Crab pots ~ Prawn Traps

[Capct]

Are one reason I love to boat~ fresh seafood on the BBQ in some remote bay.They are also a hazzard on the water.If they are marked properly ~ usually there is no problem.

But what has been happening around here lately is there has been so much theft of crabs late at night that everyone has been putting out black buoy markers instead of bright orange , so they are really tough for the thieves to see at night.Even if you have 2Kw radar ....most of the time , you still wont see them.

Once you have had a few encounters with any kind of line in the water getting sucked around your props you will want some of these

Spurs Marine Mfg. Inc.

[sluissa]

I bet the fishermen really love these. *rolleyes*

I understand the problem, but there has to be a better solution than to have either one side mad about fouled propellers or the other side mad about lost crab pots, holed nets, etc.

Honestly, I'd side with the fishermen on this one if I had to choose a side. They're trying to make a living out there, for the most part we're just out there for recreation.

[Lynx]

Strange that the people who own the traps do not police them.

As may times that these have been in the channel (which I dodged or hit) I feel no mercy for them.

[coot]

Originally Posted by Capct

But what has been happening around here lately is there has been so much theft of crabs late at night that everyone has been putting out black buoy markers instead of bright orange , so they are really tough for the thieves to see at night.Even if you have 2Kw radar ....most of the time , you still wont see them.

What do they use for trap buoys where you are? Most of the markers I see are about 6 inch diameter (15 cm) styrofoam cylinders with a wood stick through the middle -- not much opportunity for a radar reflection there.

Maybe different where you are, but the commercial pots in our area are usually well marked, and dropped in areas that are not that hard to avoid. It is the sport guys that put their pots right by the buoys, and in the channel. I guess it is because they could never find them again otherwise.
The commercial guys are also very closely regulated as to how long the pots stay down.

[Lancerbye]

I have the same experiences as Kai Nui. In Canadian waters the Commercial Fisherman is allocated specific areas which they can crab in and only if they have the very restricted license for crabbing. They use large red "Scotsmen"(buoy markers) with thier license numbers on them. DFO will fine them heavily if these rules are not followed. On the other hand the sports crabbers use anything that might float as a marker. Javex bottles, milk jugs etc. I never leave my traps in the water more than 2 hours, and never in more than 80 feet of water (usually 40 ft.) near creeks or rivers. Maybe the the previously mentioned offenders are trying to get shrimp or prawns or don't know how to properly crab.

[cat man do]

Reckon those "Spurs" or similar will going on before I go in.

Look at the net's floating around on this site

Carpentaria Ghost Nets







Dave

[NoTies]

Put a mast & sails on your boat then no problem. Motor slowly through areas where there are likely to be traps. Use S band radar. Have a lookout with spotlight on the bow. Install a rope cutter.
I'm not sure how it works in other countries but as an ex commercial fisherman who paid a premium for quota, licences and all the other bureaucracy associated with my profession I had very little sympathy for recreational guys who hooned through my gear and were proven time & again to be the ones who lifted other's pots & stole the catch.
BTW, in NZ very very few commercial fishermen install rope cutters as it leads to lost pots that go on ghost fishing as losing the other guys gear and catch. Instead, we rely on diligent navigation and watchkeeping.

[Lynx]

You should see what it is like in South Florida, all over, including in the ICW. I am glad to here that it is better down under.

[Capct]

Originally Posted by cat man do

Reckon those "Spurs" or similar will going on before I go in.

Look at the net's floating around on this site

Carpentaria Ghost Nets







Dave

Exactly its not just crab pot lines and prawn trap lines at night....it is all the rest of stuff.Abandoned and discarded commercial nets.
No-one intentionally runs over lines....accidents happen...I have never run over a properly marked buoy.But if you do having those cutters or something similar is gonna save your ass.

[Lancerbye]

I can see a single line being cut by the cutters but I somehow doubt that they would do much to a net getting caught in the prop. Even the cork line on a commercial gillnet would give this cutter more than it can chew I would think. I have had to cut the odd one and even with a sharp knife it took some work. They are designed to be abrasion resistant.

[Alan Wheeler]

I have often wonder that. Is a shaft mounted rope cutter worth it?? Will it cut??? I have often thought many of those modern synthetics would not easily cut on a rope cutter. And a net would simply wrap around the entire prop.

[Capct]

Originally Posted by Lancerbye

I have the same experiences as Kai Nui. In Canadian waters the Commercial Fisherman is allocated specific areas which they can crab in and only if they have the very restricted license for crabbing. They use large red "Scotsmen"(buoy markers) with thier license numbers on them. DFO will fine them heavily if these rules are not followed. On the other hand the sports crabbers use anything that might float as a marker. Javex bottles, milk jugs etc. I never leave my traps in the water more than 2 hours, and never in more than 80 feet of water (usually 40 ft.) near creeks or rivers. Maybe the the previously mentioned offenders are trying to get shrimp or prawns or don't know how to properly crab.

Sport crab buoys can be orange or white but they dont have to be the size of a Scotsmen.Javexbottles and milk containers are legal if they are white and labeled like the other buoys .

Hard chined boats like mine will always have an issue where a soft chine displacement hull will push aside the line in a lot of cases while a hard chine planning hull , can , easily run right over top of it.

Anyway Im still gonna think about putting a pair of cutters on when I do my next haulout

[Brent Swain]

Go for the spurs an stay in mid channel. If they are dense enough to clutter the channel, then they engineer their own problems.
brent

[Lancerbye]

The spurs would probably work on sports crabbing gear but we have more problems with unmarked gillnets in the middle of the night. (those that don't want you to know they are fishing). I remember one coversation on the VHF during a legal commercial opening. Went something like this:

Pan Pan Pan this is the Comercial fishing vessel Blue Water. Dept of Fisheries do you copy.

Blue Water this is the Dept. of Fisheries vessel Marlin Ranger what is your situation.

Uhm yes Marlin Ranger. I just caught a sailboat in my gillnet.

Bluewater, how can we assist.

Yes Marlin Ranger ah we were just wondering. Can we keep it?

The laughter in the vessels at the dock rumbled for sometime. I later saw the commercial vessel at the dock replacing 25 ft of cork line. But he still had a good sense of humour. I guess that is what it takes.