Lots of guys selling catfish

[Lowerider]

If you're truly interested first educate yourself of the situation and the key players.

KDFWR Mission Statement:
To conserve and enhance fish and wildlife resources and provide opportunity for hunting, fishing, trapping, boating and other wildlife related activities.

Ron Brooks replaced Benjy Kinman as Fisheries Director in 2009 - he calls the shots. Listen to his comments at 2:30-2:40:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQYJd-7iQb8

Find more here:
http://www.in-fisherman.com/2012/12/...-in-pay-lakes/
excerpts:
Ohio and West Virginia passed regulations allowing the harvest of only one blue or flathead catfish 35 inches and longer daily, while Kentucky has no limit. “Those regulations passed without strong data on catfish populations in the river,” Brooks says.

“The process for new regulations in Kentucky starts with approval by an appointed commission,” he says. “Once approved, the rules are voted on by the legislature after public hearings and other input. So unless you can prove a biological problem, there’s no impetus to push for a regulation on the fishery. Based on everything we have so far, nothing really indicates a biological problem with the catfish populations.”


Jason (Jay) Herrala is the state biologist currently in charge of the study; he can be reached here:
[email protected]
let him know what you see and your thoughts

BTW, KDFWR has sent representatives to several tournaments this year as part of the study to observe. I know of at least 6. Not a single fish over 40 lbs was weighed in at any event. The last big event (Cabela's) out of Vevay had a big fish of 33 lbs. I only counted five fish over 25 lbs weighed in over the course of two days. The evidence is in.

Side note, there was a large tournament out of Crystal City MO this past weekend. It took 268 lbs in five fish to win. Winning team didn't even have big fish of event. Now that's the type of water I would spend my money and travel to to fish.

If you have little faith in the Dept - send your concerns to your state Rep:
http://www.lrc.ky.gov/whoswho/hsedist.htm

Show up at the meeting on Nov 1st!

[SLP]

Pay lakes pay $2-$3 per lb for live fish

Maybe I am missing something, but how can they afford to pay that much? I haven't been to a pay lake in a while, but don't most charge in the $12 range for someone to fish and let them keep about five fish for that price? If they pay anywhere near those prices to stock the fish, it seems like they would run themselves out of business in no time.

Maybe if they were having a big fish contest that particular lake would pay that for one big fish, but I can't imagine they pay that as a going rate to stock their fish. Plus wouldn't they would need a more reliable guaranteed source in order to meet the demands of their regular scheduled stocking?

I am not trying to belittle the problem this thread is bringing to everyone's attention, because obviously there is a problem and for whatever reasons it sounds like too many people are taking way too many fish. I am just trying to understand the numbers.

[riverrat12]

We have to look no further than the history of the Missouri river to find out what over harvest by CF will do. Catfish need regulations the same as the rest of sportfish that are high in demand before over harvest plain and simple. Why hasn't someone created a pay lake full of bighead and silver carp????they get huge,are great fighters and get air...Two birds,one stone.This is what our big blue population has to look forward to....dumpsters behind the paylakes. Sad

[mhall]

We have to look no further than the history of the Missouri river to find out what over harvest by CF will do. Catfish need regulations the same as the rest of sportfish that are high in demand before over harvest plain and simple. Why hasn't someone created a pay lake full of bighead and silver carp????they get huge,are great fighters and get air...Two birds,one stone.This is what our big blue population has to look forward to....dumpsters behind the paylakes. Sad

Sickening.......I am going to try my best to make that meeting if work will allow and I will send my two cents via e-mail and maybe even a written letter as well. Chuck, what was I saying last Friday evening, Scott said it almost verbatim. The KDFW DO NOT think there is a number problem therefore they aren't listening. Size doesn't matter to them, quantity does and I'm not even sure that matters that much anymore either.

I wonder if Peter Maloney would be interested in us representing this website as a group? Maybe someone from the department can come on here and listen to concerns, we could act as a group, I'm thinking outloud guys......

INPUT please??

[mhall]

Just sent Rick Rand an e-mail....for what good it will do...Sigh

[dac244]

Get Strader too talk about it on his show Fish&Wildlife just love ole Jim

[mhall]

Get Strader too talk about it on his show Fish&Wildlife just love ole Jim

Thats not a bad idea. Also social media can be your friend on some of this stuff to...

[kyriverblues]

I agree we all have to do something. I will be sending Rick Rand an email and a phone call too. I will also put in for Nov. 1st off at work tomorrow so I can attend the meeting in Frankfort. I work for the State of Kentucky so I will talk to some people I know. Everyone needs to try to attend the meeting even if u live in Indiana. It not to far of a drive to Frankfort. Any other ideas I want to help.

[kyriverblues]

Can anyone tell me what time the meeting is with Fish And Wildlife on November 1st ?????

[Nanna]

Can anyone tell me what time the meeting is with Fish And Wildlife on November 1st ?????

Submit An Event

Event Name/Title	Committee meetings
Dates	11/1/2013
Categories	Meetings / Banquets
Description	Agenda TBA
Registration Required	No
County	Franklin
Hours	8:30 AM EST
Location	Department of Fish & Wildlife Headquarters
Directions	1 Sportsman's Lane, Frankfort, KY
Contact Email
Contact Name
Contact Phone	502-564-3400
Web Site Address	http://fw.ky.gov

[KDFWR Fisheries]

No one can legally sell catfish or any fish with just a sportfish license. Therefore, anyone fishing (with only a sportfish license) and selling the catfish they catch to pay lakes is breaking the law. A person must have a valid commercial fishing license to sell fish harvested from public waters where commercial fishing is allowed. A propagation permit is required if selling fish harvested from private water. If you know of any angler selling fish illegally, it is up to you to contact KDFWR. This is one case where anglers can help protect large catfish by simply contacting KDFWR at 1-800-25-ALERT. If this activity is occurring at a large scale, your calls could make a difference.

Also, we are going to be holding a public meeting in late October to discuss data collected during the past year during an elevated attempt to get as much information on Ohio River catfish as we can. We will also have discussions with the public attending the meeting to discuss our recommendations for regulations (if any) and potential measures that could be taken to address both the trophy catfish anglers’ and the commercial fishermen’s concerns. We have not set a firm date, but will announce one within the week.


...................

The information below describes KDFWR effort to address this issue:

SUBJECT: Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources -Trophy Catfish Issue

Background: The Department has received requests during the last 5-6 years to implement harvest restrictions on catfish, particularly the larger (trophy size) fish. There have been other states that have implemented regulations to limit the catfish harvest to 1 fish > 34 (or 35) inches in length. There are three species of catfish in Kentucky, channel, blue, and flathead; however, only blue and flathead catfish grow into a trophy status. Since this issue emerged, the Department has initiated surveys on the Ohio River to document the status of the catfish populations.

The issue in Kentucky has focused primarily on the Ohio River where there is a viable commercial fishery for the harvest of catfish. Previously, the commercial catfish harvest was primarily for smaller catfish to be strictly utilized as a food fish, and there was no market for the larger catfish. Now the commercial market has changed, and there is a market for trophy-sized catfish to stock into commercial pay lakes and a limited foreign food market. The Ohio River is an inter-jurisdictional water resource that is shared by Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Both Illinois and Indiana have commercial fisheries on the Ohio River.

In July 2012, this issue was an agenda item for discussion at the Fisheries Committee Meeting of the Fish & Wildlife Commission. Some representatives of both sport and commercial anglers attended this meeting and made position statements. Commercial anglers were opposed to any regulation that would impact their revenue. Tournament catfish anglers felt their catch of trophy-sized catfish had declined, and catfish needed harvest protection for sport fish management. Some recreational anglers were opposed to any new restriction and claimed the catfish populations are better than previous conditions in the 70’s and 80’s. The Commission tabled the issue and requested the Fisheries Division continue research activities, conduct surveys, and provide them with a status report at the November 2013 meeting.

The following is a timeline of activities that will be performed prior to this meeting:

Item 1- Conduct a recreational angler attitude survey to determine attitudes regarding the use of more restrictive limits on catfish species in KY. This will be a random mail survey of resident anglers to obtain a sample size sufficient to target catfish anglers.
- Completed questionnaires will be received by August and data compiled in Fall 2013.

Item 2- A letter has been sent to all commercial anglers on the Ohio River requesting permission to inspect the size distribution of their catfish harvest. To date, a major catfish harvester has agreed to these conditions and other anglers are still being solicited.
- The size distribution of this commercial harvest will be compiled in the Fall 2013 and compared to other sampling methods.

Item 3- Random visits will be made to commercial fish markets to obtain size distribution of their available catfish.
- The size distribution of this commercial harvest will be compiled in the Fall 2013 and compared to other sampling methods.

Item 4- Approximately 7-8 catfish tournaments on the Ohio River have been identified and Fisheries personnel will be present to document their harvest and size distribution.
- Total tournament size distribution will be compiled in the Fall 2013 and compared to other sampling methods.

Item 5- A standardized sampling protocol for catfish has been established, and this methodology will be utilized on 5 different sections of the Ohio River:
One lower river by Illinois Dept of Natural Resources,
One mid-river by Indiana Dept of Natural Resources,
Two mid-upper river by KY Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Resources, and
One in WV by WV Dept of Natural Resources.
The WV sample is in a river section without commercial fishing; therefore, these data will be further compared to sections with commercial fishing.
- Sampling will occur May-July and data will be compiled in the Fall 2013 and compared to other sampling methods.

Item 6- Develop a short list of stakeholders (commercial, tournament, & other sport anglers) and invite them to a meeting to share sampling results. Also, there will be a facilitated discussion to determine if there is any common ground or compromise.
- This meeting is planned for October 2013.

Item 7- All data/recommendations will be presented at the Fisheries Committee of the F&W Commission. Any proposed regulatory change will have to be referred to the full Commission meeting in December 2013.
- This meeting is scheduled for November 1, 2013.

Item 8- The Department will report all findings at the Interim Joint Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee meeting.
- The target date is their November meeting, and the date has not been established.


Ron Brooks
Fisheries Division Director
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
#1 Sportsman's Lane

[Tyme2fish]

No one can legally sell catfish or any fish with just a sportfish license. Therefore, anyone fishing (with only a sportfish license) and selling the catfish they catch to pay lakes is breaking the law. A person must have a valid commercial fishing license to sell fish harvested from public waters where commercial fishing is allowed. A propagation permit is required if selling fish harvested from private water. If you know of any angler selling fish illegally, it is up to you to contact KDFWR. This is one case where anglers can help protect large catfish by simply contacting KDFWR at 1-800-25-ALERT. If this activity is occurring at a large scale, your calls could make a difference.


Ron Brooks
Fisheries Division Director
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
#1 Sportsman's Lane

I very much respect your answer, but the enforcement aspect of this would be almost impossible.

Hypothetical: I tell a person at the launch about my great success that day and that I'm going to sell my catch for big bucks to "Paylake Ripoff". Unless an enforcement person sees me sell that catch, there is no crime.

But if someone ever told me that on the river, I'd be darn sure to take down hull numbers and/or license plate tags and report them so the river LEOs could keep an eye on them.

I've got INpoacher and KYpoacher numbers on my cell phone.