Gillnetters give fish away

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I keep seeing those adds for ITT Tech. Maybe it's time those commercial boys think of a new line of work!

No tears shed here.

I am not for commercial netting or any kind of netting but I think it kind of sad that they can`t make any money because of low tariffs on FORIEGN FARMED fish, the gov should help set those boys up in thier own fish farms or something rather than have them out competing with a force they have no control over, and I don`t think giving away free fish is going to get it done..
I just hate seeing Americans losing income and or jobs, careers or whatever because of policies with foriegn markets..

Am I the only conspiracy theorist online this morning? Their season will open up because of their "lobbying" power, and it's gonna piss you guys off when you go to fish the tribs in a couple of weeks. Supply down (as far as commercial goes), demand goes up. They're trying to spike, or drive, the market to cater to their needs. Cattle farmers have done this for years.

Plus, they could also be testing out their "power", and donating the fish is good PR for their industry.

just wait, and if I'm wrong, I'll be the first to admit it. But if I'm right, I'll be the first to say "told ya so."

Hey y`all,
I thought you lost that Mel gibson movie..

Last time I checked, America had a CAPITALIST free-market economy. It is the nature of such an economy for competition to drive some out of business. (survival of the fittest) Did all of the out-of-work employees at the now-defunct dot-com's get a bail out? NO! Commercial fishing is a dying industry that has no-one but themselves to blame for years of short-sighted, greedy practices that put them where they are today. I say, let competition in the market continue, and if it means that foreign fish farms ultimately take over, and the netters have nowhere to go, you won't see me lose any sleep, THAT'S LIFE.

LOL.

Nope, but THE PATRIOT is really starting to hit alarms. Funny how blood, ass, and guts strewn all out can get a guy motivated and pissed off. Thanks Hollywood!

I guess now I should pop in the Porky's trilogy to cool off.

[ 09-10-2001: Message edited by: HEY_YALL Watch This ]

I was browsing over at that OTHER board awhile back and one of the guys who frequented the board was trying to stick up for the gillnetters. From what I read he was an attorney, but the real connection wasn't made until recently.

Many of the boats that are gillnetting these days are owned by "investors" that owned them for no other reason than to have a nice tax write-off at the end of the year. If there is a gillnetter out there trying to soley rely on the few days per year that he can fish to support his family for the rest of the year, then he's nucking futs.

And now they are giving away fish. Sounds like more operating losses for the boat owners. Doesn't surprise me in the least, and now they are getting good PR for it by linking their "plight" to that of the poor relocated homeless that have been so heavily publicized recently. Nice way to get on the front page.

Oh, and they are NOT homeless. They are houseless. Big difference here.

I seriously doubt that "foreign farmed fish" figure into the equation for the low fish prices. It's just a catchy buzz phrase to draw sympathy. The bottom line is that there is a glut of coho and the buyers wont buy for more than they can sell.

What's the BFD? Sportfishers have been giving away their surplus bounty to family and friends for years. The netters threw a pity party, like this, before the net ban initiative vote, too. Then, the free fish were chums, with little market value. Do you suppose they're giving away the eggs? Hmmm, where's the end of the line!!!

Tariffs to protect domestic producers? Why? So that consumers can pay an inflated (artificially) price for goods that a foreign producer can offer cheaper? Doesn't sound good to me. That is the price you pay when you live in a capitalist country where the free market should determine who produces what and for how much.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go dry the tears I'm crying for the netters.

To those of you who thinks it will end the commercial gill net are wrong. The natives will alaways net and the reality of the small bussiness (commercial fishermen ) are in jeapordy from losing money and vessel.
But what you guys don;t understand is that if the small guys get hurt real bad and sell
their permits and vessels it will be morre trouble. as of now the larger commercial fleets are starting to target the salmon, if the permits are no longer fished it will go into an open quota to other vessels.
So it may be less vessels fishing for the salmon to the nakid eye but it will be gobbled up by the larger trawlers.
I have commercial fished for over 10 years and I can tell you that this industry has never be subsidised by the federal govt.
It will be better for the small guys to get subsidised by the govt, then have the Larger fleets take over. You will see what I mean when this happens. You will have even less of a chance to fight nets with all the money and politics behind the $$ companies.

What looks good on the outside is really deceiving, it is better to deal with the small guys then the larger fleets that will be gobbling the existing quota and the avaliable permits that will be on sale soon.

I don't think this statement is entirely true. Subsidies don't just take the form of cash payments. It costs this state around $40 to produse an adult salmon, when all costs are considered. When they allow them to be harvested by commercial fleets and sold at a net loss to the state, that is in effect, a subsidy.

You may be right about the shift from ma and pa fishing operations to larger fleet operators, but that is market forces at work and we anglers make up a small portion of the market. The same thing has happened to the American farm. Gone are the family farms to be replaced by large agri-business. It may not be right or desirable, but that's just the way it is. Government intervention into free markets has historically had very little beneficial effect, except to a very small group. On the whole, government intervention has hurt American consumers. It's called "specialization of labor". You build, make, harvest whatever YOU can do best and for the least amount of money. If somebody else can do it cheaper or better, then that's what THEY sould be doing and you should look for something to do that you're best at.

You can't stop time, and you can't stop people from looking for the best deal. Right now, the best deal for fish consumers is not the best outcome for netters. That's the free market. It's not perfect, but have you seen how the communist and socialist countries are doing?

Dan , You make some valid points.
I do agree on changing times and certain industries do die off. More and more of the farmers and loggers and commercial fishing is being depleated. I my self am in the bussiness but no longer work on the vessels any more. You can argue that these guys were getting subsidised in some form but then so are evry american that works here in America, in one way or another.
What I am talking about is that Govt subsidised tabacco and other farmers for years and still continue to do so in forms of actuall cash, property tax and other tax reliefs. That has never happened to commercial fishing EXCEPT for the natives that are living in Alaska.
One thing that is really scary that an average Joe who is not involved in the politics of the commercial industry may not know is when small boats like these loose thier bussiness it is gobbled up by foreign Companies. These guys will do more harm in one season to a fisheries then you can ever imagine a dozen gillnets can do to a river/ ocean.
I have stated before on another post , telling the price drop of Salmon because the largest buyers (Japanese) went to Chili to purchas Sockeye and now will be buying Chums as well. This is good news for the sporties and guides that target these fisheries in alaska and other areas, but It also has a very bad backlash. With the agreement of certain $ value of the Chums this season from Chili, the Japanese have agreed to pay a higher value for the Roe (right now the price is estimated at $18.85 or so) per Lbs. from the Americans. Now we will see serious rape going on. It is a game they play. They present them selves to the people who are angry with the harvest of wild fish or any other adversaries so they please them by purchasing farm fish for lower value, yet they supply cash and gear to their corporate partners here in america to strip roe and control prices.Dan, you would be amazed at what the Americans and the Japenese , Polish, Norwegiens are doing right now in Sea of Ohtsk. The Russians are very money driven and they are doing anything to get it.
It might be a better if we ***** and moan about small gill netters every year, because when they sell their quotas to foreign markets ShIIt will really hit the fan as far as over fishing and breaking regulations go.
I

Aero,

You also raise good points. As far as I'm concerned, the Japanese market is a huge threat to the world's fish supply, not just ours. While comprising a small fraction of the world's population, Japan consumes over 40% of all fish products. Some might say, "What's wrong with that? They eat fish instead of beef, pork, and chicken." What's wrong with it is we don't raise our cattle, chickens, and pigs in Japan. They treat the oceans as their "ranches", at the expense of much of the rest of the world.

See, now you have me rambling in a whole other direction.... I don't know what the answer is, all I know is I'm sick of government subsidies that benefit the few, instead of the many. No offense to you...

I wanna go to China and buy American made pliers manufactured in a prison slave camp that dumps waste into a river by a child who gets paid with food and have them break the first time you use them. Then I will know that we have universal "free trade". We are going to buy foreign farmed fish? [Bleeeeep!] that.

Commercial fishermen not getting subsidized like soil farmers (tobacco, wheat, soybean, corn)??? Are you joking? What do soil farmers do with their subsidies? They buy equipment and plant crops. What do commercial fishermen NOT have to do? They don't have to plant crops. I am sick & f***king tired of people comparing "commercial netters" to "farmers"... they are NOT farmers, they are MINERS... they simply mine the resources that are out there, or that are PUT out there by our government.

Commercial fishermen in this state (WA) have lobbied the state government and made it extremely difficult & expensive to start aquaculture farms here. I don't think they'd be receptive to the idea of becoming farmers at all.

-N.

Chuck,

If you have to buy fish right now, you haven't been reading the reports on this board lately. By the way, I heard that the commercials recruited some crippled Asian orphans to operate their new aquaculture facilities here in WA. So I guess we'll be buying American grown fish after all.

Yeah we should get some to grow apples also..

Chuck,

You are way oversimplifying the "buy American" thing. What the hell is "American" anyway? Sure, you can tell if a pair of pliers was made foreign or domestic, but open the hood of any Chevy, Dodge, or Ford and you'll see foreign-made components all over. Take the name badges off, and you tell me the difference between a Mazda and a Ford, or a Plymouth and a Mitsubishi. THERE ISN'T ANY. It just depends on which "brand" they're manufacturing that week.

I say buy whatever is the best quality at the best price. It might be a Makita, it might be a Milwaukee, but that's up to the consumer. If you have morality issues with foreign labor policy, then by all means say so with your pocketbook. But a blanket statement of "buy American" without regard to the cost effectiveness of American labor being used to produce it, is a futile effort in a capitalist country.

I've used Gamakatsu hooks, Shimano reels, Maxima line, Daiichi hooks, and so on, but that's only because I thought they were a quality product at a reasonable price. I've also bought hand tools made in the US that weren't worth [Bleeeeep!] because they were cheap. The point is, not everything built here is good, and everything built overseas bad. I buy American when buying American is the best deal for ME. Call me a selfish *******, but I'm just your average consumer.

Buy American. Buy a Honda.

I guess after today, non of this really is that important but the lives of americans thar were taken away.
Violence doesn't solve anything!