Same with the flounder situation there. Recreational tax paying citizens get 1 fish per day for 1 month.
Its now Oct 08, 2022, and all NC fisherman are now banned from keeping any flounder. While the commercial pound net industry rages on. They'll remove tens of thousands of flounder from NC waters between now and just the end of the month. And they'll sell them for next to nothing so that the megastore monopolies can sell china packaged American flounder back to us for $5.00 per lb.
I was using the wrong search engine. My preferred duckduckgo, yielded nothing. Google found some links but not many maps except for Maryland. I was surprised to find out that this commercial method has been heavily deployed since the 1800’s. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0843871420974064
ccanc.org
Pound nets used in.Chesapeake as long as I can remember. Used mostly for striped bass and catfish but will catch about anything. One river I frequent is about 5 to 6 miles of fishable main river. 10 years ago there was 2 pound nets on the river operated by one fisherman. Now there has to be 15 to 20, they seem to multiply each year. By how my fisherman I do not know. But as the nets increase recreational striper has declined. As well as largemouth bass. Pound nets have been.and is away of life on the Chesapeake. Research declining stock levels on the Chesapeake. Sad. One area there.are 4 nets staggered side to side for about 3/4 mile on channel edge.
This is for Maryland. I'll see if I can find a similar map for the Carolinas. But this should give you a good idea of what our fisheries are up against. Between these and all of the other devices its amazing that we even have any fish stocks left. I guess the fact that I haven't seen a true doormat flounder in 30 years suggests that were probably already at the bottom of the barrel.
I found one for the North Carolina but it shows where pound nets are not permitted. Which I assume means everywhere else is open season. And if you look at the MD map, you'll get a good idea of where this type of device is normally installed. This seems like a good way to allow the commercial fishing conglomerates to pick and choose which fish they want too. There should be an upper size limit on fish taken by the commercial industry. But then again that would result in them taking even more smaller fish. Id be ok with a new national law that says if you want to eat a fish then it either comes from a genuinely farmed resource, or you catch it yourself.
Yes , myself and youngest son caught some beauties at New river inlet 2 weeks ago, I don't mind putting them back but the thought of them getting netted makes me sick, ...pop.
