Laws, Ethics and the future of our hobby

[dogfish]

I beg the younger members to look up their state regulations for taking Native fish. I don't yet know of a single state that does not publish a copy of the rules and regulations online. If you can read this, you can take the time to read your state's rules.

Im sorry, but is that age discrimination??

 

[teleost]

This is silly. Has anyone even bothered to read the regulations???? I guess I'm a catfish and a troll. Is it customary for mods to name call in a perfectly civil discussion of laws and ethics?

Fish may not be taken in the inland waters of Massachusetts by any means other than angling, except that carp, suckers, and eels may be taken by archery or spear, and eels may be taken in pots by licensed commercial fishermen by permit. Bait fish may be taken in certain nets (see bait fish regulations).

PROHIBITED:

(e) taking fish in the inland waters of Massachusetts by any means other than by angling, except that eels, carp, and suckers may be taken by spears or archery, and that eels may be taken in pots by licensed commercial fishermen under permit;

(f) taking fish in the inland waters of Massachusetts by net, seine, trawl, or similar device, except for the taking of bait fish pursuant to the Massachusetts bait fish regulations;


(h) taking or attempting to take fish at a time other than as provided in these regulations or to possess at any time a greater number of fish or of fish of a length less than provided in these regulations or to possess fish at a period or in an area other than so provided. Such taking or possession shall be a prima facie violation of these regulations, however, the taking or having in possession of a fish less than as provided in the regulations shall not be a violation if taken by a person lawfully fishing and if that person immediately returns the fish alive to the waters from which it was taken.

Who is the big mouthed, ignorance pushing catfish now?

 

[teleost]

completely ignorant. youre never gonna stop what people do just get over it. i have some pumkinseeds would you like to call the police? its not a big deal its not like they are being takin out of there natural habitat to be eaten, killed, and destroyed. there are plenty out there. the intent of having them...curiousity, the want to learn, view, observe, not to hurt them or the environtment. its not some fish genocide.

You fail to see the point. It's not what was taken or even the volume (but I do wonder what he's going to do with all of them when even half grown). It's the fact that the fish were taken with an illegal device. If you would have taken the time to read the thread instead of wasting time calling me ignorant.......

 

[ShadowBass]

I understand the attitude towards people that take fish illegally. You kind of get tired of saying over and over again "Uh, you weren't supposed to take those fish like that."
I don't think a condescending attitude is going to educate people though. A condescending attitude will do little but put people on edge and cause them to ignore the valid parts of the post.

It's understandable that some people may not realize it's illegal to take sunfish by net. After all, they are everywhere, what's wrong with netting a few of them? Or, some people may misinterpret the regulations, as was demonstrated within this thread. Open season and no length limit doesn't mean you can use any method of capture, it only means you can use legal methods of capture (in this case, hook and line for bluegill) to catch and keep any size fish of that species. The Mass. regulations state that only bait fish can be captured by net, and the list of baitfish is here:
http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/regulations/cmr/cmr_400.htm
In (8)(a) of the first section. The only sunfish listed is pumpkinseed.

As far as those people taking obvious game fish such as largemouth bass by net and such, yeah, it's obvious to most of us that those shouldn't be taken that way, but maybe some people don't get it. *shrug*

To those of you that keep catching fish illegally and know that you are, just keep in mind, if a fish and game agent catches you they're probably not going to just say "oh well, don't worry about it". I'll be honest, if you get caught catching a few bluegill they may just give you a warning, but if you get caught netting large game fish such as largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, trout, etc., they are going to fine you, and depending on that state it may be a large fine, depending on the fish you may even lose your fishing license, in some cases they may even be able to confiscate your equipment.

 

[neoprodigy]

I guess I'm in the troll category along with the others that recognize the importance of the law and following it.

thanks for your thoughts... trolls in my book are.. people who constantly taking cheap shots at other members and MFK sometime got nothing to contribute to the community.

I'm not saying you're a bad mod. By golly for some reason you don't even moderate this forum but that's beside the point. I see your point and I can only ask....which occurred first, the chicken or the egg? I swear Poly will be a grade "A" student if membership follows typical ethics. If good ethics abound, he's quite the personable chap.

If this place gets a handle on the ethics I'll bet Poly will promise to behave.

I'll tell you what......I've been civil here. I'll volunteer to mod this forum and the first time poly steps out of line, I'll smash him so fast you're head will spin (I've secretly been wanting to do this for some time).

BTW: It wasn't the tank full of sunfish that was the issue with me, it was the method of capture.

like i say before. we dont know everything and we dont claim to know everything. we are all here to learn. instead of bashing our fellow members... teach them. if you cant.... then report the thread and let the current staff handle it. that is the only ethical way to do

we are still insearch of native staff. who have the ability to lead, teach, help, and communicate with our members.

-li

 

[Miguel]

like i say before. we dont know everything and we dont claim to know everything. we are all here to learn. instead of bashing our fellow members... teach them. if you cant.... then report the thread and let the current staff handle it. that is the only ethical way to do

we are still insearch of native staff. who have the ability to lead, teach, help, and communicate with our members.

-li

Just from a far away perspective ( with no north american natives except large mouth bass of which we have tons everywhere ) I would say that Teleost and Richard ) Polypterus ) would surely be very wellcome being knowledgeable as they are. Would they only be more soft on the newbies , youngsters and other mortals...

 

[20Deep]

Theirs only 1 thing to say....WHO CARES!....You take this stuff too far...calm down...Think about it...if state officials arent banging down these peoples doors right now and searching every inch of their tanks I DONT think you should give a crap what someone else keeps in their tanks as long as its happy and healthy.

Plus even if it is illegal use the golden rule: Dont get caught....

 

[ewurm]

Just from a far away perspective ( with no north american natives except large mouth bass of which we have tons everywhere ) I would say that Teleost and Richard ) Polypterus ) would surely be very wellcome being knowledgeable as they are. Would they only be more soft on the newbies , youngsters and other mortals...

A point made time and time again, but it doesn't sink in, the way their chafing points will never sink in with a newbie with a tank full of YOY sunfish. I wish this would end with a mutual understanding, so we could put some of that knowledge to good use, but I have doubts.

 

[masteroffish]

The key point regardless of our backgrounds and experiences is to check out state laws for collection and the types of species that we actually can collect.

It can be very different from state to state especially since I moved to a state that does not allow me to keep certain fish without a permit.

Native fish are great to keep though we should all try and do it responsibly (not saying anyone is doing it irresponsibly). I have even had to get special permits to collect fish like white suckers since I was using an unusual collecting technique.


Scott

 

[andyourblueblood]

You fail to see the point. It's not what was taken or even the volume (but I do wonder what he's going to do with all of them when even half grown). It's the fact that the fish were taken with an illegal device. If you would have taken the time to read the thread instead of wasting time calling me ignorant.......

it was ignorant you came in here like you own this thread. so what he did it with a net. are you going to stop him? are you going to make a difference? i doubt it just leave it aloneno one cares. if someone gets caught for doing something illegal they will be punished accordingly you my friend are not the law nor can you enforce it. you do your job and the law will do theres.