all of them were "GREEN" but there were some truly impressive fish and i have seen some big ones these were not the 400-500lb models that some call giants these were the real deal