Quote:
Originally Posted by capt coonassty
Its because most turtles live well over 50 years. I'm all for commercial shrimping, but the damage that they do to fisheries stocks are unimaginable.
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but that's just it, the turtles are used as an excuse but the shrimpers are not the ones killing them so the whole premis for teds is bogus.
that said I agree with you and hate how trawling is hugely wasteful in the massive bycatch slaughter and I wish they could find a way to stop the killing of dozens of small fish every drag with a recreational trawl and hundreds of small fish per hour by the big trawlers. when I used to trawl I would raise more often and pick out and throw the fish back first before picking the shrimp so only a handful might not make it, but the seagulls ate well lol. many small trout reds and croakers and even an occasional snapper was seen and I never shook the feeling of wanting a way to not kill these little ones I wanted to grow big so I could catch later.
but the question is how to "not catch" something not much bigger then the species you are targeting.
I often wondered if there might be a way to "pool" the catch in a holding tank so its taken out of the water right away while the boat is in motion so fish can swim and separate from the shrimp that settle to the bottom. but i have no clue how something like that could work to bring the catch instantly onboard like an escalator to separate out the shrimp and lets the fish back to the water still alive and frisky.