striper kill

[crabby and son]

Second largest seizure of poached rockfish this year pulled from bay
NRP officers say they found 3.3 tons of dead, decaying striped bass near Tilghman Island



By Candus Thomson, The Baltimore Sun

5:27 p.m. EDT, May 3, 2011
bs-sp-poaching-20110503
About 3.3 tons of dead and decaying striped bass were recovered by Natural Resources Police Tuesday from an illegal net submerged in the waters off Tilghman Island. It was the second largest seizure of poached fish this year.

The net, the 10th seized since Feb. 1, was found on Sunday by a recreational fisherman whose lines became fouled in the tangle of mesh and fish. Police believe it had been in the water since the beginning of the year.

It took an 80-foot work boat with a crane several hours to gather up the nearly mile-long net and the ensnared fish, which averaged 15 pounds. So far, NRP has seized almost 16 tons of illegally caught striped bass, Maryland's state fish also known as rockfish.

The commercial gill net season has been closed since the end of February and is not scheduled to reopen until Dec. 1. The total tonnage of poached striped bass will be deducted from the commercial allotment.

candy.thomson@baltsun.com



Get rid of the gill nets!!!...........Gary

[hippie]

I hope everyone knows that Md. is one of the last states that still allows gill nets! Time to do something. I say if a person gets caught that person should be banned from netting and fishing for life. That is when they get out of jail.

[Mikie]

"It took an 80-foot work boat with a crane several hours to gather up the nearly mile-long net and the ensnared fish, which averaged 15 pounds."

Is this the same 600 yd long net that's been discussed everywhere for the last couple of days? If so, how did 1800' all of a sudden become 5280'? Everybody needs to keep their facts straight and stop trying to embellish everything to boister their egos and positions.

[reds]

Originally Posted by Mikie

"It took an 80-foot work boat with a crane several hours to gather up the nearly mile-long net and the ensnared fish, which averaged 15 pounds."

Is this the same 600 yd long net that's been discussed everywhere for the last couple of days? If so, how did 1800' all of a sudden become 5280'? Everybody needs to keep their facts straight and stop trying to embellish everything to boister their egos and positions.

Would love to see MSSA's and CCA's net budget for the year.

MSSA has altered a Maryland Natural Resources' letter around to suit themselves, what else have they done that we don't know about?

[B-Faithful]

I understand another net has been found that will be pulled tomorrow

[Skip]

Mikie - I heard the net was approx. 1,400 yards - 8/10 of a mile give / take.

It turned out to be longer then DNR first thought since they first grappled it in the middle - not the end.


Reds - Very likely more nets out there or Gibby would not have asked for an amnesty period to remove them. As Greg pointed out - DNR is pulling another one found by a charter boat.

With more people fishing - almost bet more nets will be found. The guys with side scans should be able to spot them as well.

[crabby and son]

The more nets that are found will better the cause for a net ban and hopefully save some more fish. Those nets looked like they had a no vacancy sign on them though. I can't believe some one hasn't been busted by now............Gary

[Fish Nut]

Originally Posted by hippie

I hope everyone knows that Md. is one of the last states that still allows gill nets! Time to do something. I say if a person gets caught that person should be banned from netting and fishing for life. That is when they get out of jail.

I took a quick look at different states commercial harvest methods.

I might have missed one this should be close for the discussion




Main , Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey & South Carolina Have no commercial harvest Of rock Fish.
Massachusetts Has a Hook& Line fishery ONLY
Rhode Island has a Fish trap and hook & line Fishery
Delaware has a Hook & line & a Gillnet Fishery
Virginia has a Hook & line & a Gillnet Fishery
New York has Hook & Line Pound Nets Fish traps Gillnets
Maryland has Hook & Line Pound Nets Gill Nets Haul seines
North Carolina has everything
Potomac River Hook & Line Pound Nets Gill Nets.

5 states Under the striped bass managment of the ASMFS allow gill netting and one more for the Potomac fishery
7 States don’t allow Gillnets.