IHPC 2013 Halibut Biomass reductions

[Jencourt]

I know this is unlikely as the Gov't seems to be against halibut stamp for some reason, but anyone think that the gov't buys a certain % from the Commies (Don't start on how we shouldn't have to, we WILL have to if we want more %) this year then implement halibut stamp, then the money from the halibut stamp over how many years is necessary goes back to paying back the government...with interest if necessary!?!

I disagree with this idea fully. No it is not because I do not think we should have to. To me, It has nothing to do with what we should or should not have to do. It has everything to do with not allowing our immediate needs to trump what is most important in all this.First remove ownership from the equation then improve the allocation ratio.

If some of you are so damn willing to buy into it to solve your Halibut needs then I suggest you ask them now how much they will be charging you for salmon, Ling, rock fish, prawns, crab, and so on and so on. I am looking far past just Halibut in all of this.

 

[Derby]

lets not forget this is a first draft with two new leading biologists being brought in. I did listen to the webinar and there are many questions that are not being answered. The biggest question being why is area 2 (A,b,c) all showing increases in survey cpu( +30%) and commercial cpu (+8%).

Although I understand the science I still completely disagree on the apportionment model that splits up the pie between areas. I think it is completely flawed and our representitives are going to have a tough go beating it up.

Another note that nobody is mentioning is the estimated 10 million lbs of bycatch coming out of Alaska from the cod and trawl fishery. On the webinar they explained that every pound of bycatch taken up there works out to 1 lb of exploitable biomass and 5X for the spawning biomass. Those areas that are killing all that fish need to be responsible. It is not Canda's fault if they choose to kill all their allocated catch by trawl. (interesting read http://tholepin.blogspot.ca/2012/11/halibut-quota-slashed-draggers-kill.html )

To sum it up the yanks are killing 10 million lbs exploitable biomass and 50 million lbs of spawning biomass every year. Now they are asking BC to help repopulate these northern regions(if possible) by taking a cut of 34% based on the apportionment where bc only gets 13.4% of the bottom area. Absolutely fricken nuts. To top it off the Alaskan fleets are pushing back hard on any type of increased monitoring of their fisheries... absolutely disgraceful.

I agree 100 percent......

 

[Last Chance]

I for once agree with fish4all. I love it that Alaska has more by catch then our entire TAC

 

[searun]

I for once agree with fish4all. I love it that Alaska has more by catch then our entire TAC

Ditto on that, very good observation and I'm hopeful a point our Canadian reps will press as aggressively as possible...perhaps we need to find some way to be able to prove scientifically that our efforts to control the fishery are leading to increased biomass and the official reason of "migration pattern change" is perhaps flawed??

 

[Sculpin]

I disagree with this idea fully. No it is not because I do not think we should have to. To me, It has nothing to do with what we should or should not have to do. It has everything to do with not allowing our immediate needs to trump what is most important in all this.First remove ownership from the equation then improve the allocation ratio.

If some of you are so damn willing to buy into it to solve your Halibut needs then I suggest you ask them now how much they will be charging you for salmon, Ling, rock fish, prawns, crab, and so on and so on. I am looking far past just Halibut in all of this.

I agree with you Jencourt. It is a slippery slope and those other species you pointed out are next on the list. If we start to go down that route where does it end?

 

[rapid]

Halibut can be a slow turning boat to manage, salmon management comes down to three things, harvest, habitat and hatcheries. With hali's the later two don't exist in a management perspective so the focus is souly on harvest. More time and $ needs to be spent on accurate harvest information, the commercial need to cover the cost of their own assessment (through % TAC or license fee) or no fishing -this includes bycatch. Recreational paid for by the federal gov, the $ and skilled people shoud be there to carry this out? If I work all year paying taxes then for two or three trips a year want to drag my boat to the west side for hali's why should I have to worry about current catch rates in our sector (does the mechanism even exist to accurately calculate this in season?), will we be shut down the day I'm planning my trip with friends from out of town that take me moose hunting in the fall? I'll answer creel survey questions and allow access to my catch for bio-samples 100% yes. Will I pay another sector for additional TAC so I can fish NO! This should all be figured out pre / post season it's not calculated on scrap paper or an empty cigarette pack? That is why the minister in 2003 signed off on "no knee jerk inseason changes" to halibut for recreational boats then release the massive commercial fleets a couple months later. Monday morning rant!

 

[profisher]

The Alaska by catch is disgusting there should be a huge campaign to expose the waste to the public, forcing a quick change. The few video clips already available would **** most people off if they had a chance to view it for themselves and hear what effect this is having on the health of the stocks.

 

[ziggy]

Your point is?
They loose as well.

Well the 154 that actually fish may lose ,but maybe prices will be driven up enough to partially offset the loss. The 281 that don't fish will likely make more money flogging their quota to the 154, who will need their fish more than ever support their operations! Lets face it the vast amount of quota holders (non fishers) will receive a larger windfall because as non fishers it's all profit (no overhead) and the few fishers(overhead), will need their quota more than ever. Supply and demand would suggest they will sell their quotas for more than previously Not as simple as you'd suggeston the commercial side.

 

[reelfast]

our halibut season was 12 days last year opposite some very bad tides. yours was how long????? and you think that you will never have to pay the piper!

 

[Gunsmith]

Maybe we are all marching to the beat of Alaska's drum, so it won't matter who pays the piper.

 

[scott craven]

our halibut season was 12 days last year opposite some very bad tides. yours was how long????? and you think that you will never have to pay the piper!

don't worry, we'll be there soon by the look of it.

 

[GDW]

Alright I'll give up close during the summer but open march 1st and close when the tac is gone. In Victoria June 1st - July 31st it's hardly worth fishing for Hali because you'll catch 100 dogfish to 1 Hali. So that leaves basically August to fish for them without a huge headache. I get about 2 weekends per year in August to fish and those are salmon trips. I'm not giving up months and months of opportunity for tourists and part time guides. The tourists can come here whenever they want they are not limited to summer.

If they delay the opening I'll be looking at my options including C&R.

That argument aside if Canada's portion is up 30% just maybe that's because our regulations ARE WORKING and we can keep it the same if not INCREASE the TAC without hurting our area. If you tell me the Hali I caught from march - September were heading to Alaska I call absolute ******** most had white (local) bellies only a couple were red (transient).

 

[scott craven]

"most had white (local) bellies only a couple were red (transient)."

I could be wrong, but I don't think looking at the belly will tell you any more than
whether they are on a rocky or sandy bottom.

 

[ziggy]

our halibut season was 12 days last year opposite some very bad tides. yours was how long????? and you think that you will never have to pay the piper!

I bet the Alaska by catch really must seem unfair to you?

 

[wolf]

Well sort of scott but when you fish rocky areas all the time the bellys will be all beat up you would think but there not so id say they are residents. another sign i go by is the 3 spots on tails which usually happens beginning/mid of april and all red head/tail/belly ive seen some with gashes in there sides im not a scientist but imo and me be a betting man id say those are new fish migrating in.
I have learned a few things about these dinos is 25 yrs of fishing them locally they are certain patterns I have learned along with a few on here.

 

[GLG]

Something I heard on the weekend that struck me was, and I will paraphrase here.

Think of what you need as opposed to what you want.
Think of the season we need vers the season we want.
Think of the bag limit we need vers the one we want.

Knee jerk reaction (what I want) on the internet is not helpful.
This is a complex problem with many important factors to consider.
This is not just local issue it's a national issue.
I have complete faith in the people that are going to decide what our season will look like.
Everyone here should also put their faith in them.
We here have put our (social media) recommendations forward and they are being considered.

I might add that it's not time to press the panic button as we don't know what the Canadian TAC will be.
Recreational fishermen (thru SFAC and SFAB) and commercial fishermen are working together for Canada.
It might be a safe bet that it will be smaller then last year but the amount (10-20-30%) is up in the air.
Going forward I would suggest that a message,form us, of a predictable starting and finishing date are what we need.
What those dates are will depend on the TAC and our bag limit.
Will everyone be happy with the result?
No way, but that might be a sign that it's the best course.
GLG

 

[Deewar25]

of course if the recreational sector actually had accurate counts, all this would be moot anyway - we are getting shut down WAY WAY sooner than we should based on DFO's pathetic overestimate of the hali boats out there fishing...come on now - 150 boats/day every day in the month of May for area 19?? Like we never have wind, or we never have too strong current to fish? I recon they have overestimated by 200% and since they then apply this to the 'average' take/weight from creel, how much sooner are they 'claiming' we hit quota than what we really are??

Even on a 30% reduction, I bet you would find a full season on a 1/2 would apply with real numbers.

 

[vetteman]

Something I heard on the weekend that struck me was, and I will paraphrase here.

Think of what you need as opposed to what you want.
Think of the season we need vers the season we want.
Think of the bag limit we need vers the one we want.

Knee jerk reaction (what I want) on the internet is not helpful.
This is a complex problem with many important factors to consider.
This is not just local issue it's a national issue.
I have complete faith in the people that are going to decide what our season will look like.
Everyone here should also put their faith in them.
We here have put our (social media) recommendations forward and they are being considered.

I might add that it's not time to press the panic button as we don't know what the Canadian TAC will be.
Recreational fishermen (thru SFAC and SFAB) and commercial fishermen are working together for Canada.
It might be a safe bet that it will be smaller then last year but the amount (10-20-30%) is up in the air.
Going forward I would suggest that a message,form us, of a predictable starting and finishing date are what we need.
What those dates are will depend on the TAC and our bag limit.
Will everyone be happy with the result?
No way, but that might be a sign that it's the best course.
GLG

Sounds like you were at the same meeting that I was at this past weekend.
Dave

 

[the fog ducker]

%30 less ?

cant speak for others ,but , was this last season not really productive ? had a great season , both on the hook ,
draggin in the mud , best in 5 or so years ?? bigger as well.. we were finished in short order on most days ,,
as i stated on a earlier post , i seen less halibut at the Poett Nook tables this season , mostly due to the inshore fishing so hot right through July on the inside ,
less pressure on the outside perhaps because of this.. the guys that did venture out , DID WELL !!

just an observation

sorry GLG , i think all sportsfishers should have a right ta know of what our options are ,its a public resource, yes its complex , set-up a website ta explain it all, may be an option ,75 attendees at meetings , vrs over 300k fisherman , that geographically can not attend , is NOT fair...???
no im not ok with trusting others decisions , it keeps getting worse every year , time for change !!
alot of guys here were quite pissed off about how last year played out , all we heard was that , there was not enuff time ta for other options ,
if this happens again , i truly believe there will be more fighting amongst sports fishers , which is NOT good,

anyways

gd lk ,i know ya guys mean well , BUT !!
pretty hard ta talk about this anymore ,frustrating..
like beating a dead horse..

m2b

fd

 

[lorneparker1]

Super easy to set up a Facebook page. and there are lots of people within the SFAC capable of doing so.

Lorne