10-17-2012, 09:14 PM
(10-17-2012, 04:56 PM)Saltwater Bass Wrote: The thing is, the commercial nets can't reach the levels that the cow cods are atThe commercial net cannot reach them at the depths the full grown adults live at, but the gill nets at 3 miles can (and do) catch the juveniles. Gill nets were not banned in CA, but pushed 3 miles from shore. In areas where it gets deep slowly like of HB and LB, this has a huge impact on our fishery. Trawl nets with permits for ridiculous things such as "sea slugs" are able to keep everything they catch in their nets, and take them to market. Get a group of guys together and head down to the commercial warehouse in LA Harbor where all the commercial guys bring their catch. Huge slush bins filled with seabass, black seabass and halibut will make your head spin. I used to fish commercial seabass (rod and reel) and whenever I went in there it made me sick to my stomach. Its illegal to fish white seabass commercially from March 15 to June 15th, but go by the commercial warehouse on June 16th and look at all the dead seabass in slush bins. All caught by nets. Cow cod and all other species are captured in these nets, and whatever is not allowed to bring to market is thrown back to the sea......dead. Rod and reel guys have never made a dent in any of this compared to the nets. So why go after us anglers at all? It sets a "precedence", or an example to courts and policy makers of what steps have been successfully taken in the past leading up to their end game. What is their end game? Take a guess.
