Ok well I guess I’ll throw my opinion into the mix here….
1. In terms of the yearly quota I am 100% on board, seriously who needs more than that a year?
2. Season length - It seems like the super long season will only service a few people who live close to where the halibut live. I hate to point fingers but this is the WCVI and Victoria guys/girls. I would much rather see a May to Sept opening as this is the time of the year when most Canadians will access the fishery. (pretty sure I’ll catch some heat for that one).
3. Slot limit and size restrictions – If a slot limit was to be employed then I truly believe that an UPPER slot limit is appropriate. However I do not believe that this 60# limit is good enough. I would like to see it be somewhere in the 100# area. I do not want to see a lower slot limit. The one major problem with the slot limit is releasing large halibut ie greater than 50# can be a little bit challenging. First off being able to determine a halibuts overall length in rough ocean conditions is hard. On a big fish you are going to be plus or minus 3” with an over the side of the boat measurement. So you kill this fish that looks under the slot in the water and then when you get it aboard you get a real accurate measurement and **** you are 1” over……what to do now? Deep six it?
I used to guide at the Outpost which is part of the West Coast Fishing Club, located on the west side of the Gwaii just 8 miles north of Hippa Island. I am pretty sure this is the BEST location on the BC coast to catch huge halibut……LOTS of them,, like multiple fish over 100# on a tide. In 2010 we implemented a 100#+ release rule. There was no budging on this from a management side, if it looked over 100 it was going back………no discussion. During the 2010 and 2011 there were probably a 200 halibut over 100# shaken by 6 guides. It was the right thing to do but man it is hard and can be dangerous if you don’t want to leave the hook in them. Over those two seasons I got really good at eyeballing fish size and letting them go but this was seeing lots of fish and fishing every day. So where am I going with all this? The average joe is going to have a hard time determining if a fish is going to be within the slot limit for the 60#+ limit. Fish of that size cannot be handled like a ping pong paddle 15#.
4. Final thoughts – I think we would get the most bang for our buck with a shorter season and 1/day 2 possession with a total of 6 for the season. I think trying to get people to grade halibut on the ocean is a bad call especially with the larger animals. I for one will continue to shake fish over 100# weather it is law or not.