As we previously reported, Clam Gulch commercial fisherman Brent Johnson has been working on his selective harvest module as a way to improve commercial fishing.
Last week at the Board of Fish, Johnson proposed to make selective harvest modules a legal gear for set netters.
Johnson: “I don’t expect that the Board did that. I came back home yesterday. But I did talk to a number of people on the Board of Fish and the Fish and Game director as well, and I expect that they will give me a Commissioners Permit again this year.”
The Commissioner’s Permit allows Johnson to experiment with the new device. He says this summer he will continue to make improvements to the modules and try to ease the opposition he feels from his set netting neighbors.
Johnson: “They’re concerned that they will be forced into doing this and they may not be able to do it. They’re worried that it might work in my area and it might not work where the tides are stronger or further from shore but I’m going to test it and see if I can’t make it work in all those places.”