# Gill net ban lifted.



## Austin (Sep 30, 2007)

This was just posted, and taken from CCA's website:

*Breaking News

Leon Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford rules that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission stop enforcing the state’s Gill Net Ban and dismisses 18 years of litigation regarding the Constitutional Amendment limiting marine net fishing. Florida fisheries are once again being threatened by gillnets. CCA Florida is intervening in the lawsuit and we need your support and donations now more than ever!*

Please help CCA fight to keep the net ban in place!!


NOT GOOD.


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## gator7_5 (Oct 4, 2007)

When is that effective? Gonna go crush a pile of mullet!

Gill netting is a blast.


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## Cobiacatcher (Sep 30, 2007)

http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20131031/NEWS01/310310047/No-net-ban-enforcement-stay-lifted


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## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

I would bet it would be a county regulation. If it were lifted here in Escambia it would destroy the Fall flounder run in a couple years.


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## billin (Oct 14, 2007)

*gill nets*

best i can tell from reading the artical it appears to be statewide. This is horrible there goes the fisihng as soon as a fishery rebuilds to a sustainable level it is crushed in the name of profit once again. Bye Bye trout, redfish, flounder, snapper in the bay etc.etc.etc. well you get the idea.


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

Ugh, that is awful.


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## MikeH (Jul 14, 2009)

gator7_5 said:


> When is that effective? Gonna go crush a pile of mullet!
> 
> Gill netting is a blast.


Let Me Know When And Where, I'm In!


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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

Crap, I just sold my gill net.


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## OSAGEBOW (Mar 1, 2012)

I just called FWC and asked them if the net ban was still being enforced. They said they could not answer that question. I then asked if someone was using a gill net in our waters today would they be given a citation? Their response again was, we cannot answer that question. Sounds like alot of confusion to me.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Its amazing how healthy the inshore fishery has become all throughout Florida since the gillnet ban. It takes an extremely irrational act to overturn such a positive thing.

For all those wanting to get your gillnets out for mullet, why not just throw a castnet? if its for personal consumption, where's the need for a 100+ft gillnet? I could go throw in one of 20 different locations right now and get more than I need


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## OSAGEBOW (Mar 1, 2012)

that is so true Chris V. I just started castnet fishing last year and I have lived here all my life. It is amazing how many fish I have caught in it. When I was a kid my dad had a gillnet. We did have alot of fun with it but I really like the way it is now. The fishing is awesome.


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## Boatjob1 (Oct 2, 2007)

OSAGEBOW said:


> I just called FWC and asked them if the net ban was still being enforced. They said they could not answer that question. I then asked if someone was using a gill net in our waters today would they be given a citation? Their response again was, we cannot answer that question. Sounds like alot of confusion to me.


 
Are you sure you didn't accidently call the white house?


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Boatjob1 said:


> Are you sure you didn't accidently call the white house?


 That sounds about right


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## flounderslayerman (Jun 3, 2011)

What a bunch of BS !!!!


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## OSAGEBOW (Mar 1, 2012)

Boatjob1 said:


> Are you sure you didn't accidently call the white house?


LOL!!! well you might be right.


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## flounderslayerman (Jun 3, 2011)

I hope they cam reinstate the ban quickly.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Its bad enough that Alabama still allows the "limited" gillnetting here, Florida fisheries cannot afford this. If it has the same impact as it did in years past, the fishing WILL slow down. Anglers that come down year after year WILL notice the change.


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## Austin (Sep 30, 2007)

Do you like fishing for Red Fish? Before the ban, their numbers were decimated. Since the ban, their numbers have flourished. Let's do whatever we can to prevent going back to pre-ban conditions.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Austin, I just got off the CCA national website looking for this but couldn't find any statement saying it had indeed been lifted. I did see a topic explaining what the circuit judge is intending to implement, but no clear language saying it was passed. Where exactly did you get that statement?

Here is the link on the national site
http://www.joincca.org/articles/638


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## Austin (Sep 30, 2007)

Chris V said:


> Austin, I just got off the CCA national website looking for this but couldn't find any statement saying it had indeed been lifted. I did see a topic explaining what the circuit judge is intending to implement, but no clear language saying it was passed. Where exactly did you get that statement?
> 
> Here is the link on the national site
> http://www.joincca.org/articles/638


I first saw it when they posted it on their facebook page as breaking news.

Here's where it is on their website. Right on the front page.

http://www.ccaflorida.org/


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## TeaSea (Sep 28, 2013)

don't people get their props all tangled up in the nets? I know they are supposed to be marked but when I fished Falcon Reservoir we were always having to cut nets off of our props -- both trolling motor and outboard.
I think using gill nets is a really bad thing for sport fishing


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

I was on the national site. It does indeed say "attempt" meaning its not a ruling that's in effect. I'm hoping this gets shot down quick!


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## tiderider (Oct 1, 2007)

I remember how disappointing it was to go pompano fishing a watch net boats wrap up the entire hole (including my lines). Remember the few years before the ban when the guy who caught 2 or 3 pompano on the pier was the man of the day, the year following the ban we would all have many days of 10 fish limits. With these days of over regulation it's hard to imagine a reason to allow the indiscriminate killing of gill net fishing.


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## markw4321 (Oct 4, 2007)

A lot of times in the past i have seen judges that do this type of shizzle are located in counties along the big bend area of florida and have relatives or friends that are commercial net fisherman. That said Leon county is closer to Tally than the big bend area, but if someone knows the judge and knows where to look they will find a commercial net fishing connection somewhere. This coming just in time for winter months when trout school up in holes...


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## flounderslayerman (Jun 3, 2011)

If any of the commercial boys have access to any gill nets they can make a but load right now. The roe price is thru the roof.


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## amarcafina (Aug 24, 2008)

flounderslayerman said:


> If any of the commercial boys have access to any gill nets they can make a but load right now. The roe price is thru the roof.


If ya'll don't STOP this , you can Kiss your Easy King and Spanish fishing Good Bye.. just ask anyone that trolls Perdido Pass.. We watch the Gill netteries Fill their boats up , when they are coming in a Daylight , We get out there and the gulf is Void of life.. No bait , No kings , nothing ...


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## flounderslayerman (Jun 3, 2011)

amarcafina said:


> If ya'll don't STOP this , you can Kiss your Easy King and Spanish fishing Good Bye.. just ask anyone that trolls Perdido Pass.. We watch the Gill netteries Fill their boats up , when they are coming in a Daylight , We get out there and the gulf is Void of life.. No bait , No kings , nothing ...


I want the net ban. I grew up in p-cola and can remember when most specks you caught were just small enough they wouldn't stick in a net. Also remember it was pretty damn tough to catch a pompano. The spanish fishery will never hold up the way the netters are killing them in bama.


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## Collard (Oct 23, 2007)

Wirelessly posted (Not the droid youre lookin for)

I'm in for a net pullin


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## nextstep (Jun 27, 2008)

so much gloom and doom, geez.

when done right it is not harmful.

the gill net ban was brought about under the guise of stopping the shrimp boats from dragging the bay. they didnt stop. the last large mullet schools ended shortly after the gill nets ended. splain that one Lucy.

mostly what i hear is i dont want gill nets because they kill what i was wanting to kill. ?

i sure have a lot of wonderful memorys of gill net fishing for 20 minutes and having a family fish fry. about the only bycatch was hard heads and LYs. we did not set and forget. we set and pulled our nets.

take solace in knowing they will not lift it.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Nextstep, the "recreational" style of gillnetting you speak of is not what we're facing. I did this quite a bit growing up with friends and never had any bycatch that amounted to anything.

I live in Alabama and grew up next to a commercial netter and still to this day witness the havoc they unleash on our mackerel and mullet schools off the beaches every season. That lazy, set and forget, indiscriminate style of "fishing" is something no rational person should be able to defend after witnessing the extreme by-catch that comes along with it. If the argument is over jobs and the higher economic outcome of the resource, which would you think comes out ahead; the tackle shops, fishing guides, convenience stores, boat dealerships, marinas, etc. that cater to anglers in a healthy fishery or the small amount of netters who catch fish that generally fetch weak prices and are used more for pet foods and frozen fish sticks in Canada?

I do agree with you whole-heartedly that the majority of the argument usually sounds like "I don't want you to kill what I want to kill" and that's never the right argument against it nor is it the reason I disapprove of gillnetting.


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## nextstep (Jun 27, 2008)

commercial and rec are definitely two different things.


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## flounderslayerman (Jun 3, 2011)

There's a big difference between 300ft of net vs 2000ft of net.


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## MULLET HUNTER (Oct 3, 2007)

When I was young my dad and several of his friends and family had a mullet fishing club and we would all go every Sunday morning. We would pull 3 400ft nets and we would make several sets. Man I have never crushed the fish that we did in those days. We would leave out with 12-15 people, 3-5 boats and tons of beer. We crunched the redfish, flounder, specks, mullet, crabs, etc... If it was in Escambia bay we caught it. Those were some great memories and fun times. That being said I have seen it throughout the years and how it impacted our fishery. If it were to be legalized then I would go and try to crush them every time I went. If I had to vote I would vote against it, but if they say it is ok then I will take full advantage... It would decimate the fishery and it would totally shutdown inshore charters...


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## fishnhuntguy (Feb 8, 2012)

nextstep said:


> so much gloom and doom, geez.
> 
> when done right it is not harmful. ?????? Seriously?????
> 
> ...


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## markw4321 (Oct 4, 2007)

Knew people that would build a bonfire on ft 
pickens beach in November and set a gill net for the flounder run back on the day. Think about the impact there.


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## nextstep (Jun 27, 2008)

fishnhuntguy said:


> nextstep said:
> 
> 
> > so much gloom and doom, geez.
> ...


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## Lyin Too (Aug 31, 2009)

Sounds like a fund raising effort for CCA to me.


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## nextstep (Jun 27, 2008)

markw4321 said:


> Knew people that would build a bonfire on ft
> pickens beach in November and set a gill net for the flounder run back on the day. Think about the impact there.


Bout like the constant parade of people in their skiffs with 1000000000 candle power and gigs.


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## Boat-Dude (Sep 24, 2011)

Cast Nets = Good
Gill Nets = Bad


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## 1bandit (Jul 17, 2009)

CALL TO ACTION:
Judge Suspends 18 year-old Net-Ban​​




Dear Joe, 

 

_The Fishing Rights Alliance has always defended the angler's right to fish. Your membership and contributions help us protect your right to fish. Please - Join The Fishing Rights Alliance or renew your Fishing Rights Alliance membership today!_



Yesterday, Leon Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford reaffirmed her order of last week that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission* cease enforcement of the state's Constitutional net ban Amendment*, which has been in effect for 18 years. Read the order here.

_The* gill nets are in the water* as you read this._​​​ 
Is it a coincidence that the judge issued her ruling just when the mullet are about to be full of valuable roe? 

Read the Tallahassee Democrat version of the story here. 

The judge stopped any further enforcement of the net ban amendment until 'contradictions' between the Florida Constitution and FWC rules are corrected. That means gill nets are in the water right now, unrestricted.

From the judge's order:
'Thus, with the exception of a hand thrown cast net, pursuant to the Florida Constitution, there are no other nets that may be used lawfully to fish in the state of Florida.'

Despite the fact that parts of her ruling may be struck down, this particular clarification would ban all nets except cast-nets. Period. Ooops.

In the order, the judge defines FWC's net rules as absurd, using that as the basis for suspending the enforcement of a constitutional amendment.

If such logic were to prevail, any Circuit Court judge of the opinion that a law was absurd could suspend it. That does not seem to be how our state's Constitution should be observed and enforced.

*TAKE ACTION NOW*
If you feel that way, you need to sound off right now to your state legislators. If you're not sure who your state senator and state representative are, follow the links below to find out.

Send a brief email AND call their office. Also, email the FWC commissioners ([email protected]) a copy of your message and consider writing a letter to the editor of your paper.

Find your FL Senator  Find your FL Representative 

Tell them that you are concerned about the net-ban issue.

*Ask your legislators to *
1-Act to uphold the Constitution of Florida (or resign their office).
2- Contact Nick Wiley (FWC Executive Director) to support FWC's efforts and actions.
3-Fully support the enforcement of the law until such time as the law is changed.
OR, tell them exactly what you think. 

Another CALL TO ACTION on this issue will follow within the next 24 hours. Stay tuned.

We could not do this without YOUR support! 

The Fishing Rights Alliance is on the cutting edge of protecting your fishing rights, which are under constant attack from many directions. Please - *Join FRA, renew your membership *or *make a donation now!* 
*Freedom is not free.*​​​


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## Sea Rover (Jan 15, 2008)

So us that don't want to see our fragile fisheries destroyed lets have a gill net cutting party! Everyone we see let's butcher it! So these idiots can't destroy what we have left.


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## Snatch it (Feb 17, 2009)

Just a heads up!!! Talked to a friend of FWC and he told me that they have not got a set confirmation on the lift so they will continue to uphold the ban till further notice!!! They are gonna be hot and heavy this weekend! Be careful out there . Big fines could follow....


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## Sea Rover (Jan 15, 2008)

Hope they pop everyone of them.


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## Austin (Sep 30, 2007)

Snatch it said:


> Just a heads up!!! Talked to a friend of FWC and he told me that they have not got a set confirmation on the lift so they will continue to uphold the ban till further notice!!! They are gonna be hot and heavy this weekend! Be careful out there . Big fines could follow....


That's what I'm talkin about!! :notworthy:

Get em'


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## Brandon_SPC (Nov 2, 2013)

Yeah commercial and rec are different but add up all the people that would pull gill nets and the boats. Numbers ad up. Keep the ban!


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## a (Oct 2, 2007)

I dont believe a judge has the power to re-write florida's constitution. Efforts to re-institute nettings have been ongoing since the net ban was enacted….with little effect. 

talk about devastating economical effects…

..nowadays, the sports of florida make the commercials look like a rainbow girls convention….fat chance!


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## Jack Hexter (Oct 2, 2007)

*Enforcement of 'net ban' back off for now*

Leon Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford reaffirmed Wednesday morning her order of last week that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission stop enforcing the state’s so-called “net ban” until contradictions between the constitutional amendment and rules designed to implement it are resolved.
Fulford granted a request by attorneys for the Wakulla Commercial Fisherman’s Association, Panacea bait-and-tackle shop owner Ronald Fred Crum and mullet fishermen Jonas Porter and Keith Ward that she lift an automatic stay of her order triggered when FWC appealed it hours after being issued to the First District Court of Appeals. 
FWC plans to file as soon as possible an emergency appeal to the 1st DCA asking that it reimpose the stop to Fulford’s order while the case is being further litigated. It will be just the latest legal skirmish. The 1994 amendment limiting net fishing in state coastal waters and rules adopted later by FWC defining any net with a mesh size greater than 2 inches a gill net and thereby prohibited under state law have been argued in court rooms for nearly 20 years.
During Wednesday’s hour-long hearing, FWC lead counsel Jonathan Glogau told the judge lifting the stay of her order would “effectively unleash a war of epic proportions” on mullet populations by commercial fishermen unfettered by net regulations. 
But Crum said being able to use nets with a greater mesh size than has been allowed under FWC rules will permit mullet fishermen to catch more marketable fish without needless killing and waste of juveniles. Crum said the lucrative mullet row season is beginning, and the ability to use gear targeted to those fish will help struggling commercial fishermen. With more jobs, the pressure of overharvesting on the struggling oyster population also will be lessened, he said.
Fulford said she did not think it likely that stopping enforcement of the net ban while court action continues would cause “irreparable harm” and she doubted FWC’s arguments on the merits of the case would prevail on appeal. 
“There is in fact irreparable harm if I do not lift the stay,” Fulford said. “The status quo, I believe, has resulted in unnecessary killing and waste and by the adoption of the FWC rules after the net ban amendment it’s resulted in an unfair application of the net ban to some and not others.”

http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20131030/NEWS01/131030006/Enforcement-of-net-ban-back-off-for-now


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## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

There are nets and fish traps out there that were lost or abandoned before the bans that are still killing fish.


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## afishanado (Oct 26, 2009)

Kim said:


> There are nets and fish traps out there that were lost or abandoned before the bans that are still killing fish.


While I agree that abandoned, neglected and lost traps and nets unnecessarily killed many a fish in their day; but wouldn't you think that they would have deteriorated by now?


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## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

Nylon takes a long time to deteriorate in the water.


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## tailfisher1979 (Jan 24, 2012)

Just cut them up if you see one. Thats what we used to do.


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## tailfisher1979 (Jan 24, 2012)

Of course take it out of the water and into a dumpster somewhere.


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## JVT (Jun 5, 2009)

"the gill net ban was brought about under the guise of stopping the shrimp boats from dragging the bay."

No...the gill net ban was brought about to rid the waters of entangling nets and the wanton waste they produce. Read your back issues of Florida Sportsman to verify.

The fishing in FL and other states that have gotten rid of them is much better, and the value of recreational inshore fishing to local economies is MUCH more than the value of the commercial catch from gill nets.

Does anyone think the inshore fishing in Venice and Cocodrie would be as good as it is today if LA still allowed gill nets? How about in Tampa Bay? I can't wait for the day when they are banned in AL.


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## nextstep (Jun 27, 2008)

i like to kill fish 

then eat them


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## Jack Hexter (Oct 2, 2007)

FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION 
DIVISION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
MEMORANDUM



TO: All DLE Personnel

FROM:	Colonel Calvin L. Adams, Jr.

DATE: November 1, 2013

SUBJECT:	URGENT - Net Limitation Enforcement Directive

Below is an update regarding net limitation guidance for all law enforcement personnel.

Another order from the Circuit Judge in the Second Judicial Circuit is anticipated in the lawsuit regarding the use of entangling nets (Case # 2011-CA-2195) which would allow the use of nets originally prohibited under the Florida Constitution, but clear direction has not been provided by the court at this time. This memorandum is intended to provide necessary direction to our personnel until further information is received from the court.

Effective immediately, we will NOT be enforcing any of the following rules:

FL Constitution Article X, §16
FL Administrative Code rule 68B-4.002 (3) & (4)
FL Administrative Code rule 68B-4.0081
FL Administrative Code rule 68B-4.0082
FL Administrative Code rule 68B-39.0047
FL Statute 379.2422
FL Statute 379.2423 

We are appealing the final order and the anticipated ruling lifting the stay through the court system. This situation remains fluid and further guidance might be issued in short order.

As always, the same standards of excellence through fair and impartial judgment are to be expected. This is a very sensitive issue, and there is a great potential for confusion among fishermen and other members of the public. 

Please contact your supervisor with additional questions.

:thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown:


​


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## SHO-NUFF (May 30, 2011)

Recreational gill net fishing or Commercial? 
Up until the late 80's and the ban went in effect, I had 1200 feet of net and a little 6 foot net boat we walked off of the beach and made circle sets. Fished Perdido and Escambia Bay and sometimes Ft. Morgan. 
We caught a bunch of Mullet at times.
Being they don't freeze well, we only caught enough to feed us and a few neighbors. By-catch was usually catfish, crabs and an occasional shark or ray with a sheepshead or flounder mixed in. 
When the mullet were running, someone that was good with a cast-net caught as much as the big net did. 
Again, I was making sets walking the net off of the shoreline. The floats changed color at 600 feet, letting me know half of the net was out, and to head back to the beach. I had a ton of fun and caught a mess of fish most of the time, but have actually been skunked with 1200 feet of net and several sets. 

Commercial Guys killed it for us. 
The old mid-motor Mullet boats would have miles of net. And it was all about ROE. In Japan mullet roe was, or still is a high dollar commodity. Mullet was caught by hundreds of thousands of pounds only to have the roe removed and sold. The fish itself was thrown away with only a few sold for eating or bait. 
Even a Shitty net-boat setup could bring in 50 to 80+ thousand bucks of profit during roe season. Some made way more than that.
I was a mullet boat deck hand once and was truly disgusted at the waste involved. It paid well, and that was the only living some folks knew or had.

Shrimping also. Used to pull a small net around the bays all night and might get 20 lbs. More old appliances and tires in the net than shrimp. Gill net fishing and shrimping was a fun way to spend time on the water. 
Like any other species, our so called endangered Snapper and Redfish, commercial fishing has taken a toll on the recreational Guys.

I would love to see the gill-net ban lifted for the rec folks, so I can show my Son and Daughter how we used to fish instead of talk about it. And seriously doubt I or my kids would ever make an impact on the species.


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