DFO 2020 Halibut Fishery Announcement & Regs

[wildmanyeah]

Is there a max size that would be considered to small where you would have to consider changing the full season guidelines.

 

[Derby]

What are you calling a full season?

 

[wildmanyeah]

What are you calling a full season?

the SFAB defines it as maximizing would that not mean the longest season length possible?

1. Conservation of the stock and ensuring responsible fishing practices.
2. Halibut are managed on a coast wide basis.
3. Maximizing the length of the season each year.
4. Ensuring certainty and stability for the fishery by creating a management regime that minimizes the likelihood of short notice in season closures.
5. A minimum daily limit of one
6. An annual limit of some kind is an acceptable way to limit catch.

 

[Derby]

As set by IPHC the earliest opening is Feb 1st.. with the timing of the IPHC meeting & Depending on the allocation and what we require for a season regulation & condition of licence we are hard pressed to get it open for that date.. But i thought you knew that?

 

[wildmanyeah]

Okay maybe you miss understood my question then.
Is there a maximium size of halibiut that would be considered to small given that the SFAB guidance is to maximize season length.

in other words is there a point where season length would be shortened to achieve a larger maximum size.

also are you saying that past season where there was a later start was mostly do to meetings being scheduled later?

 

[ziggy]

Does the fact Recreational Licenses run April to April ( fiscal year) while IPHC runs January to January(calendar year) not cause issues? For instance are we fishing this years quota now as opposed to last years? Clearly we could be fishing last years quota still as there’s lots left and start fishing this years under the new regs come April? Just throwing it out there not trying to offend anyone.

 

[SpringVelocity]

Doesn't work that way. When you start it at opening it this year's quota as far as my understanding.

 

[ziggy]

Doesn't work that way. When you start it at opening it this year's quota as far as my understanding.

Yeah, I got that it currently has two annual methods in play which makes little sense at first glance, but perhaps there is some logic I’m unaware of. My question is why we don’t run the annual quota based on a fiscal year or run licensing on a calendar year. The three month gap ( quarter) has to complicate things. For example this year could have opened with last years regs and last years quota as soon as the spawning closure ended.

 

[J-GLOBAL]

maybe Licenses follow the governments fiscal year - April 1 - March 31?

 

[ziggy]

maybe Licenses follow the governments fiscal year - April 1 - March 31?

I’m sure they do, but is it critical to the government? After all you can buy a license anytime throughout the year.

 

[searun]

maybe Licenses follow the governments fiscal year - April 1 - March 31?

That's exactly what they do. New license year starts in Q-1 of the government fiscal year - total alignment. Doesn't however align to the IPHC which is an international agreement. IPHC is set up to mostly address the commercial season which starts in March. There was a discussion this year at the Annual Meeting to move towards a Calendar Year and year round fishery. That didn't gain traction, yet. Not off the table, just didn't advance. While some of this stuff doesn't make sense to those of us recreational anglers, there is usually a reason why things are the way they are. Shockingly, little Canada isn't going to change the world.

 

[ziggy]

That's exactly what they do. New license year starts in Q-1 of the government fiscal year - total alignment. Doesn't however align to the IPHC which is an international agreement. IPHC is set up to mostly address the commercial season which starts in March. There was a discussion this year at the Annual Meeting to move towards a Calendar Year and year round fishery. That didn't gain traction, yet. Not off the table, just didn't advance. While some of this stuff doesn't make sense to those of us recreational anglers, there is usually a reason why things are the way they are. Shockingly, little Canada isn't going to change the world.

Hopefully little Canada doesn’t go into multinational negotiations thinking this. Then again, seeing some of our recent results, not necessarily the fishery , maybe we do. That being said we could change the recreational license by the stroke of an Ottawa pen. Like I said you can buy a annual license anytime of the year, so it’s not like it needs to run April to April, it’s just maybe “because that’s the way we always did it”. Anyway just a thought.

 

[searun]

the SFAB defines it as maximizing would that not mean the longest season length possible?

1. Conservation of the stock and ensuring responsible fishing practices.
2. Halibut are managed on a coast wide basis.
3. Maximizing the length of the season each year.
4. Ensuring certainty and stability for the fishery by creating a management regime that minimizes the likelihood of short notice in season closures.
5. A minimum daily limit of one
6. An annual limit of some kind is an acceptable way to limit catch.

Those are the guiding principles that the SFAB constituents voted in to set the parameters the SFAB considers when shaping advice regarding halibut regulations to DFO. They were recently amended to afford greater flexibility - you could insert "longest season possible" to further define maximizing season length - reason being the TAC continues to decrease in most recent years and depending on what happens with the apportionment argument it could decrease dramatically when this current agreement runs out. There may come a time where the season will have to be shortened (delayed start, earlier end or both). Not a bridge we have to cross today, but something potentially over the horizon.

As the SFAB represents all anglers coast-wide, there are a diverse set of values advanced by participants, localized fishery opportunities or needs, and the requirement for all those to be fairly considered.

Perhaps by sitting in on the meetings, you may have picked up on the diverse view points and values providing input, and recognized that reaching a decision on what to recommend considered a lot of data and weighing of various view points. There is no black and white, right or wrong answer. Its a balancing of a variety of elements.

The SFAB and IPHC are public meetings - for those who are interested you can request to attend as observers. The SFAB does have local SFAC groups, where people can engage within their own community and discuss fishery issues important to your fishery or even advance input to broader coast-wide issues.

At the end of the day, we have a good season to look forward to - an earlier start than last year with 2 fish under 90cm per day and in possession or a choice of 1 under 126cm; 1 possession. The new regulations for April 1 onward are still under development. There continues to be more work ongoing to resolve regulatory options, necessitating a special meeting of the IPHC. To say the least, there are a lot of people within both DFO and SFAB taking an active interest in achieving a good season in an environment where there is extreme uncertainty and potential volatility in both catch and effort due to Covid-19.

Hope this helps you understand the guiding principles, and how those were developed within a democratic process.

 

[searun]

Hopefully little Canada doesn’t go into multinational negotiations thinking this. Then again, seeing some of our recent results, not necessarily the fishery , maybe we do. That being said we could change the recreational license by the stroke of an Ottawa pen. Like I said you can buy a annual license anytime of the year, so it’s not like it needs to run April to April, it’s just maybe “because that’s the way we always did it”. Anyway just a thought.

You can take that one up with government, I don't have the time or energy to wrestle the Ottawa types over that change. When you get more closely engaged in trying to change regulations you will soon learn that the wheels of government turn far differently than you might imagine. Giver.

And, you are taking my comment out of context....little ol Canada mounts an incredible professional business case to advance our national interests at the IPHC - however, what I'm saying is simply get real if we think that when Canada speaks we rule the day when undertaking these international agreements and negotiations.

 

[ziggy]

You can take that one up with government, I don't have the time or energy to wrestle the Ottawa types over that change. When you get more closely engaged in trying to change regulations you will soon learn that the wheels of government turn far differently than you might imagine. Giver.

And, you are taking my comment out of context....little ol Canada mounts an incredible professional business case to advance our national interests at the IPHC - however, what I'm saying is simply get real if we think that when Canada speaks we rule the day when undertaking these international agreements and negotiations.

Thanks Searun I’m not asking you to do anything for me in relation to dealing with the Government. I appreciate this isn’t solely your problem and appreciate those things you have already taken on. I simply posed a question regarding whether or not the two annual schedules could or should be aligned and if it would streamline things. I’m quite capable of taking it up with DFO and have no problem doing so .As an aside I’m quite experienced with how the government works, so I doubt much of their inner workings will surprise me.
Not sure where you got the idea that I was suggesting “we rule the day”. I would hope however we enter negotiations as somewhat of an equal? At any rate we can change our National licensing system without US permission. Maybe we need to adjust our licensing to IPHC timings.

 

[2Confused]

A

Yes, and a few other tweaks being investigated by DFO and the SFAB that should make folks happier. As earlier stated, there are some further discussions taking place to sort out what options we may or may not have regarding using Variation Orders to adjust daily and possession limits...nothing secret about that. Bit pre-mature to get everyone's hopes up until its nailed down one way or the other.

The new regulations take effect April 1, plenty of time. Meanwhile....we opened earlier this year (Feb 15) and doubled the daily limit from 1 to 2. Let's go out there and enjoy the opportunity. Personally, I'm looking forward to hearing a few February halibut fishing adventure stories. All the effort to open earlier won't be worth it unless people get on the water and enjoy. I seem to recall many posters advocating the importance of an earlier opening....not hearing much support and excitement about that now, what's up? Did we make a mistake opening earlier and bumping up the daily limit?

So it won’t be 1/1 133, or 2 under 90cms, and leaving an incredible amount in the water again?! Just trying to figure out what the march issues are but if it means not leaving a good chunk of our tac in the water again I like it

 

[searun]

Thanks Searun I’m not asking you to do anything for me in relation to dealing with the Government. I appreciate this isn’t solely your problem and appreciate those things you have already taken on. I simply posed a question regarding whether or not the two annual schedules could or should be aligned and if it would streamline things. I’m quite capable of taking it up with DFO and have no problem doing so .As an aside I’m quite experienced with how the government works, so I doubt much of their inner workings will surprise me.
Not sure where you got the idea that I was suggesting “we rule the day”. I would hope however we enter negotiations as somewhat of an equal? At any rate we can change our National licensing system without US permission. Maybe we need to adjust our licensing to IPHC timings.

Fair enough, and if you want to get involved and help change how Canada aligns our fishing license year or for that matter modernize the fishery regulations, please attend your local SFAC and ask if you can volunteer to sit on the Regulations Committee...the local Chair can put your name forward - we can always use good folks with lots of energy to dedicate towards efforts to modernize the regulatory tools we currently have to work with.

 

[ziggy]

Thanks that’s certainly one option. I didn’t even know there was a Regulations Committee.