# Read this and Weep - A Redfish Slaughter



## SolarFlare (Oct 3, 2007)

1st, I couldn't attach the document because of file size, 1 thing I don't care for since the site changed.

So I am posting the link.... http://myfwc.com/docs/CommissionMeetings/2011/Feb/RedDrum_Presentation.pdf

The FWC staff will ask for a 2 fish limit in the 2 northern regions and an *8 Fish Boat limit*!

Contact the commissioners and tell them the Staff has lost their minds and their science!

http://myfwc.com/CONTACT/Contact_Employee.asp


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## screwballl (Feb 1, 2011)

So whats the problem? Increasing the limit from 1 to 2 per person, max 8 per boat. Apparently they have been spawning enough to increase their numbers to warrant an increase in harvest.

Unless there is another point you were trying to make?


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## hjorgan (Sep 30, 2007)

*Works in LA*

This limit works in Louisiana and the fish continue to prosper.
I like the taste of redfish and with the slot limits, it seems like the breeding stock will be well protected.

So 4 guys can now each take enough fillets home to feed the family. Sounds like a good thing to me. :thumbup:


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## welldoya (Oct 5, 2007)

I guess you are saying that if you have more than 4 on the boat, you aren't getting the full per person limit ? But it's still better than what we had unless you have more than 8 on the boat, right ?


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## SolarFlare (Oct 3, 2007)

_Hey I agree with you (from that perspective), that will work great this year and maybe next. After that, go to Joe Pattis and by frozen farm raised reds from the Carolinas, because there won't be any reds here left in the slot!_

_PS: the fishery here and the fishery in Louisiana have absolutely NOTHING in common._
_:confused1:_




hjorgan said:


> This limit works in Louisiana and the fish continue to prosper.
> I like the taste of redfish and with the slot limits, it seems like the breeding stock will be well protected.
> 
> So 4 guys can now each take enough fillets home to feed the family. Sounds like a good thing to me. :thumbup:


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## REDFISH101 (Mar 27, 2009)

Bay Pirate;
I said:


> PS: the fishery here and the fishery in Louisiana have absolutely NOTHING in common.[/I]
> _:confused1:_


That limit is crazy!!! I say if it ain't broke then don't fix it.I guess we will see how it pans out!


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## Brad King (Sep 30, 2007)

REDFISH101 said:


> That limit is crazy!!! I say if it ain't broke then don't fix it.I guess we will see how it pans out!


 I agree, I hope they never touch the current Redfish limits. They are perfect in every sense!!!!


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## wetley49 (Sep 25, 2010)

Personally I'd like to see a change in the limits. I don't think we'll see a decrease in the numbers. I think the guide business would pick up because people would be more apt to spend money if they can keep more fish


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## Bobc5269 (Feb 10, 2011)

*redfish*

I kind of like it like it is. They used to be all over the bay until that Carl Prudhomme guy started the Blackened Red fish Craze. In fact we sorta counted them as nothing better than a large croaker when I was a kid (which has been a pretty long time ago). We went many a year with them nearly depleted, and I am very happy to see them back in abundance. The slot protects the older, mature breeding fish as well as the juveniles. I say leave it as it is, it makes you appreciate them much more when you get one on the plate.......... Bob


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## Wharf Rat (Sep 27, 2007)

I don't mind the 2 per person but the boat limit does seem a bit high. There's not too many other species out there though that have a boat limit less than the sum of the fishermen on the boat's limit...is there?


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## Snapperking (May 30, 2009)

BOUT time if you ask me.Florida is the only state to NOT up the limit on Redfish since they were decimated from the blackened redfish craze years ago.Even Alabama with their small coastline has had a 3 fish limit with one being any size over the slot and yet they still flourish there and like the other guy said the limits in the other states have not slowed them down either!The MAIN reason they will still keep expanding in Florida if they do go with the upped limits is that thing they did a few years back called a NEt ban will keep them well populated.Thanks for the web site as I will go there to support the increase!!


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## tideline_two (Oct 8, 2007)

thought i'd tell yall those "farm raised" redfish are from north carolina and they are wild caught not "farm raised". in south carolina redfish (we call em spottails here) are a gamefish and sale is prohibited. the limit in s.c. is 2 fish 15-23 inches, no boat limit. btw we are ate up with em.


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## fisheye48 (Sep 28, 2007)

here is something i learned....no matter how much you bitch, whine, moan, complain, email, call, put on facebook or twitter....NOTHING IS GONNA CHANGE THE GOV'T'S IDEAS!!! either deal with the new rules or quit fishing or move to where the rules are where you like


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## SolarFlare (Oct 3, 2007)

You cannot sell redfish in Fl unless they are farm raised as I understand it.

*But the real point is simple.....*

If you all you care about is *meat-fish, NOW*, you would support this proposal.

If you would like your son/daughter, grandchildren etc to enjoy the sport and eating the fish in the future, then you would NOT!

I prefer to enjoy the sport and preserve some for the future, but not everyone feels that way! When I'm dead it won't matter to me, but I'd like my grandchildren to at least have the opportunty to enjoy the sport.

It brings me a great deal of pleasure on the water and at the table just the way it is!


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## SolarFlare (Oct 3, 2007)

fisheye48 said:


> here is something i learned....no matter how much you bitch, whine, moan, complain, email, call, put on facebook or twitter....NOTHING IS GONNA CHANGE THE GOV'T'S IDEAS!!! either deal with the new rules or quit fishing or move to where the rules are where you like


*Sorry, not true, we (a group from pensacola) slowed them down 3 years ago when they wanted to change to a 22'-26' slot!*

*However now they've gone full circle. *

*But thanks for your opinon fisheye, I just don't subscribe to the philosphy of thinking the Public has no choice, we are just subserviants!*

*Now if just posting on the forum is ones way of making something happen, you are 100% right. BUT, if you take the time to truly get involved, get to know the right people, educate yourself on the facts, and make reasonable requests of those Gov't entities, then you might find them more sympathetic to your requests!*
:thumbsup:


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## JMSUN (Feb 24, 2010)

In Alabama the limit is 3 and you can catch one over the slot. The way we were catching them last time I went a couple of months ago they sure have not been depleted over there. I think this is a good thing. It might actually be worth fishing for reds in Florida now. If the population begins go down they can always change the limit back to one.


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## SolarFlare (Oct 3, 2007)

JMSUN said:


> In Alabama the limit is 3 and you can catch one over the slot. The way we were catching them last time I went a couple of months ago they sure have not been depleted over there. I think this is a good thing. It might actually be worth fishing for reds in Florida now. If the population begins go down they can always change the limit back to one.


I have a simple repsonse to your comment, look at the Alabama coastline, and then look at the *miles *Fl coastline. It simply cannot be compared from a fishery standpoint.


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## tideline_two (Oct 8, 2007)

i nade a mistake ... the limit in s.c. was raised to 3 fish . totaly forgot about that. personaly i don't fish much for spottails there isn't much challenge to catch em. and those fish from n.c. are NOT farm raised they are in fact wild fish that are gill netted. they also gill net stripers by the ton up there. 
i think its actually impossible to really hurt a fisherie with a hook and line. nets are a different thing.


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## jim t (Sep 30, 2007)

Bay Pirate said:


> I have a simple repsonse to your comment, look at the Alabama coastline, and then look at the *miles *Fl coastline. It simply cannot be compared from a fishery standpoint.


 
You are not implying that fish do not respect state boundaries are you?
:w00t::w00t::blink::blink:

Jim


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## Geronimo (Oct 2, 2007)

It's about time they upped the limit. I wish they would have upped it another fish or two.


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## jvalhenson (May 14, 2008)

cant speak for Florida's redfish fishery but in MS we have an 18 to 30in slot and a 3 per person limit(no boat limit). 1 of the 3 may be over 30 inches but I do not keep them over about 24 inches(actually just had a few on the half shell for dinner tonight)....our fishery is extremely healthy with fish of all sizes...sometimes they can actually be a nuisance once you have your 3 and are trying to target trout or flounder and cant get past the 22in reds. We have had these limits for years and it just keeps getting stronger. Like I said not comparing FL and MS redfishing just throwing our limits out there and that it has worked very very well for us.


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## SolarFlare (Oct 3, 2007)

tideline_two said:


> i nade a mistake ... the limit in s.c. was raised to 3 fish . totaly forgot about that. personaly i don't fish much for spottails there isn't much challenge to catch em. and those fish from n.c. are NOT farm raised they are in fact wild fish that are gill netted. they also gill net stripers by the ton up there.
> i think its actually impossible to really hurt a fisherie with a hook and line. nets are a different thing.


I know i shouldn't do this, but I simply can't help myself. It is obvious, at least to me that you are a little short on knowledge of this subject. The Carolinas are part of the "Atlantic States Agreement" for federally funded monies regarding red drum.

They are a protected under this agreement within certain parameters in order to collect the money. I hardly think Gill Netting is allowed of redfish, with such conservative laws and possible loss of federal money.
http://www.nccoastalreserve.net/uploads/Reddrum8.20.09.pdf

Maybe you could try a Carolina based fishing Forum, they might believe you?:no:


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## SolarFlare (Oct 3, 2007)

jim t said:


> You are not implying that fish do not respect state boundaries are you?
> :w00t::w00t::blink::blink:
> 
> Jim


 
Hi JimT,

No its simple math, how many miles of Floridas Coastline vs how many miles of Ala coastline. There is no way to compare the 2 from an entirety of State perspective. 

From our local persctive there might be an argument, but in the big picture its irrelavant!

And BTW, *inshore* redfish don't typically move more than 2 miles from where they spawned, they react differently from the coastal reds.


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## wetley49 (Sep 25, 2010)

*"Now if just posting on the forum is ones way of making something happen, you are 100% right. BUT, if you take the time to truly get involved, get to know the right people, educate yourself on the facts, and make reasonable requests of those Gov't entities, then you might find them more sympathetic to your requests!"

Really? How's the grouper and "endangered" American Red Snapper fishery going? The gov't doesn't seem to want to listen to the people who's lives and livelihoods are affected by the fishing closures. I also agree that the gill net ban was a major step in bringing the redfish population back up to a sustainable level. So, with increased numbers of fish, why not raise the limit? If it doesn't work then I'm sure the bag limit will be decreased. 

Texas: 3 fish, 20-28"
Louisiana: 5 fish, 16-27"
Alabama: 3 fish, 16-26" with 1 oversize fish allowed
Mississippi: 3 fish, 18-30"
Georgia: 5 fish, 14-23"
South Carolina: 3 fish, 15-23"
North Carolina: 1 fish, 18-27

I hardly doubt an increase in the bag limit will deplete our fishery here in Florida. 


*


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## wetley49 (Sep 25, 2010)

*http://www.quickr.org/Louisiana_coastline_length_397_miles

Hope this will help in your research. Look at the coastline lengths for the gulf coast
*


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## tideline_two (Oct 8, 2007)

try this on http://www.ncfisheries.net/procs/procs2k10/FF-43-2010.html. and yes they are gill netted. and this is a link about a reasturant in north carolina that had to stop serveing redfish because of customer complaints http://www.carteretnewstimes.com/articles/2010/10/31/news-times/news/doc4ccc86f5c3627479691409.txt


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## tideline_two (Oct 8, 2007)

the last year i could find stats from nc is 2009. o guess that haven't talleyed 2010 yet.they landed 194,000 lbs which were sold for $316,046 in 2009. you can find the stats here http://www.ncfisheries.net/statistics/comstat/drumred.htm


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## Hewes your daddy? (Mar 9, 2009)

The coastal estuary systems of La. Ms. and AL. are much different than those of Florida and might support higher limits, but I think the we should stick with our current limits in light if the fact that we dont know the long term effects of the BP spill. All of those systems were hit much harder than us . I think we should stay status quo until the verdict is out.


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## billin (Oct 14, 2007)

*tide line*

he is correct they due allow gill nets for drum in NC in fact some of the locals even do irt for fun no commercial fishing permit required as long as the net is the correct size. SC does not allow commercial harvest of redfish they are considered a gamefish and yes speaking from experince they are a pest in the charleston area. NC does have a gill net fishery for Rock fish as well. I dont agree with net fishing but it has been alive and well up their for more years than I have been alive and the fishery dosent appear depleated to me. Hell i catch more fish back home than i do here


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## wetley49 (Sep 25, 2010)

How are the estuaries that much different? Have you guys ever fished cedar key, Indian river, Everglades,etc? There's hardly any developement along a lot of the Florida coastline that supports a healthy redfish population. I say raise it and let's see what happens. It would never be as bad as the gill nets


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## DreamWeaver21 (Oct 3, 2007)

Bay Pirate said:


> 1st, I couldn't attach the document because of file size, 1 thing I don't care for since the site changed.
> 
> So I am posting the link.... http://myfwc.com/docs/CommissionMeetings/2011/Feb/RedDrum_Presentation.pdf
> 
> ...


If I do anything, I will contact them and tell them the new limits are a good idea. There is plenty of redfish and 2 per person is a reasonable limit in my opinion. The off water possesion rule seems stupid anyhow so I am not sorry to see it go either.


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## knowphish (Apr 26, 2010)

*My reply was sent!!*

I say leave well enough alone. If there is a good side to this, I guess you could say Louisana is a short drive!!!


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## wetley49 (Sep 25, 2010)

Just throwing numbers out there in favor of an increase. Maybe top it off at a 5 per boat limit? I do agree 8 per boat is a bit much, but I would like to see at least a little increase.


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## whome (Oct 2, 2007)

The way they are shortening seasons and shortening limits every month, I am NOT going to complain about them giving ANYTHING back. Take what you can get now and hope they keep giving with other species


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## Hewes your daddy? (Mar 9, 2009)

The idea of increase it and see what happens is rediculous. It's like the old expresion " closing the barn after the horse is out". If an icreased bag limits deplete the stock. where are we. Tighter limits and shorter seasons like we had years ago in order to rebuild the fishery. Why can't some people see the current limits as a good thing and enjoy the fishery as great for years to come. Perhaps a minor change like allowing culling would allow you to keep fish closer to the upper slot limit and still do minimum damage to a great fishery that took us years to get to this point. I remember the years when a redfish catch in this area was a rare occurance and I have no desire to go back to that. GO STATUS QUO or move elsewhere where the limits suit your catch and kill style of fishing. It's like moving a sewage treatment plant to a better place, "great idea, just dont put it an my back yard".


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## screwballl (Feb 1, 2011)

I think an 8 per boat limit is reasonable. Primarily to keep people from illegally netting or keeping large numbers of them if they were netting for something else.

Plus if I catch a few in Blackwater or Yellow River, it would be nice to hold into a few and not be limited to just one.


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## wetley49 (Sep 25, 2010)

Do you have any proof the stocks have gone down? I didn't think so. Besides, the whole reason for the net ban was to bring the stocks up. I think the ban went into effect in 1994. Is 17 years not enough time for a fishery to rebound? Jeeze, I never said I was unhappy with the current regs but I think an increase wouldn't hurt the population. 2 fish per person and 5 per boat! I wish that was change we could actually believe in.


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## bigrick (Sep 29, 2010)

fisheye48 said:


> here is something i learned....no matter how much you bitch, whine, moan, complain, email, call, put on facebook or twitter....NOTHING IS GONNA CHANGE THE GOV'T'S IDEAS!!! either deal with the new rules or quit fishing or move to where the rules are where you like


 X2 , the goverment doesn't give a shit about what the people think or want. $$$$$ controls everything, wake up idiots.


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## SolarFlare (Oct 3, 2007)

screwballl said:


> I think an 8 per boat limit is reasonable. Primarily to keep people from illegally netting or keeping large numbers of them if they were netting for something else.
> 
> Plus if I catch a few in Blackwater or Yellow River, it would be nice to hold into a few and not be limited to just one.


*Just to clarify, You would only be able to keep 2 fish if you are by yourself.....*

*Furthermore....*
While I prefer to leave it like it is, I don't have as much of a problem with a 2 fish limit as I do with an* 8* Fish Boat limit. I can feed a lot of people with *4* redfish, and if I needed more I could fish another day.

Some say there are plenty of redfish, and the answer in general might be yes; but are there plenty of SLOT fish, some say maybe NO!

For example, go back and look at the results from some of last years redfish torunaments. There were many weigh-ins where only the top 5 or 6, maybe 7 boats weighed 2 fish, the rest weighed 1 or *none* at all. I also seem to recollect that several of the top weights were lighter than the years before.

Maybe someone from the local *Redfish Club* could do an analysis for us?

I don't think turning redfishing into a "*MEATFISH HUNT*" is a good idea for the longterm health of our fishery.

I enjoy the sport of catching reds more than I do the eating them, but that's just me!


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## bigrick (Sep 29, 2010)

I was thinking the same thing, out of all the redfish I caught last year only 3 were in the slot and that's out of probably more than 50. And that's fishing in the bay a lot too. It's weird to me to catch 8 or 9 over the slot to every one keeper and that's in the bay on the flats.


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## Hewes your daddy? (Mar 9, 2009)

It seems that it took nearly 30 years after banning spotter planes and commercial harvests, to get us to the point we are at today. Why on earth would we want to risk reversing a positive growth trend. I'm with you Bay Pirate. To those that don't know the difference between our estuary systen and that of other places look at a map and compare the actual linear milage of coastline in a short area to that of ours Throw in the fact that in NWFlorida we seem to think that we can build a house or other man made structure on every foot of availablbe coastline. How much untouched estuary do we have as compared to that of Louisiana or Mississippi. Please step back an look at this closely before we reverse what we have waited so long to get back to this point.


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## tideline_two (Oct 8, 2007)

hey bay pirate..... i was just trying to show ya that the frozen redfish yall were buying are from up there in north carolina and wild caught. (about 40 miles from the state line is murrells inlet, that where i live) sorry you don't actually have a clue what your talking about... bet you buy "farm raised grouper" to.


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## hurricanemike (Feb 18, 2011)

You cant buy redfish in Florida tideline


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## zulubravo34 (Dec 23, 2010)

i live in perdido and i think this new bag limit is just out of hand... i go with two or three of my buds and usually get 6 keepers in the cooler at least (me + 2 ppl) and i enjoy both eating reds and catching big bull reds... so id say like a 5 per boat limit or keep the 1-2 per person limit


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## tideline_two (Oct 8, 2007)

i have no idea how the law works in fla concerning fish that are legaly caught and sold in another state . they are legal in south carolina. ie. the above mentioned redfish are legal in s.c. and they are a gamefish here no sale. bay pirate was saying there was NO commercial fishing for redfish allowed in north carolina and i knew that to be false.


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## SolarFlare (Oct 3, 2007)

tideline_two said:


> hey bay pirate..... i was just trying to show ya that the frozen redfish yall were buying are from up there in north carolina and wild caught. (about 40 miles from the state line is murrells inlet, that where i live) sorry you don't actually have a clue what your talking about... bet you buy "farm raised grouper" to.


 




I am going to do a 1 time response to your Carolina Assinity,
I could care less what you all do up there
I am gusessing that you are participating in our PFF, because you may have been thrown out from your local forum
don't know the laws up there, but I know enough to understand that commerial fishing and gill netting Red Drum is a quick way to deplete a resource. Doesn't say much for being good stewards of your Marine environment.
as for purchasing frozen Red Drum IQf; most if us don't buy frozen fish around here; we go catch it, or hit Joe Patti's seafood.
enough.........


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## tideline_two (Oct 8, 2007)

just trying to point out that what you were assumeing was the standard wasn't true. sorry you are haveing a bad day/life . (ps. name calling is never gonna win a arguement.it just makes the name caller look stupid.)


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