I don’t know how we got from Covid to hoop nets, but commercial fishing is something I know a little about. Back in the early 80’s I worked with a commercial fisherman and some of my own nets. Back then we were selling fish for 50 cents a pound, a 200 hp outboard was probably $4000 and gas was not much more than a dollar a gallon.
Today they are still paying 50 cents a pound, a 200 hp outboard motor is probably around $15,000, and gas is over $3.00 a gallon, not to mention the increased cost of nets and everything else. It takes a lot of nets and hard work to consistently catch 1000 pounds of fish a day. If you do that 300 days a year that is only $150,000 before a lot of expenses. There is just not money left in fishing hoop nets, at least around here. The catfish farms killed the industry. Farm fish are the same size and there is a consistent supply.
