reeljustice

WKRG

Didn't know that Gill Nets were still legal in Alabama.

Molanabe

Wow!!! That's a variety of fish on display.

oicu812

Gill netters should be outlawed everywhere

dryhydro

Wonder if those sharks are legal???

pooldoo73

With all the sharks that are still left in the net, I feel like it may have been an illegal set. THat whole net would have to be stretched out to clear fish once home. No commercial guy I know wants to do that much extra work.

Furbird

Sharknado.

bhales

old commercial Guy here, Someones grandfather.
i dont know him but seems like thats most of his livelyhood gone. there is a go fund me to get him back on his feet. i dont see anything on that net that we dont have an over abundance of here in Mobile bay. 2020 Sucks

bluescholar

I'm always happy to see one less gill netter out there. It's a hard way to make a living I'm sure, but they need to go the way of the market hunters 100 years ago. What market is there for hardheads, black drum and small sharks? Dog food? Fertilizer?

bhales

i would say this was for animal feed, but this is Mobile so you never know. i have seen all 3 on a dinner plate before

Jeepman

Sucks for the oldman. Does Alabama Licence gill netters? if so do they have a buy back program in place? Texas has a buy back program for commercial licences, good program that lets people who are making a living keep doing so if they wish. But also gives those who want out a method to do so. If Bama does not have one, might be a good time and good reason to start.


details below
https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish.../buyback.phtml

KimmerIII

There were some folks grandfathered in when gill nets were banned in Alabama because they screamed all about their livelihood being taken away etc. They all need to be banned. I’m glad no new better are allowed. They decimate areas.

Jackfish2800

Bama is the only state in Gulf of Mexico that hasn’t completely banned these damn things. They made a deal with the devil, despite many, including me, warning them not to do it. So as soon as they did every outlawed better from Florida to Louisiana bought a bama license. They went from 50 netters to like 250 overnight so don’t buy that little old man bulllshit

LKD

Tired of this last of the independents,
tribal rights, and grandfathering crap. We could simplify this with uniform sets of rational rules. What we are doing now is not far off from driving on the right side of the road in Florida but having to switch to the left side in Alabama.

Not so long ago federal loan programs subsidized commercial boat purchases and led to bloated fleets and overfishing then to quotas and a variety of regulatory schemes. Why did this happen? Because special interest lobbying got to politicians, and the rest of us paid the bill.

Annually, we see waivers enabling tribal groups to take whales and regulated fish outside of General management programs. Why? Because of So-called “tribal customs.” I suppose we should be happy that these don’t include human sacrifice.

And we see policies like Alabama/Texas gill netting and other grandfathered practices that indiscriminately kill fish.

Enough. We need one set of rules. If grandpa doesn’t know anything else and can’t be trained, train him in some other trade or craft, subsidize his activities off the water for a few years. If he can’t stop poaching, seize his gear, put a gps monitor on him, or lock him up. The days of Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Buffalo Bill, and plains Indians driving bison herds off cliffs are gone.

I have seen too many of these “unfortunates” jacklighting deer, gillnetting, taking anything that flies, swims, or walks go on like this for years.

There is no substantive difference between these folks and welfare cheats— they are stealing from all of us.

And it’s not just a poor elderly Southern thing, either. Just take a trip up to New England and watch a schoolteacher moonlighting as a charter captain run three or four trips a day so that he, his deckhand, and six pax end up keeping 64 striped bass a day. Sportfishing, my ass.

cbrantley531

Glad to see the shark population drop a little! Do feel bad for the situation the old man is in.
People do jobs everyday that some of us may not agree with or like, but a man or woman has to do what he/she can to provide for their family.

pooldoo73

The KING did not make up all the exceptions. OUR political leaders that WE elected allowed this to happen. Most of these politicians are still likely in office because WE don't vote them out.

As for the fisherman, I hope he had insurance to cover this loss. If he did not, he should have. Handouts are for veterans and children.

Jeepman

Texas does not allow gill netting for any commercial interest, FYI. Not sure how you came to this conclusion, when it comes to commercial fishing Texas is by far the strictest of the gulf states.

Do not agree with your overpowering concept of control and one size fits all,one set of rules. Look what it has done to the RECs and red snapper.

LKD

You are correct with respect to gill netting in Texas, but the legislature has refused to appropriate sufficient funds for the Texas Parks & Wildlife commercial fishing license buyback programs for the inshore shrimp, crab, and finfish fisheries. This program provides a fair and equitable way to compensate small, grandfathered commercial fishermen while removing the impact of their activities.

I will suggest to you that a dead fish is a dead fish regardless if a poacher, pollution, habitat encroachment, legal fisherman, or grandpa kills it. Until the playing field is leveled, we will all be chasing our tails. There is some low-hanging fruit like grandfathered gillnetters in Alabama and the people eligible for buybacks in Texas that should be quickly picked.

There are industrial scale polluters and reduction fisheries that should be shut down. Until there is a recreational fisherman in the White House, I don't look for much to change on recreational v. commercial allocations; but, many recreational folks (take a look at striped bass) who are in denial about the real impact of recreational fisheries.

Jeepman

that is a matter of opinion, and you have ever right to have one.

But living here, and dealing with the recent floods, hurricanes, fires, etc... that have taken a toll not only on shrimpers and commercial fishermen but has severely damaged the infrastructure of TPWD across a huge portion of the state. I am satisfied with the program and understand there are more important things to spend time and energy on right now.

Midnight Runner

proof 2020 is a mess, where else are you going to see sharks hanging form a powerline. i can here it now " sorry your powers out mam, some sharks got tangled up in your powerline"

Jeepman

haha, you right and to add to the bullshit that is 2020 here is one of the local headlines from my neck of the woods today. Stupid stuff all year long.

Standoff with shots fired after man on a moped tried to run over electrical workers