Draggers/waste and a lack of Halibut

[Islandgirl]

A friend sent this to me and I thought it was worth posting EVEN in this forum..
I could not review the video but I am not surprised.

http://www.tholepin.blogspot.com/2009/10/filthy-video-of-halibut-waste.html

 

[searun]

Thanks for posting, have to agree we need to nuke the fleet. Absolutely the single most destructive method of fishing. Problem is Dino is set up to protect commercial fishing opportunity not do the right thing for the resource.

 

[profisher]

This practice apparently no longer is allowed (dumping) in BC. If a dragger does a pull and loads up with no target species (what ever it is) that boat must retain the fish and buy quota from a commercial operator who holds quota on that species of fish. This makes sense to me and Canada should be demanding that all Alaska vessels should be required to do the same. Dumping any marketable fish is asinine.

 

[Derby]

This practice apparently no longer is allowed (dumping) in BC. If a dragger does a pull and loads up with no target species (what ever it is) that boat must retain the fish and buy quota from a commercial operator who holds quota on that species of fish. This makes sense to me and Canada should be demanding that all Alaska vessels should be required to do the same. Dumping any marketable fish is asinine.[/QUOTe

As of last year-I believe the halibut commission has told the US that they need to move to the same system as Canada- who knows the time line? Could be the never never plan

 

[Bassblaster]

I have never been able to understand how people think. Why is it that we are not utilizing the by catch in fisherman's nets? I understand that our fisheries management places seasons and quotas on fish stock. But why not manage it on a total basis? That is if we are catching a mixed bag of fish, something that is guaranteed to happen, why aren't we using All of the fish?

This seems to me to be pretty straight forward. You base the season and the limit on total pounds of fish caught. Period. We could be using the less desirable species to produce inexpensive fish patties/fish cakes that could feed millions, and sell the "more desirable" species at market as usual.

It seems to me that the universe/God has provided enough bounty in the seas to feed us all, but we have decided what is worth fishing for and what isn't. It's about the money. If we were all starving, which, if things keep going the way they are, is a potential reality, would we really give a rats butt what kind of fish we were eating? You'd probably be grateful just to have fish on the table. Instead we destroy the environment that provides for us and give no thought to the future.

If this is what we are doing to the halibut stocks, and probably the salmon stocks as well, how many other edible fisheries are we destroying and wasting? How long will it take before it has to be made illegal to waste a foods species. All over the world we are slowly eliminating species of very kind simply because WE have decided they are not VALUABLE or DESIRABLE. All life is important.

All of the money in the world will not put food on your plate if there is none. Think about that.

 

[chris73]

All over the world we are slowly eliminating species of very kind simply because WE have decided they are not VALUABLE or DESIRABLE.

I think quite the contrary is true: we are eliminating the VALUABLE species first one by one and then move down the desire ladder until we are left with bugs and worms and tofu... Hmmm yum! Not!

 

[Reel Knotty]

Canada and dragging: Great article in my opinion.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvwUeZirCe0&feature=related
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8jwo_rmPPQ&feature=related
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze6sV1rl5SI&feature=related

Is it me or are we (sport fishermen) not the only ones who are unimpressed with the DFO

 

[IronNoggin]

This practice apparently no longer is allowed (dumping) in BC. If a dragger does a pull and loads up with no target species (what ever it is) that boat must retain the fish and buy quota from a commercial operator who holds quota on that species of fish...

Ya Think? Maybe in Policy, but certainly NOT in Practice! I have a bunch of buddies who both work these dreadful rigs and observe on them. The stories remain the same, regardless of what the "books" may say to the contrary. Really.

Nog

 

[Steelhead S2]

I'm with Nog. Not sure when the Canadian rules changed, but I worked on an otter trawler fishing shrimp a few years ago and we dumped hundreds (more likely thousands) of pounds of halibut, rockfish, skate, rat fish, eulachon, etc. back into the drink. None of that reported to anyone, of course. Then we switched over to trolling for salmon. We picked many dozen small halis and the skipper gaffed every one on his side in the head to control them better while removing the hook. So hundreds more pounds destroyed and unreported, this time by a troller, one of the potentially sustainable harvesting methods. And you can bet he's not the only douche in the bag. I am 100% behind sustainable commercial fishing, but this kind of wanton destruction has to stop. That kind of behaviour will hurt the commercial industry as well as the fish stocks. All you commercial guys on here should do everything you can to fight for better monitoring, and encourage a conservation ethic within your industry.

That video just makes me sick.

 

[Fish-Hunter]

This B.S. is absolutely SICKENING!!!! There is so much wrong with all of this, where does one begin? Any Jack-butt that has so little respect for a public resource and for basic living morals doesn't deserve to walk among the rest of us. Every individual has got to stand up and do what they know is right, if they don't know what is right ask the questions and learn what is accepted as right and wrong. Now some of what these fisherman are doing in these vids may be legal, but that is where the law makers and the organizations such as DFO NEED TO LOOK AT THIS CRAP, AND CHANGE THE RULES, NOW!!!
If a blind eye is always turned to this type of behaviour, it will continue and soon we won't have any fish left. Sorry, I feel like I am ranting here, but this S#!t is making me FURIOUS, I don't know what to say, but that this is absolutely rediculous.

 

[profisher]

If this practice still occurs here in BC against the laws in place I too am disgusted. Makes 50 or 60 Sockeye dumped in a ditch look trivial in comparison.

 

[Bassblaster]

I agree with Chris73 as far as How we are destroying the fisheries around the world. We target the species that are the most financially beneficial to our pocketbooks, wipe them out, and move down the chain. Problem is while we're fishing for the Desirable species, this constant destruction of the by catch is wiping out the species that Would be the next ones on our list. At the current rate, by the time we are ready to chose the next desirable fish, they will be gone. That was my point. ALL FISH ARE VALUABLE. They all play a role in the ecosystem. We cannot afford to simply waste them until we FEEL like they are valuable.

Hate to say it, but I am beginning to agree with Agent Smith from the Matrix. We are a disease on this planet. The only species on the rock that destroys its habitat, food sources, water supplies, and pollutes the atmosphere. It's no wonder Mother Nature keeps trying to come up with new ways to wipe us out.

Don't mean to be a downer, just being a realist and not willing to sugar coat bullsh#t that's a reality.