Lobster Hoop Net Gear changes?

[T Bone]

Can someone explain what they want to do?I tried to download the pdf but couldnt.Are they going to ban eclipse nets?I knew that there legality was allways a bit hazy.The DFG book says nets must lay flat.I thought the eclipses nets still didnt "Trap" lobster since they should be able to climb back out but that if spooked by the pull they would tail flick themselves further into the net.Am I wrong?

[Rik]

Originally Posted by T Bone

Can someone explain what they want to do?I tried to download the pdf but couldnt.Are they going to ban eclipse nets?I knew that there legality was allways a bit hazy.The DFG book says nets must lay flat.I thought the eclipses nets still didnt "Trap" lobster since they should be able to climb back out but that if spooked by the pull they would tail flick themselves further into the net.Am I wrong?

The way Jim explained it to me yesterday is that the DFG has come up with 2 options for hoop net gear regulations.

Option 1 would ban all "conical" type nets (Eclipse, Ambush, and Danielson)
and would allow 5 flat nets per person or a total of 10 per boat.

Option 2 would allow us to continue to use all " conical" type nets, but would be limited to 3 per person or total of 6 per boat.

that's the gist of it, if you can attend the meeting at Shelter Island on Tuesday @ 7pm, you can find out more.

-hope that helps a bit

[T Bone]

thanks

[BT]

Well I plan on stopping by and talking to the DFG. I think the second alternative of limiting you to 3 nets is silly. Lets say I want to fish just flat style nets. So now I can only take out three flat nets if I read that alternative correctly? There is really no compromise in either option. It is ban the eclpise, or lower the nets to 3. I was going to get a few more eclipse this year but will now wait it out.

And even the tailing thing is a little silly. Does the DFG really think that telling people they cant tail them until being prepared for immediate consumption will do anything except take up more room in my freezer? I can understand not tailing them until you get home, but making you keep them whole is a little silly once you get home.

Hope this doesnt hurt the guys that have been making us the nets.

[T Bone]

Ive never heard of an ambush net.With a name like that it has ban written all over it...

All I have ever used are flat nets,are the conicals that much better?

[dsafety]

I read an interesting article in the UT on this subject. I do not currently try to catch lobster from my kayak, (night time launches and landings scare me a bit). Anyway, I was considering picking up a few hoop nets and giving it a try until I read this article. http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stori...g-regulations/

If it is true that we are decimating the lobster population just as we did the abalone, I am all for adding some limitations. This is not a subject that I know much about so please educate me.

Bob

[BT]

Good article. I like the comment about the limit still being 7, and that the average lobster fisherman will just stay out longer and fish more often to get his/her limit. I can understand that there might be an impact on the fishery due to the popularization of the sport over recent years, but to blame it on a net is pretty silly. If they used this info as a baseline and studied it over a few years then I would be more understanding.

For years fishermen have been building the better “mouse trap” and even by their own definition, the conical nets are not a trap.