meeting this month

[rivercrab]

Well I'll be leaving soon for the meeting and hopefully I can bring back some good info.. I just hope I don't get lost.. It's going to be a 1 1/2 to 2 hr ride for me...

Give me a shout if you get lost..443-538-3747. Ill be leaving here soon also.

[mike2u]

Ok thanks,,,

[tattoo]

Hope you bring back some GOOD info. have fun.

[Seaweed]

I heard the rec  turn-out was in full force....

6 crabtalkers... 4 recs, 2 comm

about 5 other commercial guys.

So, we voted 7-4 in favor of 1/2 after sunrise, 300' of trot, 15 traps, 1/2 bu limit

[joecrabbr]

6 crabtalkers... 4 recs, 2 comm

about 5 other commercial guys.

So, we voted 7-4 in favor of 1/2 after sunrise, 300' of trot, 15 traps, 1/2 bu limit

yeah an cant use  chicken necks either!!!! :laugh:an we have to crab in 3ft of water or less

[Islander]

1/2 hr after sunrise,     I heard they wanted to make noon the new start time for recs. 

[captaincrab55]

1/2 hr after sunrise,     I heard they wanted to make noon the new start time for recs. 

That's only if  U  have a special Early Riser Rec Permit...    Otherwise it's 9 & 1/2 hours after sunrise....

[anchor]

so what was the total outcome from the meeting, did anyone attend? unfortunatly i couldnt make it my son came down this weekend havent seen him since before christmas.

[rivercrab]

Nothing for you to be concerned with unless you are a non licensed crabber fishing from a boat.. 2 dozen per non licensed crabber period. It doesnt matter if you are from the shore or from a boat. Yeah there was a few from the forum.. Mike2u,Seaweed,crabberjon,fatcrabber,CRABSTER and his buddy and myself.

[crabberjon]

Nothing for you to be concerned with unless you are a non licensed crabber fishing from a boat.. 2 dozen per non licensed crabber period. It doesnt matter if you are from the shore or from a boat. Yeah there was a few from the forum.. Mike2u,Seaweed,crabberjon,fatcrabber,CRABSTER and his buddy and myself.

I thought it was 4 dozen?

[Seaweed]

yeah an cant use  chicken necks either!!!! :laugh:an we have to crab in 3ft of water or less

that sounds good too.... we'll put that on the next meeting's agenda

Like Scott said... not much to it... more of a clarification of the catch limit, cull ring, peeler potting, and bank trap rules...

DNR lady even said that the catch limit rules were confusing and hard to read.... and to to be honest, the clarification doesn't make them any shorter or easier to read and understand.

[tattoo]

Thanks for the info, and thank you guys for going and beeing there in attendance. Nice job.

[mike2u]

To me it was the 1st meeting I've ever attended and was interesting. It took me 2 hrs' to get there. Even though it was more then just a clarification of the new reg's. As rivercrab stated to me the TFAC meeting Monday night January 22'nd will be more important to us. This was brought up in the April meeting of 2006 and most likely will be brought again this meeting. Unfourtuantly I work Monday night and probably will not be able to attend this, but If I can slim myself away from work maybe I can.. Since I'm the only Rec that is trying to find time to attend these meetings, I'm not sure I could have any impact on their decsisions, but I'll try to voice my opinion as much as I can...Over 4700 members on this website and 1 rec is trying to voice his opinion, or just showing up... I guess I might be crabbing for only 2 dozens crabs next year..

April 13,2006
 
Old Business:

 

Recreational Crab Licenses:

 

Mrs. Hunt came back to the Commission with information she was asked to provide about the possibility of changing the license fees for Recreational Crabbing Licenses.  She told the Commissioners that the Department could change the nonresident fees, but not significantly.  The Equal Protection Clause  prevents any agency from charging an out-of-state licensee more than the cost of the administrative burden for issuing a nonresident license. In other words, the increase could not be unfair or unreasonable. The Department cannot change the price of the $40 pleasure boat license, which includes a crabbing license, because it is set in law. The decal is the same price for both residents and non-residents. But, the Department can remove the crabbing license as part of the decal by regulation. 

George Luongo, representing the Working Watermen of Anne Arundel County, expressed concern that recreational licenses are growing, but commercial licenses are limited.  He feels that this growing number of recreational crabbers is directly impacting his catch.  Mr. Luongo felt that raising the fee is not a solution; only a cap on the number of recreational licenses will get the desired result.  His association is suggesting a cap on the number of recreational licenses sold.  If a cap is not possible, then they suggest a reduction in the recreational catch gear allowed.  Mr. Luongo proposed that the current allowance of 1200 feet of trot line be reduced to 300 feet.  Commissioner Simns did not think that 300 feet would ever be acceptable to recreational crabbers and suggested a reduction to 600 feet. He and other commercial watermen present felt that no reporting requirement for recreational crabbers is also a problem.  They felt that data is important and the Department should have a harvest information program for recreational crabbers. Recreational catch information is needed for accurate harvest numbers.  Howard King, Director of the Fisheries Service, said there seems to be an allocation problem between the commercial and the recreational crabbers, and if the problem is carefully identified, there may be some solution.  He asked if the time restrictions were working; the watermen all felt that it is not.

 

Commissioner Larry Simns made a motion that the TFAC set up a work group to explore the possible changes that can be made to the recreational crab licenses and how to go about making the necessary changes.  A suggestion was made to also get other stakeholders (i.e., the South River Association, CBF, etc.) to serve on the workgroup.
Commissioner Andrea Jacquette seconded.
The motion passed unanimously.

[anchor]

so i guess the meeting on monday night is for the recs. more so than the commercial guys. with what mike2u explained there are many options they could go with, is anyone attending this meeting? im gonna talk to my boss tomm. night to see if i can get off.

[crabberjon]

I'll try and make this one also. Got some side work but maybe able to do it at lunch then fly down to Annapolis after work.

[tattoo]

Can't wait to heat the outcome of that meeting. 

[crabbinspaz]

Wanted to go Friday but couldn't make it. What time Monday night and where? I would like to go, and if anyone is going around York area I would like to car pool. (717) 577- 1786 give me a call

[mrscharms]

I am also free Monday evening and would like to attend...if you can give me any information, I would love to go.  Not for nothing, but where are the good old days when you could just go and get out and enjoy a day of crabbing?  This really sucks!  I am only ten mins from Annapolis and if anyone can give me a  time and address....I'll find my way there.  I just want to go and be able to spend time on the water crabbing.  I don't catch many, but would LIKE to!  I don't feel that two bushels per day compared to what I see the commercial people catching is too much.  A dozen is a good day for me! 

While I respect the watermens rights to the water...we have rights, also!  The water and what's there is for ALL of us, not just the sellers.

My humble opinion,
Janice

[crabberjon]

This will probably stir the pot but  ...
They want to limit us to 300 ft when they can run unlimited number of line  . One guy told me he plans on running 15k feet of line. I can see it being hard to work on the weekends with all the recc's but during the week cant nearly be as bad. I think its comm guys trying to monopolize the water.

[rivercrab]

Hey sunshine watch your mouth...I know where you live And it wasnt 15k feet it was 18k feet

[crabberjon]

Hey sunshine watch your mouth...I know where you live And it wasnt 15k feet it was 18k feet

Wanna bowl on that?  BTW I got your sunshine right here. 

[R D]

  I don't feel that two bushels per day compared to what I see the commercial people catching is too much.  A dozen is a good day for me! 

While I respect the watermens rights to the water...we have rights, also!  The water and what's there is for ALL of us, not just the sellers.

My humble opinion,
Janice

Janice, thats a great quote,it's the same one used over and over again in all the fishery's,alot of them where the Rec's are now down to just one on the bag limit and through unlimited #s they are still overfishing some speicies that commercials are not even allowed to fish, the commercial catch is very limited and stays pretty constent every yr while the Rec catch is infinte and grows every yr and will continue to grow even with lower bag limits and gear restrictions, it has already been done and proven in other fisherys,it's always pointed out how much we catch and then they start working to get rid of us and do in some cases(there's a lot of cheaper fish that you can"t buy anymore because we can't catch and sell it) after yr's the fishery is still in decline and no commercials to blame, Thats why a license cap makes more sense than any other regulatory measures

[Seaweed]

, the commercial catch is very limited and stays pretty constent every yr while the Rec catch is infinte and grows every yr and will continue to grow even with lower bag limits and gear restrictions, it has already been done and proven in other fisherys

IMO, this is one of the biggest problems we have with Bay crabbing... we DO NOT have the proper catch numbers and nobody really knows how many crabs are being caught... comm or rec.  Recs don't even have to report, so who knows how many they catch.  Everyone has a theory, but nobody has any proof.  And at the rate things are going with our DNR, we never will.  How can they pay people to count the crab catch when they can't even pay enough NRPs to patrol and enforce the rules they have in place now?

Personally, I don't have much problem with the rec catch limits as they stand.  If you want to keep the commercial side happy, establish a new recreational start time, like 1/2 or 1 hr after sunrise.  and enforce it.  1/2 before sunrise isn't doing [shiz] right now   That way, comms get the spot they want, and I really think there would be a lot less bitching.  And the recs are still going to go home with their 1 or 2 bushels.  JMO, of course.

[crabberjon]

I also think  that the Dnr is part of the problem. How often do you see them out before start times or checking catches? I was never checked but maybe I just missed them.

[mike2u]

Yea just cruise down the Wye around 4:30 - 5:00 am when start time is 5:30 and I bet you'll catch several people crabbing, or at least there traps in the water and them saying I'm waiting for start time..  .. Both my brother - in - law's and my sister would love that Seawed, I wouldn't have to be waking them up at 3:30 am anymore, they would be able to sleep at least another half hour.. 1 FOG horn blast for Comm's start time,,, 2 FOG horn blast for the rec's..