IPHC Hali recommendations

[fishyboy99]

This was released yesterday - These are the IPHC staff recommendations. They have not been accepted by DFO or other interests.

http://www.iphc.washington.edu:80/halcom/newsrel/2007/nr20071205.htm

 

[Time]

Biomass, my butt.

Too bad they can't say halibut when they are talking about halibut.

That said, they reccomend the BC catch be reduced from 11.47 million pounds from 2007 to 8.06 million pounds. Fisheries and Oceans to determine the split between commercial and sports fishery.
Good luck.

 

[OldBlackDog]

The word is recommend, wait for a while.
The split was done by the Federal Government and was a political decision.
If this goes bad then it will require pressing your member to get this changed.
Trust me there are a number of concerned people working on this and we will have to wait to see where this goes.

 

[Barbender]

The ground prices for halibut have been going up and up every year. I know some armchair fishermen (commercial) who are millionaires without ever leaving their home. As a result the IPHC has been trying to protect the resource for their own use. For a few years now they have been trying to limit the sport catch as well as the Cdn quota. This is what happens when a resource value gets too high. Suddenly the public's access to it gets restricted.

 

[OldBlackDog]

quote:Originally posted by Concerned Angler

quote:If this goes bad then it will require pressing your member to get this changed

Damned if I can see how THAT would help!!!! And everyones knows that will make you go blind if you do it too much!!! [:0]

That is because you are old and forgot how to do this.

 

[Striper Sniper]

Hey CA, I think your screwed, no pun intended..... SS

 

[skookumfrog]

It is time for sportsfishermen to make some pre-emptive moves to ensure the health of the halibut biomass. My suggestions include an annual limit of 15 halibut per individual. This is more than enough to feed you family and friends. I also believe all large halibut
(70 lb. or larger) should be released. These are the prime breeding females of the stock. A simple length measurement will give you an accurate weight. These 2 moves would go a long way towards showing that the recreational fishing fleet cares about the future of halibut.

 

[OldBlackDog]

quote:Originally posted by skookumfrog

It is time for sportsfishermen to make some pre-emptive moves to ensure the health of the halibut biomass. My suggestions include an annual limit of 15 halibut per individual. This is more than enough to feed you family and friends. I also believe all large halibut
(70 lb. or larger) should be released. These are the prime breeding females of the stock. A simple length measurement will give you an accurate weight. These 2 moves would go a long way towards showing that the recreational fishing fleet cares about the future of halibut.

Think the commercial guys will release them??
There is not a concern about halibut, that is why the quota's are set.
Remember, the commercial take 88%.

 

[fishyboy99]

Just thinking about the 88/12 split between commercial and sport. Last years 12% cap was 1,376,400 lbs of halibut and IPHC staff recommendations for 2008 is 967,200 lbs, for a percentage change of 29.7%. DFO's current preditions are that next years catch could be as much a 500,000 lbs above 2007's cap of 1,376,400 lbs for a total of 1,876,400 lbs. If DFO sticks to the 88/12 split and accepts IPHC recommendations for Halibut distribution for all areas (Washington to Bering Sea) the BC recreational sector will have to decrease there current catch limits by 48.45% to match the 2008 numbers.

The two major problems I have with this is:

The 88/12 split that the DFO has allocated between the commercial and recreational fisheries is not reflecting current issues and changes to the total harvest. As the value of halibut increases in the commercial sector, the recreational sector will be pressured to decrease there catch.

Why does Canada have a 29.7% decrease in their halibut quota when the USA has a decrease of only 4.7%, especially if halibut are a migratory species? The US allready had 82.2% of the catch in 2007. They want to increase their percentage to 86.4% for 2008. Since the majority of the US catch is commercial based, Barbender is right on the money when he says that the IPHC is trying to protect their own interests.

Anyway, just my two cents on this bright sunny Saturday morning[8D]