Tennessee agency refuses to regulate trotting, despite claims of danger – Tennessee Lookout

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The Tennessee Fish & Wildlife Commission on Thursday declined to take new action to regulate trotlines, an unmanned fishing method that some recreation groups say poses a danger to kayakers, canoeists and swimmers on the waterways of increasingly crowded Tennessee.

A coalition of groups led by the American Canoe Association lobbied the commission to impose more rules on trotting fishing. It is a style of fishing that involves stretching a line strewn with hooks across streams and rivers, primarily to trap catfish.

The lines can also trap unsuspecting people on the water, Ande Demetriou, owner of Blues City Kayaks in Memphis, told commissioners Wednesday, pushing for tougher regulations similar to those in states surrounding Tennessee.

There are enough natural hazards in rivers that we need to avoid that we don’t need to add things an outdoor enthusiast does that endanger other outdoor enthusiasts, said Demetriou.

David McKee, a certified kayak and river rescue instructor whose statement was read aloud at the meeting, noted that he spotted more than 40 unsupervised and untagged trotlines in a three-mile stretch of the Duck River in August.

These archaic forms of unsupervised fishing endanger human lives as well as the balance of life of fish that are not the intended target, he said.

Last month, after hearing impassioned pleas from several kayaking and river safety experts, including a water safety expert from the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, the commission enacted new rules requiring trotting lines to be visibly marked, checked by their owners at least once every 24 hours and limited. extend over three-quarters of the crossing of a watercourse.

They also commissioned the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency to conduct research into how neighboring states regulate trotlines and the number of injuries or deaths associated with their use.

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Fisheries Chief Mark Thurman told commissioners on Wednesday that searches found no evidence of injuries or deaths from trotting in other states.

It is the opinion of the agencies that our regulations are in good place, and we recommend that no changes be made, Thurman said.

Paddling groups disagree.

They continue to push for a series of new regulations, so that no trotline can be placed in a way that poses a danger to boating or public safety. They are looking for rules requiring trotlines to have colored markers floating at each end and at intervals of every 25 hooks, as required in North and South Carolina and Georgia.

They also recommended that lines run parallel to shorelines, instead of crossing them, and that trotlines be submerged at least 3 feet below the surface, as required by four neighboring states.

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