New fishing nets allowing for more catch selectivity. Could this change the way nets are currently used or does it enable the use of more netting? http://www.adventure-journal.com/2014/08/new-design-leads-to-nets-that-save-fish-not-kill-them/ [video=vimeo;21894812]http://vimeo.com/21894812[/video] Are there any commercial fisherman on here?
I fish in New England and there are already a lot of nets in use to reduce bycatch. There are nets with separators and escape vents and also different mesh sizes for different species. The Ruhl trawl is a commonly used net up here for haddock. It releases the majority of the cod that go in the net but traps the haddock. Anything that reduces by catch is good the less fish thrown back the better.
here in nc the commercial industry is suing nc denr to essentially over regulate recreational fisherman to the point of almost preventing recreational fishing all together. commercial fisherman blame recreational fisherman for decline in fish stocks about that net, seems like i has good intentions but, doest it actually work well?
Interesting stuff, bycatch no bueno...we used to slam Blackfish in the lobster gear, and depending on the time of year, occassionally had to throw over half of them back(seasonal regs)...and sad to say there's no way they were living after we hauled them up.
Funny you should say that...going back to the Blackfish thing, starting June we'd be able to keep only 6 or so, while recreational guys could keep upwards of 10-12...thing is, they rarely would catch that much while we had to let some go to waste.
It's good to hear this from someone who actually works in the industry. often times I feel like I am being persuaded by bias opinions.
