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Cast Netting Shrimp Article...
Some good (and timely) info here...
Cast-netting white shrimp can be fruitful in the fall, but there are rules | AL.com
Quote:
Cast-netting white shrimp can be fruitful in the fall, but there are rules
By Jeff Dute | jdute@al.com
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on September 19, 2014 at 4:16 PM, updated September 19, 2014 at 7:44 PM
Every fall when mature white shrimp numbering in the millions of pounds are carried by the tides out of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and through Mobile Bay, people near and far pull out their nets to reap the bounty.
Most commercial and recreational shrimpers use traditional shrimp nets towed behind boats to catch their share in large quantities. The regulations are pretty cut and dry for those methods.
The biggest questions usually arise when folks pull out their castnets, hoping to maybe catch enough to fry or boil for dinner or to fuel a day on the water fishing for speckled trout, redfish or bass.
Alabama Marine Resources Enforcement Division chief Maj. Scott Bannon said the rules for using a castnet to catch shrimp are pretty clear, but added that there is some room for enforcement discretion.
The cut-and-dry rules are simple.
Recreational cast-netting for shrimp is legal only in areas that are open to commercial shrimping or in exclusive saltwater bait areas.
Check out complete recreational shrimping regulations here.
Anyone using a recreational castnet to catch shrimp from a boat in an area open to commercial shrimping must have an Alabama saltwater fishing license and a $16 recreational boat shrimping license.
These folks are allowed to catch and keep no more than 5 gallons of shrimp with the heads on per person per day.
If the recreational fisherman is cast-netting shrimp in one of the bait-shrimp-only areas scattered around the bay, license requirements are the same and the daily possession limit is reduced to only 1 gallon per person.
Bannon said a person cast-netting from the shore in an area otherwise open to commercial shrimping must have a saltwater fishing license and is not required to have the recreational shrimping boat license.
The daily possession limit for folks netting from the bank is still 5 gallons per person, he said.
It is illegal to use a castnet to catch shrimp from the bank or a boat in an area that is permanently closed to shrimping.
Bannon said, however, that his officers have some leeway when encountering folks throwing a castnet for shrimp in these areas.
"If you have a few in the livewell for bait, I'm not going to beat you up over it, but there are no areas open to shrimping of any kind above the Causeway," Bannon said.
In other words, don't let him or one of his officers find you throwing a castnet and dumping the catch into a cooler full of shrimp up there or anywhere shrimping is either permanently or temporarily closed.
Those types of issues are arising more often, Bannon said since the popularity of cast-netting for shrimp appears to be on the upswing all along the Alabama coast.
"We've seen that cast-netting for shrimp has become more popular here at certain times of the year, especially in the fall when the white shrimp can get really thick and in June when the big brown shrimp are falling out. There are spots along the Eastern Shore where folks can do really well catching their 5 gallons with a castnet in the fall," he said.
included this map from AL MR showing the PERMANTLY CLOSED shrimping areas (in striped red).
Click on map to view larger...
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