Quote:
Originally Posted by hammer4reel
Commercial guys are already seeing the actual cutback already .
Which was more severe than initially slated .
Since cutbacks are the same across the recreational/commercial harvest .
It’s not looking good .
How many times do they get away with reducing bag limits due to their own bag limit choices ?
At the rate we are going right now , we are headed towards the same path as NC , a closed fishery that ended up opening for just 2 weeks last fall .
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Is the reduction in commercial quota you're referring to December 2023 or the first week in January 2024. Reason I ask is if the period quota has been attained for November - December 2023, daily cuts will be implemented and it's just their quota for the period being filled. If you're talking about 2024, whole different ball game. January - March historically makes up almost 50% of commercial landings. If your comment pertains to reductions put in place recently for the new period January - February 2024, which January alone historically makes up 20% of commercial's annual quota, that would be devastating news for the fishery and a dire indication of what the recreational regulations will be this year.
If the Pandemic didn't give the fishery a short term reprieve in 2020 and 2021 when foreign and domestic markets were shut down, what we're about to experience would have happened two years ago. You can't continue killing the breeding population of any stock, exploit the fishery during the spawn and expect any fishery to not fail. The consequences of those actions will end with one result and we're about to see it happen again. Think about the impact on businesses and recreational activities if this fishery, like winter flounder did, disappears. It's happening and for the exact same reasons.
For any commercial guys reading my post, for what it's worth, I feel your pain. Running 60 to 70 miles offshore during winter months to catch 30% to 40% of what you were able to harvest last year is a punch in the mouth. But at the same time, something needs to change because the path the management of this fishery has been on for decades isn't working. You'd have to be blind not to see that and if commercial and recreational don't work together to convince the management bodies to change their philosophies everyone, and I mean everyone, will lose.
