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for hire boats 20 sea bass 45 scup,,,from may 1 to june 26,,,comm. regs, hookers 200 lbs sea bass and 200 lbs. scup every sunday, monday, wedn..till spring tac is closed,,, potters 500 lbs and 200 lbs, scup, same days.. 3 days a week ,,,getting better all the time,,,,we,ll be out of a job next year..
what makes the potter so much better then the hooker? not sure why they are allowed almost double the sea bass quota, but the same for the scup...freekin state...
mike abdow - 3/11/2008 4:35 PMfor hire boats 20 sea bass 45 scup,,,from may 1 to june 26,,,comm. regs, hookers 200 lbs sea bass and 200 lbs. scup every sunday, monday, wedn..till spring tac is closed,,, potters 500 lbs and 200 lbs, scup, same days.. 3 days a week ,,,getting better all the time,,,,we,ll be out of a job next year..
Mike- where'd you get the regs from, because theres been no advisories released, you talk to DM on the phone?
I understand theres some hold up on the language of the new regs, specifically in the sea bass pot fishery, theres an issue of clarification in the verbiage.
The original state quota was set using catch reports filed by the sea bass pot fishery,the same way the fluke quota was set using the dragger catch reports. Hook and line catches were not considered because of non reporting by those user groups. You ought to thank the potters for reporting or there would have been about 1% instead of 13% for mass,they're sharing with you. The Mass sea bass are set as stated and tautog can be harvested by pots as they have been traditionally no changes there. -paul
I talked to dm sometimes 2 to 3 times a week ,,and this is what he told me thursday,,I think? I just lost a half a dozen charters at 45 scup,, I am not happy,,,,, the regs will be sent out this week
SNIKTAW4069 - . You ought to thank the potters for reporting or there would have been about 1% instead of 13% for mass,they're sharing with you. The Mass sea bass are set as stated and tautog can be harvested by pots as they have been traditionally no changes there. -paul
No- the sea bass fishery wasn't just a pot fishery, in fact almost without exception every single pot permit holder started out catching them with hooks. As far as reporting is concerned there were a few of us hookers who had fed permits and were reporting to NMFS- as far as the 13%, it's a shame it should be no less than 20%.
As far as sharing with me- BS !!!!!! I have been landing sea bass longer than 1/3 of the pot permitees - they bought their permits (which is BS a sneaky last minute favor from Jim Fair on the way out the door) and theose new guys shouldn't get the 500 or we who have history should get the 500. I'm sick and tired of attitudes like yours, I should thank you- kiss my ass I should thank you.
As far as tautog is concerned- there is no legal pot fishery- it was a tremendous oversight on the part of the DMF, I think the delay in the regs being announced is because they are having to figure out how to tell you guys this...Do you think they sent out the notice last fall that potters couldn't keep their traps in the water after sea bass closed was a practical joke?
It's not a bycatch, there is no tog permit and there is no legal means to retain tog caught in pots, look it up, there is no language in the CMR that allows for the harvest of tog by pot. The DMF began to rewrite the regs to accomodate this as a bycatch, but didn't and there are only a few vague ref's to this.
You guys tried to stick that 100#'s of sea bass up my ass, so now as far as I am concerned, the whiny ryalty acting potters can pound sand, be grateful we hookers don't petition the state to eliminate the habitat trap fishery, much like they've done in almost every other state.
For years I rallied with the potters, spoke in their favor at hearings, saved their miserable asses from the draggers last year and this is the thanks I get- 100#'s?? Screw you guys.
mike abdow - 3/15/2008 4:26 PMI talked to dm sometimes 2 to 3 times a week ,,and this is what he told me thursday,,I think? I just lost a half a dozen charters at 45 scup,, I am not happy,,,,, the regs will be sent out this week
YOU go all the way around Monomoy and come into the sound , just to take scup charters?
Or do you move the boat around for those charters and pick them up in Harwich or Stage?
Speaking of which, 2 years ago was the first time I've EVER seen your boat off Hyannis, I've never missed a day in 17 years......
The sea bass quota was set using the pot fishery landings,and I agree the quota is too low. Tautog pot fishery is going back to the same as it was ,open to all gear types 40 fish per day same as the rod&reel and draggers,the states position is we don't care how you kill them there is a quota. We are looking into the the misuse use of the $30 R&R permit to land commercial harvests by recreational fishermen in the tautog fishery and will be addressing it. These fish are being landed,mostly in New Bedford area. They are not being counted by MIRFS or the Quota.
SNIKTAW4069 - 3/16/2008 5:50 AM We are looking into the the misuse use of the $30 R&R permit to land commercial harvests by recreational fishermen in the tautog fishery and will be addressing it. These fish are being landed,mostly in New Bedford area. They are not being counted by MIRFS or the Quota.
If these fish are being landed by person's with a commercial permit, then they are legal landings and those fishermen are "commercial". If the potters are passing fish or are landing fish and selling fish using somebody elses permit to land more, thats illegal and is going on and needs to be addressed, but likely it won't be. Is this what you meant?
The tog are probably going to be able to be potted in the spring, as a bycatch, but I don't see the
state opening the fishery to traps in the fall, once sea bass is closed. They didn't last year.
I thought the state should have left the spring closed and just opened it August 1'st. The fish are worth much more then and then we wouldn't have to worry about going over so much.
With so little quota, we should have saved the fish till they are worth the most, this is just stupid, we practically give them away in the spring, sometimes for as little as 1/4 of what they are worth in the summer and now we have 175K# to share for the spring that we will just give away, great!
As a hooker, I thought it was funny the guys who spoke as hookers who said if you take away the spring, you leave us with no fishery....that the potters are the only ones who can catch them in the summer...yep, those are some real fishermen? That yanks my chain. The potters are ready to slit my throat for 100# and these guys who are realtors and firemen and car salesman and mailmen --- can't catch fish in the summer,----->this place is screwed.
i started doing scup charters 2 or 3 years ago,,,because the market fell out of the scup fisheries,, i run out of stage for 2 months in the spring then move back to the fish pier,,,,to the guy who said all i lost was a couple of charters,,,2 to3 years ago charters could catch 100 fish per man ,,than down to 60,,now down to 45,,,what,s next ,,,,10,,, these guys come for the the amount not for the sport,,,when the draggers were throwing back 7,000 lbs. per tow,,,that was no problem,,, now they reduce us to 45 like that is going to help the fisheries
mike abdow - 3/16/2008 9:53 AMi started doing scup charters 2 or 3 years ago,,,because the market fell out of the scup fisheries,, i run out of stage for 2 months in the spring then move back to the fish pier,,,,to the guy who said all i lost was a couple of charters,,,2 to3 years ago charters could catch 100 fish per man ,,than down to 60,,now down to 45,,,what,s next ,,,,10,,, these guys come for the the amount not for the sport,,,when the draggers were throwing back 7,000 lbs. per tow,,,that was no problem,,, now they reduce us to 45 like that is going to help the fisheries
Right- I thought to myself when I first saw you coming around- this is a bad sign.....
I realized that you needed a good reason to be all the way down here.
What I think is amazing is how they will let the commercial quota almost go uncaught and then give it all away to the offshore boats in the fall, but they won't let any of us catch what we need while we can catch them- absolutely ridiculous.
Again Ma. recs are being forced to comply with regs that were necessitated by the overages of other states- total BS!! MA should get out from the authority of any management plan that is divised by the mid atlantic that we don't have a vote on!!
Ween't the ones with the huge overages recreationally and we shouldn't have to pay for the states that are, but we do!!
The sea bass quota was set using the pot fishery landings,and I agree the quota is too low. Tautog pot fishery is going back to the same as it was ,open to all gear types 40 fish per day same as the rod&reel and draggers,the states position is we don't care how you kill them there is a quota. We are looking into the the misuse use of the $30 R&R permit to land commercial harvests by recreational fishermen in the tautog fishery and will be addressing it. These fish are being landed,mostly in New Bedford area. They are not being counted by MIRFS or the Quota.
I dont know what the heck this means, if they are purchasing the permit they are commercial, are you implying that they buy the permit and keep the fish for the table and therefore are never reported and got towards the quota? If this is the case than that overage should be factored into the quota.
You got it right 40 fish for the table and they aren't being sold or counted towards the recreational total,big loop hole. These fish are not passed off but taken home by recreational R&R fishermen with a boat permit. The highest price paid for sea bass last year was the first week of the spring season,not the summer or fall. The pot fishermen and the dealers got together and proposed the 3 day a week commercial season to help maintain a higher price. With the better stock assesments for2008 the TAC for 2009 should increase allowing a longer spring and fall season. The fall tautog fishery will include the potters,the state has rectified the source of last falls problem. You should get a copy mailed or e-mailed to you this week if you are on the mailing list.
SNIKTAW4069 - 3/16/2008 3:21 PMYou got it right 40 fish for the table and they aren't being sold or counted towards the recreational total,big loop hole. These fish are not passed off but taken home by recreational R&R fishermen with a boat permit. The highest price paid for sea bass last year was the first week of the spring season,not the summer or fall. The pot fishermen and the dealers got together and proposed the 3 day a week commercial season to help maintain a higher price. With the better stock assesments for2008 the TAC for 2009 should increase allowing a longer spring and fall season. The fall tautog fishery will include the potters,the state has rectified the source of last falls problem. You should get a copy mailed or e-mailed to you this week if you are on the mailing list.
Kind of hard to "rectify" a non existant reg. There is no potting permit for tautog, therefore, if sea bass is closed there is no possesion allowed by traps, period. The regs can't be changed, legally, to accomodate this, without a public hearing/s and there is no way to get around this. Creating a new permit is the only way to accomodate this and it can't happen without the state offering the permit to everyone or having a lottery.
How is it that you seem to know so much about this and even used the term "we" when referring to the state? Are you a DMF or state fisheries worker?
What I have been told, is that there is no legal means by which the potters can retain tautog if sea bass is closed, because there is no legal means to have the gear in the water. That would be like letting the scup potters use their pot's to catch sea bass in the spring when the directed fishery is closed, which is illegal and was recently revisited and kept illegal, so, if they are going to try to change the rules, without due process, they are going to have a lot of explaining to do to the governor and the attorney general. I'll see to it.
Some of us are sick and tired of the DMF's BS and we aren't going to take it anymore.....
crazyclammer - 3/16/2008 7:21 PMisn't there a tautog bycatch allowance for lobstermen? i thought i heard once that was the case..??who knows. i've been outta the game for a while now so if im wrong, i won't be surprised...
Not just tautog- they can retain up to 100#'s of anything (in season) if the have at least as much in lobsters.
But there is no language in the CMR to allow sea bass potters to retain anything caught in their sea bass pots but sea bass.
This may end up in court.
This is what happens when you try to steal someones living....they get pissed off.
sea bass regs and scup regs 
