I hope ALL GILL NETTER'S "ROT IN HELL". man that makes me mad I sure hope that during my lifetime I see gill netting outlawed.

 

Dang Capt. S! That's rather harsh.
The wife & I know several of the netters out of Cleveland, and they are old fashioned hard working guys. Rather helpful too.
I have a standing invite to run nets with them this summer, and I hope I can get out with them to experience it.
Those commercial guys were doing what they do long before anyone was "sport fishing" here on Erie.

 

about 6 years ago I was up on Erie and happen to past where a net boat had just lifted up there nets and left the area. There were thousands and thousands of dead perch just laying on top of the water. The birds were going nuts and It was one of the sadist sights I have ever seen. What a waste. Netters of all kinds should be banned. Period. The biggest waste of our resources. But we the sport fisherman seem to be the bad guy and have to pay for the miss use of the fishery. Commercial fisherman that use gill nets are just plain scum. And so are the ones that just waste thousands of perch or walleye. I used to have to deal with Indian gill netters in the upper part of Michigan. When they finally got rid of them, the fishing in just a couple of years was nothing but fantastic. They are the problem, not the sport fishermen. JMO of course

 

While NONE of us like the gill netting, we need to be happy that Canada works with the states. They VOLUNTARILY take part in the setting and enforcing of the TOC ,total allowable catch. They could just as easily say get bent america and allow whatever but at least they are part of the process. They get roughly half the walleye quota while ohio gets the othr half and then small portions go to mi and pa and ny. Each state/province can allow whatever they want for harvest be it netting, sportfishing etc.

To tell someone to "rot in hell" because they are doing something that is legal in their country is wrong in itself. It makes me sick to my stomache every spring when I see the gill nets strung like a picket fence along the border but its their country not ours.

 

Creek crawler i was only reffering to gill netters not trap netters. i have some friends that are trap netters and to me if they are going to be able to "net" in lake erie then let them use trap nets.
Papascott, dealt with and meet many of the gill netters on the Ontario western basin and central basin of lake erie before and believe me they are "mostly scum".they also say alot worse about sportfisherman than what i said, i have listened to them many, many times on expanned and scrambled channels. so i still stand by my words. thats why they are my words.

 

Canada has a right to 1/2 the fish in the lake, because they own half the lake. I have no problem with thenm harvesting their half by whatever means. They really work with the US well in managing the fishery. I know a netter who runs out of Wheatley, ONT and he tells me that the ministry of fisheries there is a real pain and that he has a difficult time making a living at it. He says they are REALLY strict about them having to report to the fisheries dock for inspection before they touch any other land.

Canada really has very little sportfishing pressure and use on their side. Compared to us, it is almost nothing. One of the big problems they have is access. there are miles and miles of shoreline with high cliffs and no access to the lake.

The problem I have is with the US netters. I think it is a shame that the very few engaged in this industry-for the benefit of very few-have such a large impact. I cannot believe the State of Ohio doesn't put these guys out of business.

The very best thing that could happen is for perch farming to get bigger and more efficient. I saw a video that Ohio State's aquaculture facility has been breeding perch to try to bring them to market size much faster. They say that they can get them to a 10-12: size in 2-3 years-1/2 the time it takes in the wild. There are already perch farms in Ohio and it will only get bigger. The better they get, the cheaper they will get and eventually, the netters will go out of business. Go Buckeyes!

Jim

 

Be careful what ya wish for in the way of fish farms. As the salmon industry on the west coast has found, they become dependent on antibiotics and feeding methods that degrade the natural quality of the fish.

Fish farms worldwide have become huge pollution factories. Why start raising fish in pens when we know what that has done to hogs, chickens and cattle?

 

Why start raising fish in pens when we know what that has done to hogs, chickens and cattle?

Hormones, Steroids, etc., etc.,

But then with all the chemicals being put in the ground from the farms, makes you wonder just how much of is makes it's way into the wild game we hunt and eat.

 

i believe that there are only 3 or 4 commercial fishing licsenes left in the state of ohio and they are strickly monitored for thier daily and yearly catch. none of us like seeing the nets but they have been there forever. these guys dont want the fish population to dwindle, they want it to florish just like we do. that business is one of only a few that the gov determines and dictates how much $ they can make. that is not capitolism at its finest. these guys spend more time on the water then most and i have seen them help many people who need help out on the lake. i think my point is that there are only a few of them left and alot of us. we should probably all just get along, because when its all said and done, we all want the same thing. for the lake to thrive !!!!!

 

Canada has a right to 1/2 the fish in the lake, because they own half the lake. I have no problem with thenm harvesting their half by whatever means. They really work with the US well in managing the fishery. I know a netter who runs out of Wheatley, ONT and he tells me that the ministry of fisheries there is a real pain and that he has a difficult time making a living at it. He says they are REALLY strict about them having to report to the fisheries dock for inspection before they touch any other land.

Canada really has very little sportfishing pressure and use on their side. Compared to us, it is almost nothing. One of the big problems they have is access. there are miles and miles of shoreline with high cliffs and no access to the lake.

The problem I have is with the US netters. I think it is a shame that the very few engaged in this industry-for the benefit of very few-have such a large impact. I cannot believe the State of Ohio doesn't put these guys out of business.

The very best thing that could happen is for perch farming to get bigger and more efficient. I saw a video that Ohio State's aquaculture facility has been breeding perch to try to bring them to market size much faster. They say that they can get them to a 10-12: size in 2-3 years-1/2 the time it takes in the wild. There are already perch farms in Ohio and it will only get bigger. The better they get, the cheaper they will get and eventually, the netters will go out of business. Go Buckeyes!

Jim

Due to the farming of fish, we now get to deal with the asian carps......


Lets all keep in mind here, though we rarely/if ever order fish from a rest. or buy at grocery store, the other 90% of America does.....

 

It is hard to watch a vid. like that for me, but with that being said there are people that want the fish in restraunts and store. and thats their only way to get them. If they didn't fish think of what the prices would be like for alot of diffrent thing like fish. Our fishing licenses would probally cost more to help offset what they netters have to pay. They are regulated and check as is Canada, To blame the people up north is like them blaming us for almost killing Erie with polution. I can remember in the late 70' and early 80 going to Pelee island and when we crossed the boarded in the boat it looked like you could almost see it in the water. 10" deep you could see the bottom easy.
We have all come along way to save our lake. What if the asian carp do make it to the lakes? Im sure netters will target them too. Then people won't mind seeing the as much.
It was said before we need to get along. JMO

 

Ahhh. I understand Captain.
Wasn't thinking of the difference between trap netters and gill netters.
I guess the trap netters are there for people that don't fish.

 

There is a huge difference between the salmon fish farms and the perch farms in Ohio. It is my understanding the perch farms use manufactured ponds and are not part of the lake erie ecosystem. Many of the salmon farms around the world use the oceans by setting up nets around them to confine them. yes all the waste chemicals and such end up in the ocean and affecting their habitat.

I feel it makes no sense in the 21st century to be netting fish in the great lakes. The fisherman are too good and catching them. Give the commercial licenses a fish farm and be done with commercial fishing in the great lakes.

Rickerd

 

Commercial fishing before sport fishing, what world are you from? Are you really of a mindset that you think that there were boats on the lake before fishing was being done with a simple hook, line, and sinker? Never a dull moment, and never a surprise as to how people think. Mass netting of all fish is the real only true way to preserve the resources.