Lake Erie Walleye Commercial Fishing

[young_one]

How do they manage to have only(mostly) Walleye in their net?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG3mTKSiyx0&feature=related

Edited July 6, 2010 by young_one

[fish-miester]

ugh i hate comercial fishing

[moemoe]

that is a lot of freakin fish! hopefully they stick to the quotas

[JMahon]

That is absolutely DISGUSTING! Commercial fishing MAKES ME SICK!!!!

[fishindude]

Oh my ..

 

This gives me hope that this method could be used towards Big Head/Asian Carp possibly

[Billy Bob]

That is absolutely DISGUSTING! Commercial fishing MAKES ME SICK!!!!

 

We have to remember that commercial fishing is a OLD industry on Lake Erie and it provides jobs for many families...not only for those who work on the fishing boats but all the way down to the restaurants and seafood stores that sell the fish.

[Rob]

Isn't that right at prime spawning season? If so, why wouldn't they wait until they have spawned before getting their quota. That is messed up!

 

Rob C

[Shaner]

Wow!!! That is a crazy amount of fish!!

[JohnF]

Wow!!! That is a crazy amount of fish!!

 

How do you thing Big Cliff feels? He can't even catch one.

 

JF

[OhioFisherman]

young one, for one they have much better electronics in their boats than the average fisherman. Seasonal patterns, there are well established areas where they fish, er net. There are large schools of walleye out there, er for now, the netters communicate and share info. Usually walleye aren`t hanging around in the same waters in quantity as other fish, it can and does happen at times, but here on the south side of Erie people don`t go out in 70 fow and fish 35 feet down for smallies.

 

It was a rare thing to catch a walleye except in certain areas and certain times of year back in the late 50`s thru mid 70`s here. Ohio bought out the commercial walleye fishermen`s licenses. For years they had said the weren`t taking enough walleye to hurt the population, always problems with them over harvesting and getting caught. With in 3 years the lake was full of walleye.

 

The economic impact? Sport fisherman spend far and away more money fishing than the commercial fishermen ever did. It also affected travel to your country, just in my own family dad, my uncles, cousins all stopped traveling to Ontario, walleye fishermen, they could now catch them here.

 

Lake front property values shot up, boat sales increased, probably thousands of charter captains here now compared to a few commercial netters.

 

Just my opinion? a natural resource, protect it by banning commercial fishing.

[lunkerbasshunter]

everybody,

 

please think of this everytime you order pickeral or walleye from your local eatery.

 

And there are what hundreds of commercial fishing boats on the great lakes??????????

[asdve23rveavwa]

Almost wish I hadn't watched that.

[Guest Johnny Bass]

young one, for one they have much better electronics in their boats than the average fisherman. Seasonal patterns, there are well established areas where they fish, er net. There are large schools of walleye out there, er for now, the netters communicate and share info. Usually walleye aren`t hanging around in the same waters in quantity as other fish, it can and does happen at times, but here on the south side of Erie people don`t go out in 70 fow and fish 35 feet down for smallies.

 

It was a rare thing to catch a walleye except in certain areas and certain times of year back in the late 50`s thru mid 70`s here. Ohio bought out the commercial walleye fishermen`s licenses. For years they had said the weren`t taking enough walleye to hurt the population, always problems with them over harvesting and getting caught. With in 3 years the lake was full of walleye.

 

The economic impact? Sport fisherman spend far and away more money fishing than the commercial fishermen ever did. It also affected travel to your country, just in my own family dad, my uncles, cousins all stopped traveling to Ontario, walleye fishermen, they could now catch them here.

 

Lake front property values shot up, boat sales increased, probably thousands of charter captains here now compared to a few commercial netters.

 

Just my opinion? a natural resource, protect it by banning commercial fishing.

 

Sounds good to me Ohio.Another example how Government(as corruopt as it is) is more honest than private enterprise.

 

I just dont get it. They catch millions of pickerel in nets, and then somehow have the audacity to charge $13 for a pound of pickerel at the supermarket?

 

Do they have commercial fishing licenses so the average tincan joe can sell his catch for lets say $5 a pound(with a slot limit of course to protect numbers)? The only problem with that is that an increase of poaching would result.

[perchslayer666]

A lot of people on here have to remember that you are not the only ones on the water... Commercial Fisherman do this because it earns them money and there is a large market for them. As long as it is done within the law, and they're are programs in place to replenish what was taken, I say go for it.

[asdve23rveavwa]

A lot of people on here have to remember that you are not the only ones on the water... Commercial Fisherman do this because it earns them money and there is a large market for them. As long as it is done within the law, and they're are programs in place to replenish what was taken, I say go for it.

True, it is all about proper management of the resource. My problem is I don't trust our government or it's ministries to properly manage anything.

[BillM]

Commercial netting has been happening in Lake Erie for a long long time. Obviously with the way the walleye fishery is currently, it's not having a negative impact as it once was...

[dave524]

Actually, I was quite impressed, I expected a larger number of non target species to to caught and wasted.

[craigdritchie]

I just dont get it. They catch millions of pickerel in nets, and then somehow have the audacity to charge $13 for a pound of pickerel at the supermarket?

The netters don't get anywhere near $13 a pound. That's what the supermarket charges John Q. Public. The supermarket actually buys walleye from fish wholesalers for less than half that amount - say $6 a pound. That's the only way they can make money selling it, given their overhead costs.

 

The fish wholesalers also need to make a profit after covering the transportation and processing charges, so they only pay the netters about $2 - $3 per pound, max.

 

Commercial fishing is a tough way to make a living, especially when you need to pay people's salaries, make year-round payments on a $400,000 boat, keep it gassed up and maintained and insured.

 

Commercial netters have been fishing the Great Lakes - and many other inland lakes - for more than 100 years. Once upon a time, there were no seasons or quotas, and that's how we got in trouble. It's managed far better today than it was in the past, as evidenced by the enormous numbers of walleye in Erie right now, and the very small numbers of other species accidentally caught (as you can see in the video).

[OhioFisherman]

"Commercial netting has been happening in Lake Erie for a long long time. Obviously with the way the walleye fishery is currently, it's not having a negative impact as it once was..."

 

hmmm? perhaps because Ohio has banned it, and set very strict limits during the spawn? Plus water quality has improved? Obviously commercial fish had an impact in the past? and not just in the great lakes, over harvest by this nation and others still poses a significant problem to the worlds fisheries.

 

Lake Erie walleye are very migratory, where they spawn and where they are caught can be very different things.

[Billy Bob]

The problem I have in this world of fishing is there are different rules for different groups...In NYS I can only keep 5 walleyes that are 15" and more during the walleye season....commercial fishermen don't have those restrictions....and don't get me started on what the Indians are allowed to do.....