Re: Sharks and the plan ....part two -- Archive

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Subject: Re: Sharks and the plan ....part two

Author:
Jim Day

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Date Posted: 939167498PDT
In reply to: Jim Day 's message, "Sharks and the plan ....part one" on 938979872PDT

I've been fishing for sharks for over thirty years. I caught my first a Bonnethead(a small hammerhead) of a jetty when I was eight. I bought my first Harnell at ten and a 12/0 at sixteen. Texas used to have a great coastal shark fishery, they were so numerous they were almost problematic. I don't fish down there now, but I have friends who do: David Williams aka "Beach Bum" fishes the same areas using the same techniques, the only difference is the sharks aren't there. The number of large coastal he catches in a year, barely equal some good weekends I remember from the seventies.

I've fished out here for ten years now, so I wasn't fishing in "the good old days" From the guys who were I've heard a lot of stories. Evidently there was a tremendous amount of pressure put on both Mako's and Threshers in the late eighties, in order to protect threshers the gill net regs were were changed, but the season extended.

From my experience I will say that Mako populations have dropped since I've been fishing out here. Mike and I used to average five to ten sharks a trip. That number has really dropped. Back in 92 we picked up around 150 Mako's trolling. (I'm serious over 150 sharks trolling in one year) before anyone starts screaming we released the majority of those sharks. Now we don't even troll because it's not worth the time. I don't have the numbers and am not that sure why the DFG is so cagey about theirs but I'd say the decline of the eighties has continued through the nineties. My concern here is a pretty direct one: I love to fish for sharks, and I want to keep on doing it.

Like I said: I'm pretty much the middle of the road in this whole debate. I like to fish and I love to eat Mako's. There's a lot of fighting in the shark conservation camp that doesn't do us any good. We're on the same side, and I think it's important to remember that. This is kind of a mantra for me these days, I find myself saying this over and over. If we want to change things we have to work together. Some want a total ban on shark fishing, that's not what I want, and I just don't think that it's going to happen. Government is slow to move at all, especially when conservation issues are put against special interest Groups with cash. The commercial fishing industry is a big contributor to both parties, any reform is going to come against their will.
Change is not going to come easy. You can slam the tagging effort all you want, but I'll say this it has gotten a lot of people interested in this issue who otherwise would know nothing about it. Recreational anglers need to have a voice, otherwise we may find ourselves completely out of the picture. What if they implemented a ban on sportfishing but allowed continued commercial use. Not too good a scenario. I think the commercials are doing the majority of the damage right now. Free from the eyes of concerned anglers things would get worse not better.

I was appalled when I saw Johns the DFG biologist's numbers. It's hard to believe that Rec anglers are taking 5000+ sharks a year with 85% of them under 60 inches, what's worse is the commercial numbers are roughly double. When I came up with the idea of the 60 inch limit I was trying to figure out something that would help, but could still get implemented fairly quick, personally I've been releasing all my small sharks for years, but according to the numbers a lot of anglers are still taking small Mako's. If enough anglers get together and ask for it the DFG will put it on the books, it doesn't effect the commercials so hopefully their lobby will largely ignore it. Using the DFG stats it should save around 4000 pup mako's a year.

Once we get that in place we can start trying to implement legislation that prohibits commercial by catch of young Mako's. Since the idea of protecting the sharks will already be on the books, so to speak, it would be easier to get sympathy for for anti-by-catch legislation. For years the commercial Albacore take was strictly hook and line. Imagine the difference it would make if we could force the commercial sharkers to do the same. I think that Longlining should be completely discontinued. It's history on the East Coast has shown that any fish targeted eventually gets in trouble. It's non-sustainable fishing at it's worst.

These are long range local strategies. At the same time I think we should work on the international scene. The shark fin trade bill is a start. It's it's a good thing to try because the obvious waste. If we get the word out, there should be a lot of sympathy towards stopping finning. From there maybe we could try for legislation limiting the length or hook count on longlines. Eventually maybe we could eliminate them entirely. These are just some ideas I have, I'm not saying that I know best, they're just my opinions.

Right now I'm researching various options, for a size limit. Like I said I think it's a good place to start.

So that's my spiel

Tight lines Jim

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