Money fishing panfish in New York

[crayfishbob]

Think of fisheries like a woodlot. Its ok to cut trees down, sell the wood, right ? More trees will grow, and probably if done right, better ones.

Its a simple fact that fish like a woodlot are a renewable rescource. A healthy well managed body of water can produce incredible amounts of fish. Its a simple fact that because of poor or totally unmanaged populations of fish, and particulary the environment they live in has a greater by far effect on a fish population than meat fishermen ever could do harm to. With the limits nowadays, the lost market places, the price of gas and bait, Its a losing proposition to the meat fishermen.

I say what came first was a deminished fishery, then the wave of commercial fishing came along, then the limits.

[Bussman]

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/specialnews/outdoor/0123043317.shtml

http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/cgi-bin/rp/rp2_abst_f?cjfas_f97-205_55_ns_nf_cjfas

Be carefull what you ask for.

[Jack Magnum]

When the sale of all panfish in ny is stopped it will be a good day-and it's coming sooner then most think.I have no problem with guys fishing everyday and freezing some fillets-eventually their going to run out of freezer space.I do have a problem with the unemployed,supposed handicapped,and any other who go out there day after day and harvest over the limit to sell.The guys buying never run out of freezer space,they just have the truck stop and pick them up more frequently.Don't sell our resources just to put 60 cents a pound in your pocket.Why rape the resource when you can get a part time job?I've seen guys who were supposedly handicapped and unable to work humping 2 5 gallon pails full of fish off the lake day after day.Sounds like work to me,why aren't they able to work a real job?

WoW ! Is that all they get is 60 cents a pound ? How come you know so much about prices ?  Do you sell ? Anyway, I have just a couple points to make. One guy I know said to me one time, What's the difference if a guy goes out and catches fish everyday for his own freezer or a guy that DOESN'T like fish and sells his fish to buy hamburger ? He had a point really. Catching and keeping fish is the same rather you keep them or sell them . Another thing I would like to add is this. The Lake I live on has large numbers of pike and tiger musky and I am sure that accounts for large numbers of fish being taken. Now add the chemicals they use to kill weeds which usually results in a massive fish kill 1 -2 weeks after introduction. When I've questioned the powers to be , They told me it was stress from spawning that killed the fish not the chemicals. Strange though, one year they didn't treat the lake until  late and the fish survived the so called stress period but died after the late treatment. Finally, I've seen our harvester unload onto the conveyer belt hundreds and thousands of small fry that never got the chance to be a fishermen's catch. Those happenings bother me alot more than the thought of fishermen keeping fish or selling their catch. One thing I'll say about fishermen that sell, I don't know if they're lazy, unemployed  or whatever some of you guys say, but I know one thing for sure, When it comes to fishing they are far from lazy and catch alot of fish WITHOUT the high tech toys that most of us use.
                   Jack

[esox slayer]

WoW ! Is that all they get is 60 cents a pound ? How come you know so much about prices ?  Do you sell ? Anyway, I have just a couple points to make. One guy I know said to me one time, What's the difference if a guy goes out and catches fish everyday for his own freezer or a guy that DOESN'T like fish and sells his fish to buy hamburger ? He had a point really. Catching and keeping fish is the same rather you keep them or sell them . Another thing I would like to add is this. The Lake I live on has large numbers of pike and tiger musky and I am sure that accounts for large numbers of fish being taken. Now add the chemicals they use to kill weeds which usually results in a massive fish kill 1 -2 weeks after introduction. When I've questioned the powers to be , They told me it was stress from spawning that killed the fish not the chemicals. Strange though, one year they didn't treat the lake until  late and the fish survived the so called stress period but died after the late treatment. Finally, I've seen our harvester unload onto the conveyer belt hundreds and thousands of small fry that never got the chance to be a fishermen's catch. Those happenings bother me alot more than the thought of fishermen keeping fish or selling their catch. One thing I'll say about fishermen that sell, I don't know if they're lazy, unemployed  or whatever some of you guys say, but I know one thing for sure, When it comes to fishing they are far from lazy and catch alot of fish WITHOUT the high tech toys that most of us use.
                   Jack

I heard around Lake Champlain it was pretty cheap for perch, but down this way it's in the neighborhood of $1.65 a pound...and as I said before, I don't sell fish, but I am familiar with whats happening around my local lake....Esox

[MuskyHunter]

You don't need HIGH TECH TOYS if you have nothing better to do than fish day after day after day after day after day...ya know what...get a job...and a hair cut while yer at it. I watched my lake go straight to H#@@ when guys were taking hundreds upon hundreds of perch to sell...Thank God there is at least now a daily limit here, but ya know what? There are still people who poach it to no end...unless they are caught, or better yet..they see me! Got an idea of my feelings on the subject? I thought fishing was for fun, or sport, or just a way to get out in the great outdoors but ya know what, there won't be much fun when the fish rapers are done! Quote The MuskyHunter......never more!

[Jack Magnum]

I heard around Lake Champlain it was pretty cheap for perch, but down this way it's in the neighborhood of $1.65 a pound...and as I said before, I don't sell fish, but I am familiar with whats happening around my local lake....Esox

Esox,
                   That price is better but I am afraid I would starve if I did fishing for a living.

[blkbird923]

Esox....... will be up one more time to get a pail full of 10"s and up on friday!

[seaweed01]

I got a phone call this morning from someone that saw a person sell $300.00, yes $300 worth of
perch this past weekend at Sodus. With dollars like that, the only way to stop it is to have laws
making it illegal to sell fish.  I myself, years ago at a landing in Cleveland on Onieda saw people with
the burlap bags full, selling fish and we all know what that did to the fishery before the DEC imposed
limits on panfish. Just my two cents.

[Donquad]

They had to put a limit on the panfish/perch/bullhead in NH last year because people from NY were coming up and filling up
5-10 60lb burlap sacs a day. This was a place where you could bring your kids and it would be nothing to jig up hundreds of pan fish a in a day. After a couple of years of watching these people fill up sleds,buckets,and those burlap sacs I bring my kid down there this year and i cant put him on fish. I'm glad they finally put a limit on them but could it be too late now? Who knows. All i know is that they had a devastating effect on the fishery and i saw it first hand. I hope it recovers!

[scout57]

$300 dollars worth,that's one hell of a bucket of 50 perch

[doctariAFC]

Again, I think the bottom line here is that a sporting license, be it fishing or sportsman license is not a license to commercially sell fish.  I am certainly not for banning commerical fishing, or sale of panfish by commercial fishermen.  However, a sporting license is not intended to give anyone free reign to sell their catch.  That's what a commercial license is for.

That being said, I do understand that commercial fishermen have very rigid quotas, and also limits to which bodies of water can be commercially fished.  Although the quotas are a heck of a lot higher than 50 fish per day, the quotas are generally an amount which is sustainable by existing fish populations in bodies of water open to commerical fishing.

Enforcement is also an issue, even in the ranks of commercial guys.  I heard of a HUGE bust in Ohio concerning some commercial perch fishing.  They had exceeded their quota by something like 80,000 lbs.  And another case which was pending was even larger.

Nevertheless, I believe this debate, if applicable to sporting license holders and their ability to sell their catch, is not about what damage they could do to the fisheries through this practice.  Even if you kept your limit of fish everyday for each day of the year, and sold it, you could not match the numbers harvested by commercial fishermen.  What is at the heart of this is using a sporting license as a permit to conduct business.  A recreational fisherman is not bound by the same health guidelines as the commercial guys are, the record keeping, taxation, etc.  You are also not bound to the specific bodies of water where commercial harvest is permitted, and certainly smaller bodies of water could be hurt by this practice.  I stress COULD, as many other factors are undoubtedly at play when any specific fish population goes on the down trend.

I am not for banning commercial harvest of perch in total.  However, selling panfish when you hold only a recreational fishing license is a no no, and setting that straight isn't a bad notion.  Puts the sportsmen and women in certainly a more conservation-oriented light. 

And if you really want to, obtain a commercial license and have at it.  No issues at all.