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"Gillnets are selective".....

10K views 160 replies 45 participants last post by  Lance Magnuson 
#1 ·
The following is copied from an email today from CCA Washington, it wouldn't hurt for WFF members to politely contact WDFW as suggested in the text below:

CCA Washington info@ccapnw.org via votervoice.net

General Information
Hi Patrick,

WDFW Director Kelly Susewind was asked about efforts to remove non-selective gillnets from our rivers during a "digital open house" event on November 28. The question and his disappointing response can be viewed HERE.

In his response, Director Susewind repeated industry claims that gillnets are selective by "time, area and place" and suggested that gillnets can be an effective tool for harvesting excess returning hatchery fish. These arguments simply don't stand up to scrutiny in mixed-stock fisheries where you have ESA-listed, wild, and hatchery fish intermingled, which is currently the norm for most Washington salmon fisheries. Claims that gillnets are selective also fly in the face of the consequences of decades of non-selective overharvest: extinctions, ESA listings, and depressed salmon runs - even in areas with suitable habitat.

The gillnet question came up during a 1 ½-hour digital open house that covered a range of topics dealing with key issues facing the agency. WDFW has also hosted a series of local open house meetings as part of its effort to build support for a $60 million budget increase though higher license fees and additional state general funds. WDFW is also requesting that the Legislature reauthorize the $8.50 Columbia River Salmon and Steelhead endorsement, which is annually purchased by over 200,000 recreational anglers who fish the Columbia River basin. It expires next year.

Director Susewind conceded that he had more to learn about the issue. You can email him directly at Kelly.Susewind@dfw.wa.gov if you would like to share your views and first-hand experiences with gillnets. Please keep your email constructive and courteous.



CCA Washington is in the process of following up with Director Susewind. CCA also recently joined with a coalition of sportfishing and conservation groups on a letterurging the Legislature to hold WDFW accountable to implement the Columbia River gillnet reforms.

Thank you,
CCA Washington

P.S. On a related note, we just learned that the Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Act (S. 3119), legislation to protect salmon and steelhead from excessive sea lion predation in the Columbia River, has made significant progress in the Senate. For years, CCA chapters in Oregon and Washington have been a leading voice in the sportfishing community in support of federal legislation to reduce excessive sea lion predation in the Columbia River basin - rallying our members to contact their lawmakers, organizing public events, securing state funding for interim measures, and orchestrating state legislative hearings.

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Rep. Jamie Herrera-Beautler (R-WA) have been instrumental in advancing this bi-partisan legislation, and we appreciate their efforts on this complex issue. We will keep you updated as news develops on this issue over the coming days.​
 
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#88 · (Edited)
Smoking anything habitually can be incredibly bad for your lungs and heart. Marijuana smoke in the lungs stiffens the alveoli by hardening the capillaries in them. It then hardens the capillaries in one's heart tissue. The net effect is that your heart and lungs now must work harder to deliver the same amount of O2 to your body.
Your blood pressure and heat rate get accelerated. DAMHIK!

I have AFIB (Atrial Fibrillation, also known as irregular heartbeat). The effect on my cardiovascular health is that each beat of my heart is pumping only around 90 - 92% of its normal "per beat volume" with each pump. So to deliver the same amount of oxygenated blood, it must work harder.
I'm not sure when my heart began beating irregularly, but my GF mentioned that she noticed it missing some beats. That was way back around 1999 or 2000.
When I went to the hospital back in July 2014, my ticker was only moving slightly more than 10% of the normal pumping volume that it should have been moving with each beat. They kept me in there for 8 days. My cardiologist told me that if I followed his recommendations and took my meds, then I could expect to recover to as much as 85%. But I worked at it, and I'm back up in the low 90's. I tried a toke from a water bong a few months ago, and it was pretty harsh!
You smokers out there take a gander at your bong's bowl (nasty looking tar and carbon!), and then notice how rapidly its water turns dark after just a few uses. Now, what do you think is happening in your lungs? A dual water chambered bong cleans the smoke only slightly more. How 'bout installing a filter after the second water chamber? I understand that helps even more.
I don't smoke anything at all any more, and only want to inhale clean fresh air!

In addition to a blood thinner (to prevent my blood from clotting if my heart misses a few beats), I take a heart med (carvedilol, the generic equivalent of the original "Coreg"). Carvedilol has the opposite effect on my heart than that resulting from smoking weed.
It slows down my heart rate, makes it more even, and softens the heart tissue a bit. By doing those, it helps prevent me from experiencing fibrillation of my heart.
Once I understood the connection, I quit smoking any weed. Why on earth would I want to negate the positive effects of my heart meds?

I tried vaping, but that's not good for the lungs either. Tinctures under the tongue?....no...didn't like 'em. Now, once in blue moon, I might eat some "edibles" in the form of "cannabis infused Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups," home-made weed brownies or cookies if I luck out and someone offers me one at the right time. I tried making my own, but didn't think it was cost-effective.
I cut my drinking back to 2 beers, or a glass of wine with dinner. I might even quit the alcohol:eek:

But, I smoked weed off and on from 1969 up until recent years. I'm 68. You youngsters still have time to go burn one and then meditate on this! :D

One more cautionary bit of advice to those who toke up. The stiffening effect on the tissues of the heart and lungs from smoking weed tapers off after anywhere from 60 minutes to 90 minutes after smoking. During that time, it is inadvisable to engage in strenuous aerobic activities, such as running, cycling, surfing, flat-water paddling for a long distance, resistance training, or anything else which gets you pumped up for the duration. Hold off, and partake later, when you can take it easier or just kick back and relax.

note: edited to replace "wrong" word with the "correct" one in line 2.
 
G
#89 ·
Smoking anything habitually can be incredibly bad for your lungs and heart. Marijuana smoke in the lungs stiffens the alveoli by hardening the capillaries in them. It then hardens the alveoli in one's heart tissue. The net effect is that your heart and lungs now must work harder to deliver the same amount of O2 to your body.
Your blood pressure and heat rate get accelerated. DAMHIK!

I have AFIB (Atrial Fibrillation, also known as irregular heartbeat). The effect on my cardiovascular health is that each beat of my heart is pumping only around 90 - 92% of its normal "per beat volume" with each pump. So to deliver the same amount of oxygenated blood, it must work harder.
I'm not sure when my heart began beating irregularly, but my GF mentioned that she noticed it missing some beats. That was way back around 1999 or 2000.
When I went to the hospital back in July 2014, my ticker was only moving slightly more than 10% of the normal pumping volume that it should have been moving with each beat. They kept me in there for 8 days. My cardiologist told me that if I followed his recommendations and took my meds, then I could expect to recover to as much as 85%. But I worked at it, and I'm back up in the low 90's. I tried a toke from a water bong a few months ago, and it was pretty harsh!
You smokers out there take a gander at your bong's bowl (nasty looking tar and carbon!), and then notice how rapidly its water turns dark after just a few uses. Now, what do you think is happening in your lungs? A dual water chambered bong cleans the smoke only slightly more. How 'bout installing a filter after the second water chamber? I understand that helps even more.
I don't smoke anything at all any more, and only want to inhale clean fresh air!

In addition to a blood thinner (to prevent my blood from clotting if my heart misses a few beats), I take a heart med (carvedilol, the generic equivalent of the original "Coreg"). Carvedilol has the opposite effect on my heart than that resulting from smoking weed.
It slows down my heart rate, makes it more even, and softens the heart tissue a bit. By doing those, it helps prevent me from experiencing fibrillation of my heart.
Once I understood the connection, I quit smoking any weed. Why on earth would I want to negate the positive effects of my heart meds?

I tried vaping, but that's not good for the lungs either. Tinctures under the tongue?....no...didn't like 'em. Now, once in blue moon, I might eat some "edibles" in the form of "cannabis infused Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups," home-made weed brownies or cookies if I luck out and someone offers me one at the right time. I tried making my own, but didn't think it was cost-effective.
I cut my drinking back to 2 beers, or a glass of wine with dinner. I might even quit the alcohol:eek:

But, I smoked weed off and on from 1969 up until recent years. I'm 68. You youngsters still have time to go burn one and then meditate on this! :D
interesting,but did you ever gillnet?
 
#90 ·
NO, I have never gill netted or worked on one. I have never fished commercially.
Ok, one of my neighbors is a commercial fisher who gillnets for salmon or runs a good amount of crab pots for Dungeness. He doesn't smoke weed. I see him out there mending his gill nets, and recently, him and his crew preparing crab pots. I'm 2 houses away, downwind from the prevailing breezes, and I never smell anything wafting from his direction.
I kinda wish he'd start smokin' it. Maybe that would improve his bad attitude!;)
 
#92 ·
My uncle is a recreational gill neter & i went out a couple of times over a couple of years over 10 years ago with him on the lake where his cabin is on a island to help set & pull in the nets. He said i have no idea how to pull the nets in properly when he operates the boat & i also have no idea how to operate the boat properly when he pulls in the nets! Those 2 things & also being able to get a massive birds nest the few times i've tried to cast a spoon on a gear rod with a bait caster reel are things i'm really proud of!!!
 
#102 ·
My gill netting neighbor shook his head and laughed when I asked him about "selective gill netting." He thinks its a joke, but he must play by the rules to stay in the game.
Yes I agree, it is a wasteful method as well. Go to Bristol Bay in mid-July @ low water, drop outs laying everywhere.
 
#107 ·
Commercial fishing in Puget Sound is a mere shadow of what it once was. When I was a kid we fished from May till the End of November 4-5 days a week. Now they are lucky to get a couple days on Sockeye in area 7 and a couple days a week for 3 weeks on dogs. The only Non-tribal fishery on kings or silvers in Puget Sound is Bellingham Bay (terminal fishery), to my knowledge, and it has been that way for years (decades?).
 
#109 ·
I don't know. might wanna ask the gill net experts? I smoke Marlboro menthol & that's not a code word for dope!
I'm surprised no one called you out for your nicotine addiction. I guess I'll have to do it, dang me!
Smoking Marlboro menthols is far worse for your's or anyone else's health than smoking weed. Menthol smokes are the worst. You may not be smoking dope, but most certainly you are a dope for smoking cigarettes!:rolleyes:
 
#113 ·
I started out bumming Kools from a friend in the summer following HS graduation, then switched to Marlboro Reds, then to Marlboro Lights. After five years, I decided to quit because my lung capacity and oxygen uptake were noticeably worsening, but it wasn't easy. I ended up going to a hypnotist and leaning self-hypnosis techniques, which helped me change my self-image from "smoker" to that of a "non-smoker."
That helped, and I succeeded in losing the tobacco habit. I wasn't smoking much weed then, since I was still a full time student, working part-time.
I had recently tried magic shrooms, and believe it or not, the elevated "perspective" I gained from those experiences made me want to quit tobacco, weed, and alcohol. I considered the shrooms as a seriously important "oracle" of sorts...not to be wasted on partying. I went bodysurfing in good surf while high on them a couple of times, but my energy level was so high out in the surf, that I was bumming out the other bodysurfers in the break, and also afraid I might explode my heart, so I went in to the beach and chilled.
The few times I did shrooms after that were with friends, hiking in the rain forest on a trail along the valley stream, or hiking in the mountains. That was in the early/mid 1970's.
 
#114 ·
Just so people know, my hatred of gill nets comes from all the recreational gill nets used here. More than anywhere else in the world, i have no problem with comercial gill netters. I have relatives, 2 brothers my mother's cousin's kids who are comercial gill netters that live on the Aland islands in between Finland & Sweden. I asked about fishing licenses there? They said no problem with licenses, problem is there is very little public water because it's mostly privately owned. But said don't worry we own a lot, it was our grandfathers & i am welcome to come fish for pike one Autumn because pike are protected there in spring to spawn because fishing is the only industry that place has! The islands also have rainbow trout farms for people food.
 
#115 · (Edited)
Yeah, I also hate gill nets. I just don't hate the gill netters. I'd love to see them find a better way to earn their livelihood.
I have to shake my head in wonder over commercial gill netters owning private sport waters where there are few public waters, though. Sounds almost like some kind of fishing monopoly. That kind of setup might cause a revolt with heads rolling in the gutters around here! Maybe I'm just misunderstanding the situation as you described it.:confused: What the heck. I'm just sitting here indulging in the Finnish tradition of kalsarikanni...had a couple Margaritas.
 
#124 ·

I hope this link works as I am a neo-Luddite. At the time, I lived in the Nooksack SF valley; and, did not want mine name anywhere near this effort. There were 5 of us that photographed and GPS'd 63 derelict nets from Nugent's Corner to the Mouth. Ultimately, over 100 derelict nets were removed. Some were actively fishing (derelict) and some illegally (out of season) and others posed no risk (outside of being unsightly). I found one lost net that had about a dozen fish.

I keep in touch with a WDFW enforcement friend. He said it's just as bad now as it was then.
 
#136 · (Edited)
That's who we sold to as well, wish I had one of those old NEFCO hats. The first year I fished in Bristol Bay was 1978, we sold to NEFCO and stayed @ Peterson Point just North of the Naknek river. That was 2 years before they filed for bankruptcy protection. Very few fish that year but we got 74 cents for reds. spent a lot of time in the mess hall or chasing cannery girls. The next year was a record year.
 
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#138 ·
I was on the F/V Blue Pacific for a number of years. We never went to the coast, stayed inside and took advantage the calm waters and not burning fuel. Our motto was "Stick and stay, make it pay, grind away even if it takes all day". Okay, I just made that up but that was how our captain operated.

I fell out of the boat once. I was at the back of our 58' limit seiner, with the skiff being dragged behind. Just finished pushing the fish in the hold from the previous set and getting ready to make another. We ran a lead net and I was the second skiff guy with a small power block in the skiff and the lead net stacked in the stern. One of the guys had a deck broom slip out of his hand and yelled at me to get it. I grabbed plunger and ran to the back of the skiff. While teetering on top of lead net cork pile, I lunged with the plunger to snag the deck broom but came up a few inches short. The seiner and skiff were slowly motoring away from the deck broom so I made one last lunge to try and snag the $8 broom. I grabbed it with the hook end of the plunger but sitting atop of the cork pile, I kind of just fell out of the back of the skiff. It was a strange feeling treading water out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I do remember the coldness of the water sucking my breath away. They turned the boat around and hauled me out of the drink. The crew said they never saw a guy go for a floating deck broom with such gusto. It was my first year. Good times.

Daryle Holmstrom was on that crew, an active member and poster on this board for years until he passed away. RIP Daryle.
 
#147 ·
Hats were a big deal in the salmon business. Wearing your company’s logo differentiated your group from the other groups of drunks in town. Whether they were loggers, Coasties or other cannery personnel, it was easy to determine background by the ballcap they were wearing.

Unfortunately, it was also easy for the bartender to 86 an entire group of miscreants based on similar head coverings
 
#149 · (Edited)
Hats were a big deal in the salmon business. Wearing your company's logo differentiated your group from the other groups of drunks in town. Whether they were loggers, Coasties or other cannery personnel, it was easy to determine background by the ballcap they were wearing.

Unfortunately, it was also easy for the bartender to 86 an entire group of miscreants based on similar head coverings
Hats
 
#152 ·
Reading some of these posts, it sounds like you west coast guys had some special times in your younger days that bring back some great memories. Have any of you guys gone back to some of your old haunts to see how things have changed over the years..? I image living a fisherman's life had a lot of thrills and good times as well..
I sold out of the Bay in 08 when my daughter was born. I saw enough marriages fall apart because of guys being gone too long every year. That being said, I still have many friends I grew up with who still go up every summer. I still listen to the daily escapment and catch reports coming out of Dillingham and King Salmon. Sockeye seem as strong as they've been, Kings not so much. I still have a "Follow Me To The Willow Tree" sticker up in my office. The Willow Tree was an infamous dive bar in Dillingham. Not all work up there. After the seasons were over we'd take time to motor around Bristol Bay and check out some of the old,old abandoned canneries that dot the river systems, take our skiffs up the creeks and sloughs with our 7/8 weights and catch chums, late sockeye, and some early silvers till our arms about fell off. Got to spend time up at Brooks and Katmai. Lots of time on the Naknek. Always regretted not being able to get back down the chain in Sept as there was supposed to be a few rivers that had steelhead runs. I always had to leave to rig crab gear or go drag around for albacore out of Westport or Chinook. My goal is to get the family up there next summer if travel permits to go to Brooks and katmai, not necessarily The Red Dog. I get a call every summer where someone asks me to come up and run their boat, but alas, feel like I'd be a liability not an asset with this much time gone by.
 
#157 ·
Coast Guard was our life line. Who you gonna call... not ghostbusters! Saved my skippers arm once. 18 years in the Gulf was enough. Got knocked/blown off the boat once while hauling gear off the Haystack. Jettisoned my hip boots, crawled out of the long rain coat and came up on the other side of the boat. Surreal. I was only 19, took me about 15 minutes to start shaking. Almost quit after that one, glad I didn't.
 
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