On Apr 13, 11:20*am, wrote:
On Mon, 13 Apr 2009 08:18:44 -0500, Vic Smith



wrote:
On Mon, 13 Apr 2009 08:52:51 -0400, "mmc" wrote:

Vic,
I know from experience that doing away with commercial fishing of redfish in
FL really helped the fish stocks to recover. Add to that the ban on gill
nets which had been used to harvest mullet for thier roe, and our whole
picture immediately looked a lot brighter.
I've heard mullet on Floridas left coast have made a come back after being
almost completely wiped out. The mullet are very important to the food chain
and thier harvest was being sent to, guess where? Japan. Harvest all the
eggs and the fish disappear. It's not rocket science.
I used to think that anyone working these kind of jobs would do what they
could to protect thier own future by not abusing the very thing that kept
them employed - but not so. Thier nets not only gathered the target fish,
but also every other fish that became entangled; reds, trout, angels,
puffers, sail and hardhead cats, etc, etc, etc. This is known as "by-catch"
and is tossed over the side.
Thankfully, the state of FL acted before it was "too little, too late".

Good to hear about the recovery in Florida. *My dad was always
bitching about the netters, and since he fished almost every day
he claimed they affected his catch.
Most commercial fishermen, like clear cut loggers, are in it for the
money. *History show very little effort at conservation of wild
species when commerce has the upper hand.
Chinese dining habits alone could wipe the earth clean of wild
animals.

--Vic

Mullet are really thick up in the rivers these days. It is still not
at the level it was in the 50s but a lot better.
Guys can make a living cast netting them but that is a lot of work.

However, the net ban does not belong in the FL constitution. After
that amendment got passed, I have voted for every silly amendment that
came along as a protest against BS in the constitution. So now we
have treatment of pregnant pigs enshrined in the FL constitution, a
demand for high speed rail, a public school class size amendment and
various others.