If you really want to get mad

[rwp2101]

Great! Donations made!

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by rwp2101

Great! Donations made!

Thank you RWP!!

Our regulations are a direct result of 2 main issues. Bad Science and methods used for landings and stock assessments and punitive non flexible laws applied to the science to seek to rebuild stocks. That's why I've always contended if we don't address them, we are all going to be in the same situation every year.... Figuring out which of the crappy options we want to accept based on the false quotas that have already been set.

One other wild card here, especially with Fluke is the methodologies being used to set the regulations required to meet our conservation equivalencies. In other words the amount of fish we can catch so we don't exceed our quotas and over fish. Basically when you over fish or the stocks are deemed in trouble, the knee jerk reaction is to raise the size limit so fewer fish are landed. Seems logical right??? Well not necessarily.

First of all the larger the fish the more discards are assumed because the assumption is you are throwing back more fish that die to get your keepers and that feeds into higher harvest assumptions. Also, our quotas are in pounds and larger fish weigh more so now you're multiplying the number of fish assumed landed against a higher weight per fish number.... No wonder they tell us we over fish year after year!!

Secondly based on the results of SSFFF size sex study, most of the 18 inch plus fish are females so now you force us to target the very breeder fish we need to sustain the fishery?? You can plainly see, based on their own stock assessment data that the fishery was on a very good trajectory when we were allowed to keep smaller fish....

We need to get off this Merry Go Round.... As you see, we have a vicious cycle going on here that certainly isn't working for the fisherman or, if you believe their numbers, the fish.