Comment from Hull, James
James HullSupportIndividual
Summary: A Florida black seabass pot fisherman supports the use of ropeless gear but argues that the agency must open the Right whale closed area for its use to make it economically viable. He notes that while the gear works well, it is currently less efficient than vertical lines in areas where vertical lines are permitted.
Hello, I use Black seabass( BSB) pots at the very southern end of the Pot fishery off Florida. We had a productive BSB fishery for most of my Life, But when the Right whale closed area for vertical lines was put in effect, we were forced to fish off shore 100 feet of depth with vertical lines. This is not the prime area for BSB harvest and our effort and catches went down. I became involved with the experimental fishery with BSB pot rope-less gear development, with the hope that we could use the rope-less gear inshore during the winter Right whale closed area less than 100 feet depth. It was very promising and worked flawlessly. Only down side was it takes more time to work you gear with loading the line on the pot correctly, the more I used it the faster it got. I had hoped the right whale closed area would be opened up for rope-less gear use in the winter months when BSB are in high abundance in that depth and area. However that has not occurred and with the extra time and effort it takes to use the rope less gear in areas beyond 100 feet where vertical lines are allowed, I would choose to use vertical line gear over rope less gear. Bottom line, if the agency wants rope-less gear use in the BSB pot fishery off Florida, You need to open up the Right whale closed area for Rope less gear use. Then it would be worth the effort of using it, and continued improvements would occur.
I am the last BSB pot fisherman in NE. Florida, The BSB have come back this year and seem to be repopulating the southern end of their range.