New York State ban on market fishing?

[Laker Taker1]

I had heard that the New York State Assembly/Senate had been looking at a bill to ban commericial fishing.  I called DEC to find out more and they didnt seem to know much but they told me there was a bill in committee in the senate that would ban the selling of most fresh water fish in New York.  Anyone know anything about this?

[jayman64]

i kno a dec worker who dose servays and he told me that he meet a guy who sells fish every day during icefishing season if they ban its because the state is not getting there tax money off of it LOL

[Bartel Rd. Bait & Tackle]

and you don't think that maby it's because guys are selling fish everyday?
seems to me if a guy is catching 50 perch a day to sell and he fish's say 60 days a winter
lets see thats 3000 fish a season now if 50 guys do the same thats 15000 perch sold on top of
the 1000's of limits that just the casual fisherman take out of the lake.
eventually it makes sense to ban the sale before it actually has an affect on the fishery.
because lets face it they aren't selling small perch they are selling the bigger breeders.

[CNY Lee]

1950's to 1990's + more fishermen + selling fish = great fishing

Late 1990's to 2008 + less fishermen + limits + less sales of fish = poorer fishing then the above

It seems that there is more and more people complaining about the sales of fish and why?

If they are catching over their limit then shame on them (another topic about limits) for breaking the law.

But most of the fish are being sold to local area resturants anyways, there really isn't any one place that you can bring your fish to have then weighed for cash anymore in the Central NY area.

If a guy catches his limit he can do whatever he wants with it.  If he wants to grind it up and put it in the garden then good for him.  He earned it so it's his decission.  For those who think different, it's like the goverment telling you how to spend your little money you get left over out of your paycheck.  You earned it so you should see fit to spend it anyway you want.

[1TIGGER]

CNY Lee
You make a valid point that we pay for our licenses and we should be able to do what we want with the fish we harvest but , If that were the case  they would have to legalize the sale of venison and bear and that would open another can of worms .

[o2rmk800]

should maybe set a limit on the amount you can sell comm. with a sale slip or some way of tracking, that way they can also be taxed on the income.

steve

[Laker Taker1]

I don't think many other states allow commercial fishing do they?

[Superx2]

I do not know what to say about this either way but I do have a story.  Years ago I watched 10+ "retired" guys fish Honeoye every day that there was ice.  They walked off the ice every day with 2 buckets of perch filled to the top, I stopped one day and asked what they are doing with them.  The guy said making money.  Now these guys fished very well and never left without two buckets each.  Now I go to Honeoye and don't catch chit or even see perch on the camera like there was.  So someone needs to step in on these "commercial" type guys one way or another.  Sitting on a bucket or running a boat what's the dif? Taking limits day after day on a small body of water will impact your fishiery no matter what we think.  Numbers are numbers and the previous post was wrong 50 guys = 150,000 fish not 15,000.  How many years before the little buggers can't keep up.  20 years ago if you told me a crappie had to be any length to keep I would have laughed, but now I understand.  Too many people kept them all and now we sit and wait for a lucky bite from one. Keeping more then you consume makes you a "market fisherman" in my book.

[adkRoy]

This is a topic that comes up every year. It would take some heavy pressure to get NY to ban the commercial fishing during ice season.

[BUCKSKI]

Was up on champlain a couple of weeks ago talking to some perch fishermen, they had the smallest fish on the ice.
A 3 inch perch? Chit it barley makes it as pike bait.
We caught some nice perch and I wonder what that effects of com. fishing has had there and on other bodies of water. Especially those close to champ and it limit on perch.

The DEC might know about bills in legislation, but they enforce laws, not bills.

[jigginoff]

Personally I've got no problem if someone wants to sell their fish, they caught them they can do what they want w/ them. My problem is, the people who are taking way over their limit, sometimes as many as 2 or 3 times the limit, then these people are the first to complain when the fishing on a particular body of water goes from great to terrible in a short period of time due to their own over harvesting. Follow the rules and you have no right to complain.

[fishman79]

I don't know how 'market' fishing effects a body of water as a whole, but here in Jefferson county for example, in chamount bay off Point salubrious we have had fishable ice on and off for almost 2 months now. the perch bite was good early in the season and I was able to catch a couple of meals for my family of nice fish (over 12 inches). now I know they are all big breader females and I was happy to stop after 2 meals. but a few times I stoped into harv's fishery in chamount in the evening to get bait for the next morning and I could not believe my eyes. I personally saw one guy bring in 8 (eight)!!!! pailes overflowing with those jumbos. and he was not the only one with multiple pails. so i asked the shop owner if these fish were being bought for a local resteraunt...nope all were being shiped off to canada. anyhow, over the course of the season the average size of the fish has become quite smaller and I don't even think a normal guy could go get enough for dinner in an afternoon.  maybe I'm just a pessimist but the fishery can't hold that up forever can it? maybe go another direction, could any of those guys be out there selling fish while they are collecting unemployment from seasonal summer jobs? another can of worms I know, but I had to ask. maybe we should get the DEC to have a limit on Chamount bay too. I mean 25 or 50 fish is still a great meal.

[fishman79]

I forgot... there is currently no limit for perch in chamount bay.

[JJ]

I had heard that the New York State Assembly/Senate had been looking at a bill to ban commericial fishing.  I called DEC to find out more and they didnt seem to know much but they told me there was a bill in committee in the senate that would ban the selling of most fresh water fish in New York.  Anyone know anything about this?

The bill passed in the Assembly, the State Senate would not touch it and it died. Not sure what will happen next. I am certain the majority of fisherman are against selling panfish, based on these yearly debates.

More here:http://www.nyoutdoornews.com/articles/2006/06/01/news/news2.txt

[pooley]

freshwater or saltwater- you should have a commercial licence. but i'm against freshwater harvest for sale.

[Laker Taker1]

In regard to the link posted about the 2006 bill, I had read this article previously and that was what prompted me to call DEC.  The guy I spoke to told me that there was a new bill being pushed forth in the Senate.  It has to be a seperate bill as the one from 2006 was in the state assembly.  He gave me the names of the two senators sponsoring the bill and also the bill number.  I was able to go to the NYS senate website and read about the bill.  DEC didn't seem to know too much about it though and they recommended I contact one of the senators if I wanted more information.

[JJ]

Here is the info on the Bill in the Senate, looks like it is still going; Bills need to pass in the Senate and the Assembly to become law:

STATUS:
S3196  MARCELLINO           
Environmental Conservation Law
TITLE....Prohibits the sale of angler-caught fish
   
02/27/07 REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
01/09/08 REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY:

MARCELLINO, MORAHAN
Amd SS11-1319 & 11-1703, En Con L
Prohibits the sale of angler-caught fish.

[hwangler001]

Here is the info on the Bill in the Senate, looks like it is still going; Bills need to pass in the Senate and the Assembly to become law:

STATUS:
S3196  MARCELLINO           
Environmental Conservation Law
TITLE....Prohibits the sale of angler-caught fish
   
02/27/07 REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
01/09/08 REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY:

MARCELLINO, MORAHAN
Amd SS11-1319 & 11-1703, En Con L
Prohibits the sale of angler-caught fish.

Here you go everybody.Contact your state rep and senator and voice your support for this bill  I am. IMHO of course.

[raate]

The bill passed in the Assembly, the State Senate would not touch it and it died. Not sure what will happen next. I am certain the majority of fisherman are against selling panfish, based on these yearly debates.

More here:http://www.nyoutdoornews.com/articles/2006/06/01/news/news2.txt

i am certain the majority of ICE SHANTY PATRONS are against selling fish, but this is a small sample of fisherman. Mostly yuppies with computers!

[KingFisher1]

A good example of how commercial fishing effects fish populations is the blue pike on lake erie. I grew up hearing stories from the old timers of how they would quit their jobs and fish for blue pike all winter because they could make more money selling their catch. Now there are no more blue pike, what do you think happened to them?

[jimmyclaude]

no one has touched on the fact that 1/4 of the reg book is now health advisorys. Since the State is advertising that there is an issue they know there is a problem and must assume some liability. This is a huge liability since the sale and supply can not be tracked to the body of water it came. A commercial food source that can't be inspected or controlled.....
I feel it it is tainted food supply issue

[olgreenhead]

What are u people thinikinjg putting a limite  on Chamount bay We ice fisherman have no affect on the fish up there . Ok let look at the comarants or the the pollution in the waters before you start blameing market fisherman for your poor catches .One more thing i only fish the no limits place because im not goin g to drive 45 minute to a hour and only keep 25 or 50 fish . If you want to complain bout use markets fisherman maybe we should put a limite on how far you people drive to fish our northern lake or how much damage you do to our camps when parking out front and leaving your trash laying around . Think about all the gas you waste getting there and stay home and stop your complaining . Art

[rondog]

  OK ART!

[sunshine]

Is there a market for white perch?

[fishman79]

I never said I had a problem catching fish on chamount bay, I know what I'm doing, I just said that I am having a difficult time catching larger fish. the average size has decreased in the last 6 weeks. anyone disagree with that? Ice fishing can have a detrimental effect on fish populations when the harvest is selective on bigger fish. for example Perch lake, anyone who fished it the first few years knows big perch and big pike were taken from there in huge numbers, now you would have to work very hard to catch a limit of 8 inch perch.
Those perch are not just an isolated population, they gather from the eastern end of the lake into chamount this time of year because it is so much more productive than the rest of the lake and they are staging for spawning, if we grade out the best spawners all thats left to reproduce are the smaller ones. I don't have a problem with keeping fish, I do it all the time, but day after day filling pails has got to have some impact.
And we don't all leave trash or disrespect your camps and property, those who do don't deserve to be out there, I've had quite a collection of trash I've brought back off the ice this year that was not mine.
we all have a right to use the resource, all I intended to say was lets not abuse it.

[Laker Taker1]

My biggest issue with market fishing is on small bodies of water.  Maybe Lake Champlain and Lake George can handle it, but the smaller bodies of water cannot.  My family has watched the average perch on our lake shrink about 2-3 inches over the past 15 years as men leave with buckets everyday.  The best panfish spots have some one on them everyday.  No small body of water can stand up to that.

[olgreenhead]

The ave size that has decreased in 6 weeks aint do to fishing its due the spawning routine andyoull will find thats the big one will come back if a few weeks to due there thing it happens everywhere . did you ever notice that you catch bigger bass in the spring just before they spawn and not as big through the summer  , well its not due to commercial fishing is it, no its the spawning routine . well ive said my peace

[raate]

peace Art. i know you've left a lot unsaid. jimmy Claude makes a good point about health advisories and liability. I'm sure I'm not the only one in here that remembers gill nets across the salmon river, placed there LEGALLY by treaty with Indians. all the state had to do to protect  our newly established sport fishing economy, and the coho salmon was DETERMINE THE FISH POLLUTED. Therefore eliminating the market, and not having to renege on the treaty. the Indians can still to this day put those nets there legally, but what are they going to do with all those salmon? nothing without a market. they are polluted, right! Or are they? 1980 14 parts per million dioxin, 1990 21 parts per trillion? i don't know about you but that looks like less now than then? Maybe they should make the new law say ," YOUR ONLY ALLOWED TO EAT A FISH IF YOU CATCH IT YOURSELF!  That would be great! Those smelly funny looking hook and liners wouldn't be out there any more. You know the 1 guy that feeds 1500 people from the ghetto in Rochester. And it's true, for the first time in twenty years that guy won't be there....but i hope you enjoy your 1500 new fishing partners!!!!!!!!BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.

[year-round-fishing]

Wow most of you guys haven't seen nothing yet go up to Chaumont bay you want to see sick buckets haha I'm telling you guys were getting two 3 if not more buckets of perch out of there and they can because there is no limit on perch. Most of those places up there don't. I think if the body of water is attached to any great lake meaning a bay or inlet should be commercial fished the rate the water quality is going in 10-20 years no one would prolly fish for pan fish ever again. Now for the inner lakes I think we should baby them. For the monstrous great lakes and all the tribs that lead to it will always have fish look at it its freekin huge Tom. There is a reason why you can do better at certain places. The size of the body of water. I don't want to see commercial fishing go away that will just tell me the fish aren't any good to eat any more and we're almost there.

[jimmyclaude]

peace Art. i know you've left a lot unsaid. jimmy Claude makes a good point about health advisories and liability. I'm sure I'm not the only one in here that remembers gill nets across the salmon river, placed there LEGALLY by treaty with Indians. all the state had to do to protect  our newly established sport fishing economy, and the coho salmon was DETERMINE THE FISH POLLUTED. Therefore eliminating the market, and not having to renege on the treaty. the Indians can still to this day put those nets there legally, but what are they going to do with all those salmon? nothing without a market. they are polluted, right! Or are they? 1980 14 parts per million dioxin, 1990 21 parts per trillion? i don't know about you but that looks like less now than then? Maybe they should make the new law say ," YOUR ONLY ALLOWED TO EAT A FISH IF YOU CATCH IT YOURSELF!  That would be great! Those smelly funny looking hook and liners wouldn't be out there any more. You know the 1 guy that feeds 1500 people from the ghetto in Rochester. And it's true, for the first time in twenty years that guy won't be there....but i hope you enjoy your 1500 new fishing partners!!!!!!!!BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.

Good point!!!

 Not that 14 part per millon is a lot, but one part per trillion is ruffly one drop in 20 olympic sized pools!  you skipped over billions to trillions.
 In 1980 14 parts per million was considered ZERO Parts per million
Our measuring equipment now is that much more sensitive.