Last year, you likely paid over $20 per pound for crappie fillets you bought online.
You probably bought something cheaper, such as lake trout, $10.90; catfish, $11; or even walleye, $16.30, if a supplier didn’t have crappies in stock.
Almost all wild-caught crappie meat sold in the U.S. comes from recreational anglers in Vermont. This is because Vermont is one of only two states that allow anglers to sell panfish they catch.
New York also allows anglers to sell crappies, but only if they caught the fish in another state that allows them to be sold, and Vermont is one of those states. Moreover, the 13th largest lake in the United States (490 square miles) is the nation’s chief source of “commercially-caught” crappies, because it has the state’s largest crappie fishery.
Anglers in Vermont and New York can also sell yellow perch, bluegills, and pumpkinseeds from their fishing trips. Although largemouth and smallmouth bass belong to the sunfish family, both states have put regulations in place that forbid their harvest for commercial objectives. In Vermont, these bass are considered ‘black bass’ alongside other species like salmon, trout, lake trout, walleye, muskellunge, and northern pike which also cannot be sold.
In the same vein, Vermont permits the sale and purchase of white perch, an Eastern fish with a similar size and appearance to white bass. The “weigh and pay” category includes unregulated species such as rainbow smelt, rock bass, brown bullheads, channel catfish, common carp, and sheepshead (freshwater drum). Recreational anglers aren’t as likely to buy those “other” species as white perch.
Commercial fishing in the mainstream
However, you can still find wild-caught panfish or gamefish for sale or on restaurant menus around the Great Lakes and Canada. Regional markets sell walleyes, lake trout, and yellow perch netted by tribal or commercial operations.
Fish farms, or aquaculture operations, have been raising and selling bluegills, trout, and salmon since early March. Furthermore, Florida has allowed its fish farmers to raise and sell certified “pure” largemouth bass. Although this is the case, caveats and restrictions are still in place. For example, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources states that no freshwater gamefish may be sold except by a SCDNR permitted aquaculturist, a SCDNR wholesale aquaculture licensee, a SCDNR aquaculture gamefish retail licensee, or a private pond owner selling no more than $2,500 worth of product each year.
Commercial crappies, however, can be difficult to raise. The expense and frustration associated with raising crappies in captivity usually exceeds their commercial value. Crappies, whether they are white or black, reproduce inconsistently and can consume all the available food when their numbers explode.
In most states, carp, catfish, sheepshead, and other rough fish are allowed to be caught and sold by licensed netters, herders, and setline operators. Retailers, business owners, health department permits, and inspection certificates are often required for facilities selling fish for human consumption.
Generally, however, recreational anglers are prohibited from selling fish they catch. As an example, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife emphasizes the issue emphatically: “These laws are very clear on the books, and there are no wiggle rooms here to allow the sale of sport-caught fish.”
Capitalism for crappies
Consequently, Vermont finds itself the country’s chief crappie vendor. To sell panfish in Vermont, anglers must simply possess a sportfishing license and abide by its hook-and-line regulations. The bag limit for crappies in Vermont is 25 fish daily and the minimum size is 8 inches. There are no bag or size limits on bluegills, sunfish, or yellow perch on Lake Champlain, but there are daily limits for 50 yellow perch in inland waters.
For their part, Vermont’s fish buyers must hold a commercial permit and possess-limit exemption. They must also submit annual reports to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department detailing the poundage and minimum length of panfish they purchase.
State laws that allow panfish sales are at least 50 years old, according to Shawn Good, a fisheries biologist with the Vermont FWD. The statutes are “archaic and outdated,” he says, but they can’t be changed or eliminated since any change requires legislation. The governing board of the Vermont FWD, on the other hand, can easily adjust its rules in response to changing conditions.
Good said that the law does not specify commercial fishing operations. Any licensed angler can sell fish that are not listed as gamefish under the statutes, but our gamefish list is also out of date. Only the big, fancy, splashy fish like trout, salmon, walleyes, and bass are included, and all the rest are known as rough fish or cull fish.”
Recreational anglers who sell their catch are not required to obtain a commercial permit. Therefore, few if any anglers report their fish payments as taxable income.
“We don’t know who or how many hook-and-line anglers sell what they catch,” Good said. “If they were commercial fishermen, we’d know who’s doing what and for how much if they had permits.” Anglers bring their catch to a bait shop and sell what they don’t want to take home because most commercial buyers operate bait shops.”
In Vermont, fish buyers do not have to keep comprehensive records. “The buyers weigh and pay, but there is no accounting or auditing system,” Good said. “We know the buyers because they have to submit an annual report containing poundage by species and length. Even though we think we know the total weight of the fish, most of their reports are just estimates. They are probably minimums.”
Poundage and payouts
According to those reports, panfish payouts and poundage are substantial. According to annual reports from 1998 to 2015, Vermont fish buyers bought 7.11 million pounds of panfish, an average of 394,772 pounds annually. In total, anglers received $13.18 million over those 18 years, or an average of $732,471 per pound overall, including yellow perch, bluegill, pumpkinseed, white perch, and crappies.
As a species, yellow perch were the top seller at 3.74 million pounds of live weight; their value totaled $8.42 million. They averaged 207,891 pounds per year, and their annual payments averaged $467,554, or $2.25 per pound.
These same years, bluegills and pumpkinseeds generated 2.39 million pounds of live fish and $3.54 million in payouts. Their average annual yield was 132,778 pounds and $196,347 in payouts, or $1.48 per pound.
With an average of 37,292 pounds and $16,594 in payouts per year, or 44 cents per pound, white perch accounted for 671,259 pounds and $298,684 in payouts.
As for crappies, they averaged 16,810 pounds and $51,977 in payouts, or $3.09 per pound. Their annual average weight was 302,586 pounds, but they received $935,584 in payouts.
Those are not market prices for cleaned and packaged fish fillets. Angler-provided fish are shipped out of Vermont and resold four times before reaching retail.
In general, anglers sell their catch to bait shops, which then sell it to regional buyers like Ray’s Seafood Market in Essex Junction, Vermont. On Lake Erie’s northern shoreline, fish are trucked to processors and wholesalers in Wheatley or Port Dover in Ontario, Canada. In addition to markets in Boston, Chicago, New York City, and other large cities, wholesalers ship processed fish to online outlets such as WalleyeDirect.com in Minneapolis.
In mail-order descriptions of “wild-caught black crappie,” Good said, “you almost always find these fish coming from Vermont. No other state allows it.”
Problems with fish or people?
Back on the ice and water, biologists and some anglers are concerned with how money and the market will influence fisheries and angling. For example, crappies bring in smaller catches when compared with other panfish (yellow perch, white perch, bluegills, and pumpkinseeds), but can pay three to four times more per pound. Therefore, Good and other biologists fear that this may lead to increased vulnerability towards fishing pressure. Additionally, they believe that trading these panfish could result in unsportsmanlike conduct as well as an escalated rivalry between fishers.
Good expressed his discontent with the system, pointing out that it is about more than just crappies. He relayed numerous accounts from regular anglers who struggle to catch anything larger than five inches in a pond after commercial guys have been busy fishing. It is said that commercial anglers are easily recognizable on ice due to their extreme mobility and efficiency. They will jump from hole to hole in no time at all, leaving with as many perch and bluegills as they can manage. Lastly, Good highlighted problems arising during the spawning season when commercial fishermen edge out families trying to spend time together at backwater culverts; these money seekers feel entitled to priority, creating uncomfortable situations.
Fish biology plays very little role in most angling issues. According to Jason Batchelder, the chief conservation warden of the Vermont FWD, “hook-and-line anglers aren’t typically seen as being a detriment to fish populations. The sole species that raises some eyebrows is crappies due to them having some commercial value. When they spawn every spring, it can result in boater conflicts – ranging from posturing and intimidation to verbal outbursts – which are all too common occurrences.” John Gierach’s quote is apt; “there are only two types of anglers: those in your party and the assholes.” It’s difficult to tell what behavior would be like if they weren’t able to sell their catch, however.
Despite the varying motives of anglers, Ray’s Seafood Market owner Paul Dunkling said friction among anglers persists. Dunkling said his family has sold and hauled fish and other seafood since 1949, and he defends those who sell panfish.
“Many of our providers are retired fishermen who just want to pay for their gas,” Dunkling explained. Some of them are regular providers, but we do business with a lot of people we rarely see. Many of them would fish anyway. People who cause problems don’t have ethics. If a guy drills a hole too close to you and says it’s a free world, he creates tension. You see the same thing in the woods when someone gets too close.”
Good is aware most anglers honour bag limits and other regulations, and buyers tend to refrain from working with obvious rule-breakers. However, the agency simply isn’t able to be everywhere. “We know some people are catching their 25-fish limit, selling them, and repeating the process elsewhere,” he said. “They’re smart, have good contacts and stay up to date with our wardens. Managing such violators is difficult.”
While the agency conducts undercover operations to deter illegal activities, it also waves the flag to persuade potential violators to remain legal, according to Batchelder. “We do pass-throughs so they know we’re around, and sometimes we place people in strategic positions,” he said. “When there’s even a hint of a warden, anglers’ behavior changes.”
It’s a tough sell
Good said the Vermont FWD has long opposed the panfish trade, and even tried to convince lawmakers to stop it as recently as 2018. Despite this, the public is divided and less supportive of change. Less than half of anglers in Vermont consider angler-caught fish sales to be a major, moderate, or minor problem, according to a 2010 statewide survey. The problem is considered serious by less than 10% of anglers.
“Politicians listen to their constituents,” Batchelder said. “We want it to end, but they say there is no biological problem, so they let it go.”
Vermont’s statewide 2020 angler survey found even less concern among resident anglers. Less than 25% said sales were a minor to serious problem, and less than 8.5% considered it serious.
Batchelder commented on the traditional nature of Vermont culture, which might be a factor in people backing the sale of fish. He mentioned how the state’s regulations are less stringent than other areas, and as an example, he mentioned that there is an annual northern pike shooting season. Furthermore, individuals may hunt and fish on private land unless it has been posted against trespassers. Additionally, anglers have been authorized to use fifteen tip-ups on Lake Champlain and up to eight on inland lakes. Unless evidence can be provided showing potential biological harm from those allowances, they will remain secure.
In Vermont, attention has traditionally been fixated on trout, salmon, walleyes, and largemouth bass. Consequently, panfish have not been given the same focus that they have in places like Minnesota and Wisconsin. Nevertheless, Good reported that more and more anglers are now fishing for bluegills and sunfish. Unfortunately, there is still an overall lack of knowledge regarding their populations – whether they are thriving or if their numbers have been compromised by commercial fishing activities.
In conclusion
In the meantime, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department is expanding its management programs to better assess panfish populations and evaluate the effects of current regulations. “Right now you can keep 1,000 bluegills a day if you wanted,” Good said. “That’s important, and it needs to change.”
Sources: Themeateater
