Midwater trawlers back in inshore Gulf of Maine, starting tomorrow (10/1)

[twofinbluna]

Well, after a long summer that showed a lot of improvements in the GOM, it is all going to come to and end soon as starting tomorrow, 10/1, the midwater herring trawlers will be back in Area 1A again. --124-3

There is a spawning closure in place in the western GOM that will keep all herring boats out out of Ipswich Bay and Jeffreys and places like that, but that spawning closure expires in 2 weeks, at which point they will all be back in close to shore, pounding all those places inshore. Anywhere east of Jeffreys will be wide open though starting tomorrow (that includes north and east of the northern tip of Cape Cod, as well as in places like the Kettle off Mid Coast, Maine.)

We have talked a bunch here already about the improvements this summer without midwater trawling, but starting tomorrow, the boats will be out and hungrier than ever before. They have been waiting all summer to get back out and you can bet they will fish very hard. There is also a chance that they will do what they did in May, which is that they catch so much so fast that NMFS closes them after they have gone way over the quota.

Bottom line is that we need to get midwater gear out of the inshore areas off all of New England, year round, and as soon as possible. The damage that will be done to the areas we all fish in the coming weeks will be a disaster. As someone who fishes off Maine, I feel that our season may as well be over, because there will be no tuna left within a week or two.

We have a very important meeting in a month that will decide whether we can get more changes in the herring fishery this year or next...we will all need to do our part. Soon I will post sample letters and everyone needs to send them in this time. If we cannot get herring addressed this year, it will be 2010 at the earliest before any changes are made.

Stay tuned for ways to help...I should have stuff up here by mid week. In the meantime, get out and fish if you fish the GOM, because it will not be long before the bait is wiped out and everything is gone. And bring your cameras, you never know what can happen when fishing around midwater boats.

[twofinbluna]

If you are out on the water and see the herring trawlers fishing, you can report it on the CHOIR site (anonymously if you choose). It is important that we keep track of them.

Here is the link to the Sightings page:

Report a sighting (http://www.choircoalition.org/sightings/)

[anut]

this is a bummer. can you point me to site that will tell me the differences between boats and how to tell what they are fishing for? i see them all the time but am clueless as to what species they targeting by looking at them.

[happytuna]

hi twofin
will thet be able to fish down in chatham when the herring come in to the area to spawn if i remember right they used a loophole and said the herring was stage 4 or 5 and got to fish whats up for this year do you now
ive heard the ipswich bay is doing ok with a few fish and the cove areas getting a few to i hope we can get some fish before they come in and kill it on us

[twofinbluna]

this is a bummer. can you point me to site that will tell me the differences between boats and how to tell what they are fishing for? i see them all the time but am clueless as to what species they targeting by looking at them.


Go to the CHOIR website, linked below, and look at the gallery page. It should help. Also, just pay attention to any huge trawlers you see, especially ones that are pair trawling, which means towing one net together (pics of that on CHOIR site). If you see huge trawlers, try and pay attention to any details- colors, size, etc. Then report it...if you describe what they look like, people will be able to tell if they were herring boats or not.

Keep in mind that all of the trawlers are over 100 feet long, many around 150 feet long. The only trawlers that large anywhere inshore are going to be herring boats.

[twofinbluna]

hi twofin
will thet be able to fish down in chatham when the herring come in to the area to spawn if i remember right they used a loophole and said the herring was stage 4 or 5 and got to fish whats up for this year do you now
ive heard the ipswich bay is doing ok with a few fish and the cove areas getting a few to i hope we can get some fish before they come in and kill it on us

They can fish off Chatham...aftr the spawning closure near Jeffreys opens in 2 weeks, there is no further spawning closures for the rets of the year. They will be able to go to Chatham...but they will pound the crap out of the GOM first.

[Capt. John]

As usual that just plain sucks !! At least Ipswich Bay will be off limits for awhile..last year I was tuna fishing there in Oct. and they were pounding the area I mean like 5 boats within 2-3 miles of the beach just wiping the place out, it was pretty ugly. The whole "bait" issue in the GOM (and everywhere)needs to be addressed THIS YEAR, not only herring but ALL bait.
Here is a bit of info for Maine guys to keep in mind, we actually had some nice schools of ADULT pogies in the Portland Harbor area this summer, something we have not seen in years since the Russian processors wiped the area out in the late 90's. This past month in our local waters there were some boats from downeast who came into our rivers and bays...ie. Royal river, Middle Bay, broad cove and other areas of Portland Harbor and netted and whiped out the schools to use and sell as lobster bait. These guys were in places that are loaded with stripers and the water is no more than 20ft deep at the most. Several guides whitnessed them hauling nets loaded with pogies and STRIPERS !! SO think of this...after aprox 8-10years of the pogies recovering and starting to rebuild in areas they have not been these guys were able to go in and wipe them out in a few weeks...and for what maybe 50-100 barrels of lobster bait ?? Some of us reported it to the DMR and they said there was nothing they could do as these guys were legal. How can they be legal when they are netting striped bass as bycatch in a state that does not allow ANY netting of striped bass :confused:
Sorry to rant on this and it's off topic a little but there needs to be major issues addressed on forage food in the entire GOM. I'm sure you all remember the 90's when we had wall to wall pogies and wall to wall huge bluefish and huge stripers that depended on that bait. The Kennebec river was a WORLD class fishery for big striped bass and this year it has gotten to the point where I heard rumors of fly fishing guides carrying live eels on board just to get thier clients into some fish...pretty sad.
The herring issue is a place to start so please write and speak to everyone you know about this issue......

[happytuna]

two fin
thanks for that it sucks i hope the fill it quick and go the fishing gets good and they are going to kill it let me know when that meeting is so i can plan to go
thanks happy

[Codfisher]

A very large (100ft+) trawler came across Platts on Sunday around 1400...wasn't fishing just looking around...a little preseason scouting I guess.

[twofinbluna]

Supposidly there are about 15 of them pounding one area down east. One of the spots we have been fishing most of the year. Just awful.

[happytuna]

that stinks lets hope they finish fast and not kill it all

[twofinbluna]

I got my fingers crossed!

[fishahn]

thanks for your hard work twofin, look forward to your letters and I will definitely send one to the appropriate places! appreciate all your info over this summer!

rich

[twofinbluna]

No problem, fishahn...thanks for your help. I am glad to see you and others here getting involved on this important fight. I will get those letters up ASAP.

[twofinbluna]

Will post those sample letters this evening...but before I forgot I wanted to post about what happened yesterday. I was talking to a guy who was fishing the Regal Sword and saw herring pair trawlers dump a massive load of stripers that they had apparently caught as bycatch. What a shame.

[north coast]

Will post those sample letters this evening...but before I forgot I wanted to post about what happened yesterday. I was talking to a guy who was fishing the Regal Sword and saw herring pair trawlers dump a massive load of stripers that they had apparently caught as bycatch. What a shame.

Seems they do this every year. why NMFS can't "discover"that there is a yearly migration through there at this time of year and temporarily (at least) close that area till the migration is over is mind boggling. Another blatent example of our fish managers dropping the ball, big time. Sad