Comment

Comment by Fred Woodman on December 30, 2011 at 7:50pm

http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/environment/seaice/freez...

this one shows the historic freeze up times. It gives a good indication of when turres are where

Comment by Fred Woodman on December 30, 2011 at 4:54pm

http://www.ec.gc.ca/glaces-ice/default.asp?lang=En&n=D32C361E-1

here a link to the ice charts. Theres no ice between Sagalak and Newfoundland, certainly nothing to push birds this way.

Comment by Fred Woodman on December 30, 2011 at 4:50pm

I dont think its due to lack of bait. After all theres always loads of birds when season closes. personally I think the migration pattern has changed and they dont have to come into the bays to find food,they are probably eating lots where they are. I am not sure they come this way for the food, mostly its to avoid the cold and ice in the North. 

I know we killed birds all last winter and none seemed very poor ...

Comment by Jeff Wish on December 30, 2011 at 10:39am

I guess we will have to wait till the last of the season and hope for good weather.

I called an Older fisherman in Bay De Verde and says there are no birds because there is no bait.. Bottom line. Any body hunt seals on here? I still have a professional liscense, and cant wait for a ggod calm day in the spring

Comment by Fred Woodman on December 29, 2011 at 7:20pm

I wouldnt worry about keeping any around. Its amazing the number of boats ( and quality) between the food fishery and turres there be a resurgence in boats.

No doubt about there being fewer birds in season. The one promising thing is that come april and May there seems to be lots of birds around. I know Placentia had a lot of birds after season closed. But for some reason the winter migrations arent what they used to be but then again winters arent what they used to be,

Comment by Tony McGrath on December 29, 2011 at 3:48pm

Yeah be nice to know the actual numbers of birds killed but whatever the cause ( most likely more than just one ) there seem to be much less turrs in Placentia Bay than there were back then.  Just ask the local fishermen who lived a whole lifetime at it.  Still lots of nets in the bay too with a lot of turrs being hooked up in them.  Especially up near the Cape which in my opinion is where a damn good percentage of the birds in that bay are born.  Ever been looking at that rock from the water during breeding season??  

Yeah Fred, there seems to be a lot more people willing to spend big dollars on all the gear now to go after the birds.  Lots more disposable income on the go and lots of amazing technology to be bought with it.  I just hope that we can manage to keep a few birds around for the next generation.

Comment by Fred Woodman on December 29, 2011 at 9:05am

I wonder what the stats are for numbers of birds killed are? Something tells me theres a history of approx 500,000 turres killed annually. That was before the bag limits were introduced.

Would be interesting to know what it is now. You I doubt theres as many birds being killed now in that zone as it was say back in late 80s.

Between the cod gill nets and the unregulated killing there were a LOT of birds taken. I cant remember the year but one winter there were boats that killed over 1000 ( way over) a week.My biggest day ever was in Placentia Bay in the early 90s. ( Im ashamed to say just how many but we filled a 17 ft boat)

And in the hey days of cod, thousands ( maybe 10s of thousands) were picked from nets weekly.I am not convinced there are any more being taken now, just the same amount being distributed over more boats.

I wonder where the birds in Placentia and St Marys Bay come from.Are they the first southern birds moving back  north or are they northern birds that didnt stop until they reached Placentia Bay.

as for history, I have been hunting them for over 35 years, mostly here in Trinity Bay, but I have hunted in Placentia and St Marys Bays for over 25 yrs.

The number of good years Trinity Bay has had in my lifetime is few. Of course there has been some good days, but good years have been few.At least up here where I live.

The best years in Trinity Bay were back in the days when the season didnt close until March ( the end I think) in fact  in 1981 on March 14 ( the Day Hinckley shot Ronald Reagan) we took 230 and didnt launch the boat til 4 pm. We ran out of shells.!! Or we would have loaded the boat.

But Tony your right with the technology now, and the mobility people have Placentia Bay and St Marys Bay this season will see a lot more boats, even more than it saw last year.

With more people making better money and people have time. There are more capable boats and trailers around than ever. And people are more mobile than ever.Now with cell phones and GPS its way too easy

Comment by Tony McGrath on December 28, 2011 at 11:58pm

Certainly time to look at reducing the limit!!  Cut it in half for sure.  Too much hunting pressure in that bay. Technology in machinery, electronics, and firearms is making it too easy for people to find the birds, kill them, and then manage to find their way safely back to the dock.  The birds don't have much of a chance.

Comment by Fred Woodman on December 28, 2011 at 9:35pm

I guess it will soon be time to talk about reducing the limits from 20 birds person.

Or possibly reducing the season

Comment by Tony McGrath on December 28, 2011 at 6:20pm

Can't expect to kill the same birds year after year.  Poor buggers only lay one egg and gotta be 3 years old to to it.  Placentia Bay is gonna be wiped clean soon enough too.  Wait and see!!!  

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