PWS Shrimping is in trouble

[ak 4 star]

Comfish is at it again. Please take a few min. to look up this info, You will be shocked at what is being proposed. If the commerical boys get there way your sport Shrimping will go the same way as the Charter Fleets HALIBUT issue.
Go to adfg.state.ak.us
Under Publications Look fo Boards Support Publications Click on it
Look fo Boards of Fisheries Proposal Books Click on it
Go to Complete 2008/2009 Proposal Book
You are looking for Proposal #44 thro #56 And most of all #135
This is just maddness WE HAVE TO FIGHT THIS
Send your responce to: BOF Comments
Boards Support Section
Alaska Department of Fish & Game
PO Box 115526
Juneau Ak 99811-5526
Of Fax it to (907) 465-6094

[potbuilder]

Comfish is at it again. Please take a few min. to look up this info, You will be shocked at what is being proposed. If the commerical boys get there way your sport Shrimping will go the same way as the Charter Fleets HALIBUT issue.
Go to adfg.state.ak.us
Under Publications Look fo Boards Support Publications Click on it
Look fo Boards of Fisheries Proposal Books Click on it
Go to Complete 2008/2009 Proposal Book
You are looking for Proposal #44 thro #56 And most of all #135
This is just maddness WE HAVE TO FIGHT THIS
Send your responce to: BOF Comments
Boards Support Section
Alaska Department of Fish & Game
PO Box 115526
Juneau Ak 99811-5526
Of Fax it to (907) 465-6094

Why don't you post some of the problems that you see will happen with a comm pot fishery???

[akfishnut]

Restricts the use of Gas & Electric Pot Pullers ?

Page 100 proposal #135
From the way I read it the use of gas & electric powered pot pullers will be restricted (eliminated) for the sport fishery.
I wish I could "Cut & Paste" that proposal - but for some reason it will not allow it. I encourge anyone that uses this fishery to read all the proposals and respond accordingly.

[Daveinthebush]

Always

Page 100 proposal #135
From the way I read it the use of gas & electric powered pot pullers will be restricted (eliminated) for the sport fishery.
I wish I could "Cut & Paste" that proposal - but for some reason it will not allow it. I encourge anyone that uses this fishery to read all the proposals and respond accordingly.

The is always someone that tries to submit the passage of a proposal to "Shoot Flying Ostriches Over Decoys" or something along that line. You would be discriminating against people that are handicapped, older people (older than 57) and people that just can't pull a pot up by hand. The BOF sees through the moose dung proposals and usually puts it where it belongs.....

[akfishnut]

The other proposal for Commercial fishery

http://www.boards.adfg.state.ak.us/f...-proposals.pdf

The board tabled a commercial shrimp proposal until the March meeting.
What I fear the most is some bad management that allows this fishery to be over harvested and destroyed like the one in Kachamak Bay was.
I remember a time when king crab where available off the old Homer docks, and shrimp where abundant - it's all gone now!

[gusdog44]

Read the proposal - when there was a commercial fishery for shrimp the department was unable to control the harvest and in just a couple of years overfishing led to a collapse of the resource. Right now it is almost fully allocated to sport, personal use and subsistance fishers. the commercial fishermen have a trawl fishery in the general area. We need to keep the spot shrimp fishery for consumptive users.

I don't use this fishery myself so no skin off my nose personally but I do know some people who do, with their kids and grannys and all, and I feel it is important to keep this for them.

[Brian M]

when there was a commercial fishery for shrimp the department was unable to control the harvest and in just a couple of years overfishing led to a collapse of the resource.

Is there some data to back that up? My parents fished the Sound for shrimp from the mid 70s though the late 80s until it was closed when the Exxon Valdez ran aground. From my experience, there was no collapse of the resource during those years. We always did well, and though I was young, I recall the resource being quite healthy. Maybe there's something I don't know? Can you point me to something that indicates the resource collapsed due to overfishing??

[fishook]

Brians right as i fished it to before the spill & thats what closed it.

[Grampyfishes]

My concern is that the proposed areas include almost all the northern bays between Port Wells and Port Valdez, and all the Knight Island bays. These are popular areas typically used by non-commerical shrimpers with small craft.

In my experience, many of those bays simply aren't big enough or productive enough to support both commercial and non-commercial use. And that will undoubtedly create user group conflicts...as one group sets on top of another and the fight for areas and pots begin.

I'm also concerned with strings of unattended commercial pots, whether they are baited or unbaited. Staging pots restricts others from setting pots in the same area. And really, without some special buoy marking, a non-commercial shrimper has no idea if he is dropping his pots amongst a string of 50 commercial pots or not.

I assume ADF&G has data to support a commercial shrimp fishery. If that is the case, then I believe we should support it too. However, I would like to see them away from the non-commercial small-craft shrimp fishery, and with tighter regulations of number of pots, buoy marking, unattended pots, and so on. I think we need to start this commercial shrimp fishery in baby steps and see what happens, not giant leaps.

[Brian M]

grampy - I don't know if there has ever been a commercial fishery that does not require buoy markings with at least the boat's ADF&G # on it. When we used to fish commercially for shrimp and with our current longlining we have always had to mark our buoys in a way that denotes their commercial use.

Interesting points on staging pots. We used to store ours on land out in the Sound, as the frame was constructed of rebar and would rust over time. I hadn't considered that they might be staged in the water.

[Grampyfishes]

I was thinking of an identifying buoy that didn't require shrimpers to run right up next to the buoy, or fiddle with it, just to see the identification (which is usually poorly written). This would eliminate shrimpers getting tangled up in someone else's buoy rope, or being accused of pulling someone else's gear. Maybe a flag or something like other commercial fisheries use...something to make it clear commercial gear is in the water.

The other problem is that a commercial buoy could have anywhere from 1 pot to 50 pots on it. Another shrimper has no idea where those posts are, what direction they are layed, or if another buoy is actually the end of a string, or just another pot. Again, some of the areas in these bays are quite small, and without some definition there is going to be some major conflicts for areas and who's gear got tangled on who's.

It's my understanding from the proposal (5AAC 31.224 e5) that a commercial shrimper may leave his pots unattended for up to two weeks, and beyond 2 weeks if the pot is left unbaited and open. This potential for long soaks and staging areas concerns me.

[ak 4 star]

you are missing the point

If commfish gets its way there wont be sport shrimping in the sound. i dont know a person alive that can pull 600 to 700ft of line and 5 potts by hand. Please look at the web sight and look at proposal 135 and 44 thr 56. i to have fished these waters for some 30 years and still do as a biz owner, and what I see is just (dead wrong) Yes there is room for everone but the comm shrimping fleet just about fished them out. I shrimped before the Ex oil spill and shrimping has on the decline even then. Iyt started getting better 6 years ago and has gotten better and better each eyar sence.
i ask all of you to read the PROPOSAL

[Daveinthebush]

Look

I dont know a person alive that can pull 600 to 700ft of line and 5 potts by hand.

Look at my avitar. I pulled that for five years before finally getting a pott puller. Still pulled one set last year that someone robbed the set and then dumped the whole thing over the side. I could not pull it as I had as many as 4 lines at once coming aboard by hand. Pulling five pots and 700 feet of line is not that hard.

[potbuilder]

I was thinking of an identifying buoy that didn't require shrimpers to run right up next to the buoy, or fiddle with it, just to see the identification (which is usually poorly written). This would eliminate shrimpers getting tangled up in someone else's buoy rope, or being accused of pulling someone else's gear. Maybe a flag or something like other commercial fisheries use...something to make it clear commercial gear is in the water.

The other problem is that a commercial buoy could have anywhere from 1 pot to 50 pots on it. Another shrimper has no idea where those posts are, what direction they are layed, or if another buoy is actually the end of a string, or just another pot. Again, some of the areas in these bays are quite small, and without some definition there is going to be some major conflicts for areas and who's gear got tangled on who's.

It's my understanding from the proposal (5AAC 31.224 e5) that a commercial shrimper may leave his pots unattended for up to two weeks, and beyond 2 weeks if the pot is left unbaited and open. This potential for long soaks and staging areas concerns me.

I'm not looking to start any fights but how many boats do you guys think are going to go comm pot shrimping?? With a 50 pot limit(maybe less) & a allowed catch of 40% of the total allowed harvest a guys going to have to be on a pile of shrimp to make any money. I don't think anyone will be fishing one 50 pot line, it just doesn't make sense to me. Another problem is who is going to be buying the shrimp? I don't think any of the processors will buy so that leaves a couple of markets in town or will it be a bunch of guys selling shrimp out of their trucks on the side of the road?? So a guy gets to go out shrimping for a few days then you'll have to run in and unload and go peddle your shrimp. It ain't gonna be for small boats cause where you gonna store all the ice for the shrimp or are you going to freeze them on board. The season they are talking about having will run during the summer so that will cut out all the gillnetters and seiners from going shrimping(more money in salmon) so i'm thinking its going to be a rag tag fleet with maybe some rich retired guys doing it to play commercial fisherman and get a write off for their boats. I can't for the life of me think of a reason for long soaks so leaving the gear fishing for 1 or 2 weeks, seems really stupid to me:confused:. I've been giving the fishery a lot of thought but to do it right(in my lobstah'mans opinion) would take a fairly large boat and investment of money and the payback just ain't there in my way of looking at it. I been wrong before and maybe somebody will make a fishery of it but with that 40% harvest number hanging out there its going to be a derby fishery, the guys who can wind up & set back the gear fastest is going to be the winner and with hauling only allowed during the day(8am to 4pm) its going to be even more of a race. Its good that folks are concerned with the fishery but lets all just go to the meetings and see what they have in store for us.

[ak 4 star]

Good for you but there are a lot of people out there that aren't in as good of shape as you are. Are we to say that they cant shrimp or god for bid what if something should happen to you and you aren't able to pull your pots by hand. Don't you think you have a right to us a puller if you want to.