New Dungeness regulations begin August 1, 2016

My metal box trap has an escape ring tied in with cotton. I'm guessing the opening left behind doesn't meet the new regs though. I suppose I can cut a couple pieces out and re-tie the escape ring into the new larger opening.

My metal box trap has an escape ring tied in with cotton. I'm guessing the opening left behind doesn't meet the new regs though. I suppose I can cut a couple pieces out and re-tie the escape ring into the new larger opening.

Yup.

Damn, I just bought 2 new Promars collaspible TR-102Ws to replace my weathered ones. They work great but not sure how I'm going to make this adjustment.

Any suggestions? Should I just return them?


http://www.promarnets.com/promar/Products.aspx?Cat=7

couldnt you just cut the welds on the escape rings and reattach with "rotten cotton"?

Seems like we could just not use the clips that are installed from the factory and use a small bungie cord that has the rotten cotton tied to the trap and a hook from the bungie on the other end for quick set up.???

I started thinking of unintended consequences last night.

1.  GO ID of the operator of the trap.  What does "operator" mean?  Is this some kind of pitfall for the unwary, like if your GO ID is on 10 traps and you invite 4 guys to go out in your aluminum boat with you, pull all your traps and keep a limit of 50 for the 5 people on board, are you over limit since only your ID appears on the buoys?

2.  What of a child under 16 who isn't required to have a license to fish.

2a.  What about for unlicensed anglers on free fishing days where a license isn't required?

3.  Can I set or pull a trap if it doesn't have my GOID on the buoy but I have permission from that person to do it?  Sort of goes along with #1.

...

And I'd also like to see some input on various proposed modifications to traps to make them legal.  Does the bungee idea really work?  My promar won't have a 5" diameter unubstructed egress in the top of the trap if I use a bungee attached to rotten cotton instead of using the installed clips - it will just collapse the trap.  If it hasn't rusted into place.  I'm interested to see how this all plays out.  I'm glad there are some creative fabricators around here willing to share what they are doing to modify traps to make them legal.

OK. I'll bite.
What's a GO ID?

Pull up your fishing license. It's on top where the name, address....etc

Correct. Your GO ID is your permanent 8-digit (I think) number that does not change from year to year like your fishing and hunting licenses. It's useful for renewing licenses and report cards online with CDFW.

Yeah, seems like some of the changes are setting us up for other changes too. 

I was curious to know how long 120 cotton takes to degrade, and found these documents:

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/FedAidpdfs/RIR.2H.1990.05.pdf
http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/fedaidpdfs/fds08-05.pdf

The first summs up that in Alaska they implemented a similar regulation for comercial crab fishing, but afte doing some studys decided to drop from 120-thread down to 30-thred since it takes so long for 120 thread to degrade. 

5 AAC 39.145. Escape mechanism for shellfish and bottomfish pots
Pot gear must include an escape mech
anism in accordance with the following
provisions:
(1) a sidewall, which may include the tunne
l, of all shellfish and bottomfish pots
must contain an opening equal to or exceeding 18 inches in length, except that in
shrimp pots the opening must
be a minimum of six inches
 in length. The opening
must be laced, sewn, or secured together
 by a single length
 of untreated, 100
percent cotton twine, no larger than 30
thread. The cotton twine may be knotted at
each end only. The opening must be within si
x inches of the bottom of the pot and
must be parallel with it. The cotton tw
ine may not be tied or looped around the
web bars. 

The second shows a lot more testing data but found this excerpt on 120-Thread
 

Canadian researchers testing
different twines and cords found 120-thread all-co
tton twine was still intact
 after 115 days soak
time and still retained 24% of its
 original tensile strength (Scar
sbrook et al. 1988).  All those
studies show that twines with a higher thread
 count require longer soak times to biodegrade. 

Damn, I just bought 2 new Promars collaspible TR-102Ws to replace my weathered ones. They work great but not sure how I'm going to make this adjustment.

Any suggestions? Should I just return them?


http://www.promarnets.com/promar/Products.aspx?Cat=7

couldnt you just cut the welds on the escape rings and reattach with "rotten cotton"?

Seems like we could just not use the clips that are installed from the factory and use a small bungie cord that has the rotten cotton tied to the trap and a hook from the bungie on the other end for quick set up.???

I like your idea but I would put more than one bungee and cotton connection point on the trap opening.

This would eliminate having to retie the cotton every time you had to access your pot as previously discussed.

I would also probably use a SS clip attached to the cotton loop instead of the bungee. This way I don't have to worry about the bungee failing.

I guess no one else can use my traps if the bouys are marked with my GOID.  (My brother uses 'em once a year or so.) 

For traps that aren't readily convertible to rotten cotton, why not just cut the netting on the trap and resew with the cotton string?  Do this on a spot that complies with the rules. 

I guess no one else can use my traps if the bouys are marked with my GOID.  (My brother uses 'em once a year or so.)

I would think a tag with your brother's GO ID could be attached while he is using them.

Anyone else have a go id with their social security number in it?

Not mine, just a random sort of number.

I just emailed Promar and Danielson to see if they are going to change their traps for these ca reg.
Will update if I hear anything.

Anyone else have a go id with their social security number in it?

That has to be the most random thing I have ever heard. No, they CANNOT use your SS number for that. They should not even have your SS #! Contact CDFW and ask for another GOID if it at all bothers you, explaining the circumstances ought to make somebody there flinch really hard.

Just an update from Danielson, and Promar.

Danielson: Production manager aware of new reg. They will make changes to their traps. No ETA yet.

Promar: Suggest to get rid of the 3 ss clips on TR-102W. Tie a cotton twine on one door, loops 3 times, and tie other end to opposite door. When cotton twine fails, it will open the trap.
He also suggest cut the top, tie cotton string, making it 5". This will open the top too when cotton twine fails.
He said he talked to the CDFW office on 2 occasions, they said "should be ok, but it's depended on the warden on scene to decide"
He said we should get definite answer before the next year opener whether the new 2 suggestions above is ok, or he will making changes to new traps.