Asian Carp do indeed occupy Tennessee waters. They have the potential to over run our waterways and choke out our native species. Commercial fishermen are our best line of defence. They sell them back to the Chinese.
A regulated balance between our sport fishers and our commercial fishermen is best for waters and our economy.
Asian Carp do indeed occupy Tennessee waters. They have the potential to over run our waterways and choke out our native species. Commercial fishermen are our best line of defence. They sell them back to the Chinese.
A regulated balance between our sport fishers and our commercial fishermen is best for waters and our economy.
Why would the Chinese buy the Asian Carp from Tennessee if they have an abundance of them there?? And am I wrong to assume that an Asian Carp, while being a powerful jumper could not possibly jump the dams that are in place all the way up the TVA system? I wanna see the carp that could jump 700ft +. Do eggs of Asian Carp along with any other invasive species cling to the hulls and nets of boats traveling from one body of water to the next. I am pretty sure but I would say that those gils nets are not disinfected before going to another lake. The following is a link directly to the TWRA on invasive species-on how to keep from contaminating bodies new bodies of water after fishing.http://www.tnfish.org/InvasivesExoticSpeciesTennessee_TWRA/InvasiveExoticFishSpecies_TWRA.html To me, using gill nets woud encourage the spread of invasive species.
Oh and I have not received a response from Niceley.....time to resend the email.....
COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN SELL PADDLE FISH ROE FOR $100.00 PER POUND
(That pretty much says it all, but I like to talk so read on.)
“Let me make one thing perfectly clear.” Richard Nixon
Clear for the new readers which may not have read the entire thread. We’ll, actually a few things.
Paddle Fish Roe a substitute for “Caviar” is what’s driving this push for more waters by the Commercial Fishermen. The Commercial Fishermen care very little for other fish species as they are not worth much money. So a medium sized Paddle Fish carrying 15 lbs worth of eggs is worth $1,500.00 to a Commercial Fisherman.
I can assure everyone that TWRA is not for this expansion of fishable waters by Commercial Fishermen as allowing that would devastate too many of TWRA’s fish stocking and restoration efforts. Like Walleye, Stripers and Lake Sturgeon. That’s why the Commercial Fishermen have taken it to the State Representatives.
Our fight is not with TWRA. (At least not this time!)
Most Caviar used to come from the Beluga Sturgeon; however it has been fished onto the Endangered Species List, making Paddle Fish Caviar worth even more in the future.
Paddle Fish can only be caught effectively by “Gill Nets” as they eat microscopic stuff and a hook just won’t work. Unlike the lowly Catfish which can effectively be caught on a trot-line without a large by-catch rate.
A “Gill Net” is definitely not needed to catch ASIAN CARP as we all know they will jump in the boat.
I wished Bass during a tournament would jump in my boat!
Give them heck GUYS and GALS! (Don’t want to leave Shellie out. By the way I have not heard from Finesser on this topic?)
If I do not get a response from Niceley by tomorrow morning, I will turn up the heat and demand a reply and I may have to throw in that I feel he is discriminating against me by not responding because of my gender (hey I hate to pull out the male/female card but whatyever works, right?)
Is it possible that Rep. "Dipwad" Frank Niceley knows more than all of us fishermen? I am asking all my fishing buddies to e-mail, facebook, call, or what ever. Do not allow more COMMERCIAL FISHING NETS anywhere.
Sent three more e-mails today , one to our favorite "Dipwad" Rep. Frank Niceley in reply to his first reply, lets see what happens next . Next letter I send will be a bit more urgent, meaning I'm fixin to blast his a$$. oops!
a different angle maybe, but i was discussing this treachery with a coworker, ol "largemouth don't live in tennessee" bob, aka wonderbob. he brought up a point i had yet to think of. with all the money the twra has spent on reintroducing lake sturgeon into east tennesse waters, this could be detrimental to their efforts. does anyone actually think its possible to gill net paddlefish without catching these protected scavengers? would they release them unharmed, and report their catch as per twra regulations? i don't know if this is even a viable argument, but i figure throw everything at them until something sticks. preferably in their eye. (hey it works for the cops, right?)
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TWRC Will Discuss State Law to Study Paddlefish Health and Possibility of Opening More Public Waters to Commercial Fishing
The governing body of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency will discuss at its Oct. 13-14 meeting a number of recommendations of a Commercial Fishing Advisory Committee that could possibly open more public waters to gill netting of paddlefish and to other commercial fishing. (more)
Free Youth Deer Hunt Registration Underway for Humphreys, Trousdale Events
Youth between the ages of 10-15, who are hunter safety certified and who have never harvested a deer, are eligible to win a special hunt for the opening day of the Tennessee Young Sportsman Deer Hunt on Saturday, Oct. 29, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has announced. (more)
TWRC Meetings Set for Remainder of Calendar Year
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission meetings have been scheduled for the remainder of the calendar year. The TWRC will return to Nashville and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Region II Ray Bell Building for its final two meetings of 2011.
The TWRC will next meet Oct. 13-14 for its October meeting. The final meeting of the year will be Dec. 8-9. Both meetings are on a Thursday and Friday.
Committee meetings begin at 1 p.m. on Thursday while the formal session will start at 9 a.m. on Friday. The public is invited to attend.
I still have not heard from Sen. Jim Summerville or Rep. Frank Niceley so this what I sent today.
Please reconsider your efforts to establish new waters to expand commercial fishing into. As recreational sport fishermen we are hearing a lot of input and it is all negative. These negative statements concerning commercial fishing will follow your political career long after this bill. Please do a little research and understand how large the numbers are you are about to make very unhappy. The commercial fishing lobbyist that have your ear are working very hard for a very few.
As you may or may not know, Melton Hill reservoir has an ever growing muskellunge population and the introduction of gill nets will most certainly destroy the limited population we currently have. These creatures are highly mobile and move all around the lake and they will easily be entangled in gill nets. The TWRA has made a huge investment into reintroducing this species that has already been overharvested to near extinction in the past. I have attached a photo of these fish that I target, pictured with me is world renowned angler Larry Dahlberg. He is the host of the Hunt for Big Fish on the versus channel. We taped a musky show week down on Melton Hill in September and we will be discussing the young musky fishery we have and how it needs to be protected. The show is set to air worldwide in January and will bring a lot of attention to our area. If commercial fishing is allowed on Melton Hill, it will wipe out the fishery and there will be lots of angry people as this decision will be discussed all over the world.
I have been fishing the lake for many years and have never had an encounter with a paddle fish and the muskies and stripers in the lake most certainly keep the rough fish in check. If the commercial fishermen can’t survive with the waters they already have, they should find another career. If they have fished out those waters, just think what they can do in our smaller systems. I am sure that others have voiced their concerns about the fisheries, but I am partial to Melton Hill due to the smaller channel width the results will be devastating.
Commercial fishing brings very little to the economy compared to the ever growing sport fishing. It is in your best interest to leave this fragile ecosystem alone. Melton Hill is considered by TWRA as trophy water with very strict harvesting limits (50 inches) and we as fishermen spend thousands maybe even tens of thousands of dollars every year chasing these trophy fish. These cooler headwaters provide a pristine environment for apex predators such as muskies and stripers, they tend to keep the rough fish numbers in check. If you look back through history, many fisheries have been devastated by over fishing. Please think about all those that fish, you pass by them everyday pulling their boats and consider keeping these waters sacred and off limits to commercial fishing. Nothing good will come of commercial fishing on trophy waters, you will just make a lot of people angry for such a small return.
Thanks, I hope more people stand up for what they believe in. Being able to chase 4 foot long fish is something that I am very honored to do and will voice my opinions when I feel that the fisheries are threatened.
I was just looking at the poll and 5 votes were for commercial fishing. That don't seem like there should be any. Oh well everyone has their our opinion.
I want to thank everyone including the few that saw a need to allow Commercial Fishing for participating in this discussion. I feel it is a serious possibility that the nets could be in a lot of our water with little to no regulation or enforcement to oversee these few commercial fishermen. I also see the potential to do great harm to the sport fishing where these nets are used with only the few commercial fishermen in the state making big money on OUR fishery. I ask all again to contact your senator or representative and just TELL THEM NO WAY. Also Friday is the last day for the e-mail comments to TWRA, but keep telling your legislators what YOU want, NO COMMERCIAL NETS / ALLOW COMMERCIAL NETS.
So if I have read this correctly the TWRA guy IS in FAVOR of commercial fishing....We're screwed....
Ok now riddle me this....IF the commercial fishermen DO start selling the Asian carp back to China (this is laughable to me because why would they buy from the US if this "prolific" fish is abundant in their own country) and thus making a profit with the contract to produce 10 million pounds, then it would be in the best interest, monetarily speaking, if Asian carp DOES take over TN waterways. There would be NO incentive to get rid of this money making fish!! Commercial fisherman who catches and sells Asian carp would not want to deplete such a valuable commodity especially in the name of protecting native fish!! GRRRRRR!!!
"Here is an idea; since we can't seem to ever have the commercial fishermen be happy with the status quo, why don't we suggest that commercial fishing be banned completely on Tennessee waterways? I am sick of these same people pushing again and again to destroy a great fishery so they can grind trophy fish up into cat food. If they don't like the limits that they have now, perhaps it's time they found another job to keep them busy rather than living off the natural resources of the state, and constantly trying to find ways to destroy even more."
I think this is a great quote from a fisherman in Chattanooga and a wonderful idea. While they got all the sport fishermen angry lets try to get the few commercial fishermen totally shut down in Tennessee.
Hey guys here's my last letter to ,Rep.Frank Niceley
Dear Sir as a Representative of the People , We the people have questions. Why would someone sponsor such a bill ? It seems to me like we the people have been left out of this matter completely. Isn’t it the job a representative to represent the majority of the people and not the special interest groups?
I would like to reiterate my feelings concerning commercial fishing in east Tennessee. Are the “rough fish” such Asian Carp and Flying Carp that you mentioned, taking over here in some capacity that we, as every day fishermen, are unaware of ? If so, surely there is another solution as opposed to gill nets. That type of fishing will definitely impact EVERY type of fish in a derogatory way. Do you have a statistical basis for proposing gill netting? Can you explain how gill netting alone will solve the supposed problem? It would seem prudent to welcome input from our vast number of constituents. We, as fishermen and voters, would like some answers. Please don’t think we will just stand by and watch this happen, we will help our friends on Capitol Hill deal with this in a proper manner of course. The TWRC will hold its next meeting Oct.13-14 in Nashville, where we will have representation.
I again ask you to reconsider this bill. Please do not allow commercial fishing to expand to east Tennessee’s waters. Sincerely SNichols a concerned fisherman.
I bet he won't answer my e-mail and I sent form letters to more support people today and they said don't let up on Rep.Niceley he is feeling the pressure.
My name is Archie Wilson Jr. and I reside in Corryton, TN.
I am writing to ask you to repeal Senate Bill No. 1140, substituted for House Bill No. 903 By Niceley, Curtis Johnson, Holt.
Specifically I am opposed to paragraph 70-2-303 (c) which as I see it calls for opening new waters to commercial roe fishing. Most of the waters currently closed to Gill Netting of Paddle Fish to obtain their roe are fragile highland reservoirs. The By-catch rate (other fish species inadvertently caught and KILLED in Gill Nets) would be too high to justify allowing this type of commercial fishing in such reservoirs. Plus untold dollars have already been spent to establish, protect or reintroduce certain fish species such as; Stripers, Walleye and Lake Sturgeon to name a few. These are the very species which will be most susceptible to a high By-catch rate.
This law was passed at the behest of a few commercial fishermen and flew under the radar of the larger sport fishing community. I urge the Senate to quickly repeal this law before the roar of the greater community is heard.
I appreciate your help and ask that you please send me a response letting me know you have read my request. Any advice either way is appreciated.
Thank you for your time and considering my request.
Sincerely,
Archie Wilson Jr.
Sources: US Geological Survey, P.W. Bettoli, TWRA web-site, tn.gov web-site
theChattanoogan.com, Richard Simms; Source articles/papers available upon request.
Thanks Archie. I think snichols also made a perfect statement that needs to go to other legislators. That is what we all will need to do to the list of Tennessee Lawmakers you gave us earlier. Ask them to repeal the bill and lets turn up the heat on Nicely, Curtis Johnson, Holt, and Summerville. It may be time to get in touch with all the news and sports media. "THE ROAR OF THE GREATER COMMUNITY needs to be heard. We the people have been left out of this matter completely." I keep using quotes from other people because I can not say it better.
This is my personal statement to the TWRC tomorrow with some other letters attached.
NO EXPANSION OF COMMERCIAL FISHING TO ANY NEW WATERS IN TNNESSEE
I want everyone on the TENNESSEE WILDLIFE RESOUSCES COMMISSION to know how angry all the sports fishing community is that this bill even had sponsors. I ask that TWRC request the repeal of this bill by our state lawmakers immediately. Representative Frank Niceley and Senator Jim Summerville have not responded to my requests for input just like these letters by the sport fishermen below.
"Neither I nor any other member, insofar as I am aware, has prepared any legislation on this subject for introduction
next session, and I have present plans to do that"
I may be a dumb old country boy. This statement doesn't make any sense to me.
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