[twofinbluna]

Article from East Hampton Star

I did not know they used 12 inch mesh for monks...I knew the mesh was big but I did not know it was that big! Good to see them using such a big mesh, must help cut down on bycatch in a big way.

Also, I was also unaware that the commercial limit for fluke is 70 pounds a day for draggers and 60 for hookers! Thats nothing! I knew things were bad with fluke for the commercial guys (and the recs, too), but did not know it was that bad.

While the 1500lb limit on monks is certainly better than that meager fluke limit, hopefully they will eventually be able to raise that 1500lb limit given that the science is showing the stocks doing well. I know a bunch of monk fishermen who would like to see that happen!

This post edited by twofinbluna 01:59 AM 05/11/2008

 

[twofinbluna]

Anyone know what they get per pound for those monk livers?

 

[AUDREYMAE]

We've always used 12 inch mesh!

And its hung different as we hang it 3 to 1 Which means 150 fathoms of mesh and only 50 fathoms of lead and float line to make one half. Most guys run 15 to 20 halfs per string. Monk livers vary as the the winter holidays will see the highest price nowadays you'll see maybe 7 to 9 bucks in late Dec thru Jan. But as the spring arrives the livers drop to a buck then summer you can't get rid of them. Years back we've gotten up to 14 bucks a lb. You yield about 6 to 8 lbs of liver per hundred lbs of monk. We also have sold them whole the last 10 years and before they all had to be tailed. Today some tail and some sell whole! Guts out of course!

 

[twofinbluna]

Thanks Audreymae, all good stuff.

 

[Codkiller]

Phil
You must get some big cod in those nets at times, can you keep them do they have to go back?

Bob

 

[twofinbluna]

Codkiller wrote:
Phil
You must get some big cod in those nets at times, can you keep them do they have to go back?

Bob

With mesh that big, if you get something its going to be big no matter what it is! Thats the beauty of it, I would think, since you dont have to get all the wasteful bycatch of small stuff you cannot keep anyways.

Hopefully they let them keep them...but given the way fisheries are managed around here, they probably make them dump them back.

This post edited by twofinbluna 02:07 AM 05/12/2008

 

[651123]

I caught 2

I caught 2 monks on the Yankee Capts trip offshore.

 

[AUDREYMAE]

LOL

You don't see many cod 9 miles off Jersey or Virginia Bob. But up in New England you see very very few. I took last winter off but the year before our bycatch consisted of 3 cod and 8 bluefin in New England. "You" could swim thru 12 inch mesh Bob. Its the cleanest fishery in the world including rod and reel. The best part is no picking 20 thousand lbs of dogs. Maybe you should come out with me next winter Bob and see first hand.

 

[Codkiller]

Interesting Phil, I might take you up on that as I have never been on a monk boat.

How you feeling?

Bob

 

[WaterAye]

The primary by catch in the monk gillnet fishery is skate which are cut and sold. They also take a big lobster now and again. It's a clean fishery. The only problem is when gear gets lost as it will keep fishing.

 

[twofinbluna]

AUDREYMAE wrote:
The best part is no picking 20 thousand lbs of dogs.

While that is definitely a benefit for whoever is picking, it would be nice if there could be 20 thousand pounds less of dogs after each monk trip.

I have no doubt that since you are using 12 inch mesh, thats gotta be a very clean fishery.

This post edited by twofinbluna 07:58 AM 05/12/2008

 

[AUDREYMAE]

Water Aye

I have never lost a Monk string as their easy to grapple back up if you lose the flags. The only time you lose gear is if a dragger tows thru it. With the Monk gear we use 100 to 120 lb lead which means with in a 20 net string you have 2000 to 2400 lbs of lead rope. 20 years ago we'd get towed thru alot and lose gear but nowadays the fishing pressure is a 10th of what it use to be so you rarely get hit by a dragger.. Anytime Bob.

This post edited by AUDREYMAE 08:34 AM 05/12/2008

 

[WaterAye]

Yea I agree the gear is expensive and rarely lost. Though it does happen. I went codfish set lineing a few winters back and we fetched up a couple times on ghost gill nets. It was a minor inconvenience. The big difficulty was spiny dogfish horde. One set had a dogfish on every hook and some hooks had two.

 

[reelfisher]

WaterAye wrote:
Yea I agree the gear is expensive and rarely lost. Though it does happen. I went codfish set lineing a few winters back and we fetched up a couple times on ghost gill nets. It was a minor inconvenience. The big difficulty was spiny dogfish horde. One set had a dogfish on every hook and some hooks had two.

Sucked for you guys but my thanks for making a dent no matter how small in the dogfish population