wtf is with this

[blackcloud9]

Willy, they can't even bait their traps until Wednesday after the opener,
though many hoopers reported a slow "opener", so think about the logic
around that. Sometimes they crawl and feed, sometimes not. The
commercial guys do not get the big ones either - big ones can't even get
into the traps.

While it's staggering to realize that the annual commercial take here is
more than 300 metric tons of lobster, or, more than 660,000 pounds ...
per year, we are not OUT of legal sized lobster in the ocean. As they
(and we) will continue to get them all year, when they come out to feed.

Just my take on things.

Tight lines, and ropes!

[flydigital]

Last year's lobster report card numbers showed that 20% of recreational lobster fishermen caught 49% of the total commercial catch. Only 20% turned in the cards! Doing the math, recreational is taking more than TWICE the amount of lobster than commercial.

[jbm]

Originally Posted by flydigital

Last year's lobster report card numbers showed that 20% of recreational lobster fishermen caught 49% of the total commercial catch. Only 20% turned in the cards! Doing the math, recreational is taking more than TWICE the amount of lobster than commercial.

I'd be willing to bet that a large portion of those report cards that were not turned in were blank. But that is an interesting statistic anyway. More recreational take than I would have thought.

[flydigital]

Originally Posted by jbm

I'd be willing to bet that a large portion of those report cards that were not turned in were blank. But that is an interesting statistic anyway. More recreational take than I would have thought.

I'm sure lots were blank... but from my own polling, lots of folks caught plenty and didn't turn 'em in. Either way there was big recreational catch and all anyone can do now is extrapolate an estimation. I think everyone was surprised.

Point is, its easy to complain about the commercial guys when you're not catching what you think you should... but perhaps it is them who should be complaining. For better or worse, as far as MLPA goes we are all in this together.

[DESTROYER]

Just think how good it will be in 2 years

[Gino]

Originally Posted by flydigital

Last year's lobster report card numbers showed that 20% of recreational lobster fishermen caught 49% of the total commercial catch. Only 20% turned in the cards! Doing the math, recreational is taking more than TWICE the amount of lobster than commercial.

Thats doing the math based on the statistics you have there. I think there is some unacounted variables. If that were true, what keeps the Local Commerical Lobster in buisness?
I could get a resident commerical liscense for yeary fee of $120.75 and some sorta lobster/invertebrate stamp And take a big pro angler out there and pull up a limit and sell it to the market at $3-4 a pound. And I could make a pretty penny.

[flydigital]

Originally Posted by Gino

Thats doing the math based on the statistics you have there. I think there is some unacounted variables. If that were true, what keeps the Local Commerical Lobster in buisness?
I could get a resident commerical liscense for yeary fee of $120.75 and some sorta lobster/invertebrate stamp And take a big pro angler out there and pull up a limit and sell it to the market at $3-4 a pound. And I could make a pretty penny.

You are forgetting the lobster operator permit you will need. They are not cheap (almost 6 figures last time I checked) and there are only a couple hundred or so in the state!

From all accounts our lobster numbers are looking good but there are still many unknowns. This is the first time we've had recreational figures. The commercial catch numbers have been good for several years.