COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN ABOUT TO GET SHANKED BY AGFC

5492 Views 107 Replies 40 Participants Last post by Dmille5, 1 mo ago

Dmille5

Discussion Starter · 2 mo ago

Tomorrow the AGFC will enact a catfish size limit on the Mississippi River along with Tennessee and Mississippi .It seems this was spurred by Bill Dance and BASSPRO to preserve so called TROPHY CATFISH on the river.It will reduce all harvests to only 1 fish over 34 inches for all anglers including the commercial fisherman.JB WELD you may wanna step in and make some waves on this.It’s headed to the same place our duck hunting went for a FEW DOLLARS MORE.Our commercial fisherman have been harvesting big catfish outta the river for decades and I certainly don’t feel like they have hurt the TROPHY fish there at all.There’s many guides making lotsa money taking folks to the Mississippi to catch trophy catfish and it’s not really that hard to do.These guys making a living on fish outta that river are gonna suffer from this beat down.

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JB Weld

· #7 · 2 mo ago

I would be curious to see the actual statement from AGFC on this. Anyone have the official link?

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JB Weld

· #14 · 2 mo ago

Dmille5 said:
I have it in an email but I’m computer challenged and don’t know how to get it here.

If you open the email on your phone, you can long press the link in the email and copy it. Then come here and open a new response. Long press on the place where you would type and it will give you a paste option. Paste the link and then hit Post Reply.

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JB Weld

· #17 · 2 mo ago

OL'Sweet River said:
What about all us Snaggers that yank indiscriminately with evil treble hooks ?

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JB Weld

· #19 · 2 mo ago

Kinglake said:
I can't find the AGFC link, but I'm sure the change would be to match the existing regs in TN and MS of only 1 catfish over 34 inches in reciprocal waters.

I bet this comment probably smacks at the heart of the issue. Reciprocity with those other agencies.
If those other two states refs have not gutted the commercial fisherman, it is hard for me to understand how AGFC’s new reg will hurt the commercial fisherman.

We need that official link so we can make sure we are working with accurate information. Then the name calling can begin in earnest!

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JB Weld

· #25 · 2 mo ago

That is the agenda for the commission meeting. You can watch it live on Utube I think. I know it will be available on Utube after it is recorded because I have watched one before. It looks to have some interesting topics.

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JB Weld

· #55 · 2 mo ago

I was able to listen to part of the live meeting today, on the line, and there were two commercial cat-fishermen who addressed the commission. They did a great job presenting their case (off the cuff) that the proposed reg was just not needed. IMHO they changed the flow of the tide. The commission agreed to postpone the decision for a time until they have heard more from the public on this proposed regulation concerning catfish on the Mississippi River. I have to say that the commissioners showed great respect to the commercial fisherman and really engaged the men with several thoughtful questions. I think that the recorded meeting will be available to the public and you can hear it for yourself.

So, if you have a dog in the fight, I would start sending emails to anyone you know on the commission or in the Fisheries Division. Here are some public emails I found on the line.
I would make those emails thoughtful and professional. You might even get a response.
Jason Olive - Chief of Fisheries - [email protected]
Ben Batten - DD over Fisheries - [email protected]
Austin Booth - Director - [email protected]

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JB Weld

· #70 · 2 mo ago

Kodiac said:
View attachment 390459

You are an impressive individual, JB.

Diddy I am trying!

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JB Weld

· #71 · 2 mo ago

msteele64 said:
I am the president of the Arkansas commercial fisherman’s association. This proposal was to limit both commercial and recreational fishermen to one fish over 34” (15-17 pound range). I was able to speak at the commissioners meeting today and they listened to our concerns. They have tabled the regulation proposal for now and they are going to survey licensed anglers and revisit this after the survey is complete. For you guys against commercial anglers , this reg is being proposed for recreational as well as commercial. Many of you are quick to condemn commercial fishermen but most of them are only trying to make a living off a resource that is in no way in danger. I am not going to get into any long discussions or arguments here but the commercial industry is regulated to insure the resource remains plentiful for all. I hope we can all agree this is a bad regulation change for a river that has a huge catfish population and don’t want to see it go through because it affects all of us. We are all fishermen and love the outdoors, we just have different passions that drive us.

I listened to part of the meeting on the line and heard you speak today. Y’all did a great job presenting your case. I think y’all might have turned the tide. Time will tell.

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JB Weld

· #74 · 2 mo ago

Caveman jim said:
So was the commission planning to make a ruling today on this presentation with zero data?
Sounds like our jackwagon F/W commission.

IIRC Director Booth spoke directly to this issue. Maybe someone else who listened to the tape can chime in. I believe the proposed reg was on the agenda to merely be discussed and moved to the next step of becoming formalized. However after the speakers presented their case and answered some questions, the commissioners decided to wait a month to allow more public opinion to be heard and to examine the issue in a little more detail.

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JB Weld

· #104 · 2 mo ago

Here is a link to the MS river cat fishing survey.

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agfc1.az1.qualtrics.com

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