Prawn Closures
- Thread starter Fish Assassin
- Start date
Sea Run, you are right on...unfortunately, however, this is a case where the representatives of the Recreational / public fishery, DFO, have not even begun to spend the money needed to deal with accurate catch reporting...but this is in some part understandable because the sheer numbers challenge most people and processes. It is disturbing for me to hear rumours that one segment of the harvesters may be utilizing sport licenses to report high catch numbers, while others are under reporting to try to compensate....what a shame the battle for access to the common property resource has to deal with this kind of thinking, but there we are.
The answer of course, is to have real face to face interviews at boat ramps, or even better punch cards with an annual limit that have to be turned in to get the next year's license....but DFO is not funded to do this, and the enforcement people will simply not accept annual limits, they refuse to go that route no matter much we request it.
What to do? Wait until we do get increased license fees guaranteed directed to recreational management which includes better catch monitoring and uses interviews, enforcement and perhaps punch cards to validate the internet survey, which if checked up on should be a valuable tool....yes we need catch information, and recreational community do support it from my experience.
The answer of course, is to have real face to face interviews at boat ramps, or even better punch cards with an annual limit that have to be turned in to get the next year's license....but DFO is not funded to do this, and the enforcement people will simply not accept annual limits, they refuse to go that route no matter much we request it.
What to do? Wait until we do get increased license fees guaranteed directed to recreational management which includes better catch monitoring and uses interviews, enforcement and perhaps punch cards to validate the internet survey, which if checked up on should be a valuable tool....yes we need catch information, and recreational community do support it from my experience.
Sculpin
Well-Known Member
Washington State has catch cards that have to be filled out. I like this idea. Time has come for change and we have to be proactive about it. I really don't want to be like our brothers down South that get (in some area's) 2 day's with 80 a day limit!!! That's quite a few hundred bucks investment for 160 prawns per year. Think about it before bitching and crapping on anyone trying to help our situation up here. Everyone on the Rec side prawn committee are volunteering their time. They are researching and going to meetings with bully commercial fishing representatives on their own time!!!. They are our voice. Support them if you can and please get involved before shooting your mouth off on a sports fishing forum. If you have never attended a SFAC meeting you should. This is where it all starts and you can progress from there into the different committee's etc.
The halibut issue was a big one and we all said prawns, crabs, etc. were next. Well here we have it in our face, right now. Prawns are NOW. What is going to be next?
What are YOU going to do about it, besides bitching, or sitting on your azz, replying on a fishing forum?
The halibut issue was a big one and we all said prawns, crabs, etc. were next. Well here we have it in our face, right now. Prawns are NOW. What is going to be next?
What are YOU going to do about it, besides bitching, or sitting on your azz, replying on a fishing forum?
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SpringVelocity
Crew Member
yep second that....get involved if you think you can do better...These SFAC committees need all help they can get.
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trophywife
Crew Member
I would never compare our rights to access. America is a different country.
Our government is failing us in "resources are the peoples first", column.
Dont get me wrong, we live a blessed life, we work hard for it, and it is supposed to be all ours as canadians.
Why should that change?
i love prawns!! Lol
time to donate to sfac
Our government is failing us in "resources are the peoples first", column.
Dont get me wrong, we live a blessed life, we work hard for it, and it is supposed to be all ours as canadians.
Why should that change?
i love prawns!! Lol
time to donate to sfac
searun
Well-Known Member
That's the spirit! Join your local SFAC. There is a whole lot of opportunity to get good reliable information, become better informed, and then if you have the time, get involved. The SFAB process works, and the more people that get involved the better it will be. Uncle Sami needs YOU.
I also can't agree more strongly on your SFAB Prawn Committee. Those guys are busting their butts for us. Totally thankless job. Not to mention days of meetings, followed by days researching issues to better understand the science etc. This is a complicated fishery (similar to Halibut) and we grossly under appreciate our representatives. Not much fun going to meetings where you are up against paid lobbyists.
Please get involved in your local SFAC...and as was said, we can insert Halibut anywhere you see Prawn in any of these fishery discussions - its the same old stuff. Crab are next...and it won't stop there. Same issues and we need to support our rec reps who are sitting at the table.
One last quote...a wise person said recently at a meeting I attended..."If your not AT the table, Your ON the table."
I also can't agree more strongly on your SFAB Prawn Committee. Those guys are busting their butts for us. Totally thankless job. Not to mention days of meetings, followed by days researching issues to better understand the science etc. This is a complicated fishery (similar to Halibut) and we grossly under appreciate our representatives. Not much fun going to meetings where you are up against paid lobbyists.
Please get involved in your local SFAC...and as was said, we can insert Halibut anywhere you see Prawn in any of these fishery discussions - its the same old stuff. Crab are next...and it won't stop there. Same issues and we need to support our rec reps who are sitting at the table.
One last quote...a wise person said recently at a meeting I attended..."If your not AT the table, Your ON the table."
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
I also told Brad and have expressed especially from South island that we really want our public SFAB meetings back down here with DFO.. It is very constructive to have these meetings, and now so more than ever with threats to now our shellfish recreational fishery. Many of us would like to start going to our spring/fall sessions again and are very upset that was taken away... I have expressed this also with our area SFAB representative. Our regular public meetings have turned closed door and I don't thing that's great for everyone...
Our SVIAC get together at Xmas also had a very low turnout and I think its result from not having meeting anymore open to general public... Many I feel are just giving up, and growing resentful of the process with DFO... We need everyone talking here and at the table to get this fixed.
And yes what the SFAB prawn committee goes through I could only imagine...
Our SVIAC get together at Xmas also had a very low turnout and I think its result from not having meeting anymore open to general public... Many I feel are just giving up, and growing resentful of the process with DFO... We need everyone talking here and at the table to get this fixed.
And yes what the SFAB prawn committee goes through I could only imagine...
searun
Well-Known Member
Hey spring velocity, not to worry your request was advanced at South Coast meeting. Your Chair is doing a good job connecting within the process to help move issues along. I think the key going forward is to ensure all our meetings are well attended and progress in a respectful and engaged fashion. The most important asset within the SFAB process is having recreational anglers engaged in meaningful discussion of the issues.
Fisher Down
Active Member
ECVI PRAWN CLOSURES - ARE MORE COMING?
I was at the Multi-Sectoral Prawn meeting back on Dec 05/14 in Nanaimo at the Dorchester Hotel. I've been stewing over what (wasn't) said at the meeting - in just three days (Dec 08/14), DFO was going to announce the huge ECVI closures (2014/FN1278). These Nanaimo Area 17-12, 17-13, 17-15 & 17-16 closures are the only ones I can ever recall. Granted, closures are purportedly to protect declining stocks, but I've never had the great prawning success off Nanaimo like I've had in my half-dozen trips this winter.
I hadn't thought DFO was in the habit of hiding things from us. Evidently I was wrong. I'm now hearing grumblings of DFO with a hidden agenda. (The rumor) I've heard is that DFO is planning to allot more of our Rec prawning resource to the Commie sector, likely by having more closures like what we're dealing with right now.
Am I the only one hearing this (around Nanaimo), or are others up and down the coast hearing some of the same?
FD
I was at the Multi-Sectoral Prawn meeting back on Dec 05/14 in Nanaimo at the Dorchester Hotel. I've been stewing over what (wasn't) said at the meeting - in just three days (Dec 08/14), DFO was going to announce the huge ECVI closures (2014/FN1278). These Nanaimo Area 17-12, 17-13, 17-15 & 17-16 closures are the only ones I can ever recall. Granted, closures are purportedly to protect declining stocks, but I've never had the great prawning success off Nanaimo like I've had in my half-dozen trips this winter.
I hadn't thought DFO was in the habit of hiding things from us. Evidently I was wrong. I'm now hearing grumblings of DFO with a hidden agenda. (The rumor) I've heard is that DFO is planning to allot more of our Rec prawning resource to the Commie sector, likely by having more closures like what we're dealing with right now.
Am I the only one hearing this (around Nanaimo), or are others up and down the coast hearing some of the same?
FD
searun
Well-Known Member
Well sort of. You could interpret the winter closures as saving spawners so we can fish down the spawner index later in the season. I'm not expert on prawns, but my simple take on the issue is we had a massive increase in number of commercial prawn licenses resulting in predictably very high numbers of removals. This will not be sustainable over the long run, thus any recreational removals will eventually become in conflict with maintaining the status quo in terms of supporting this new level of commercial activity. The only way to avert collapse is to control the recreational fishery. However, if the price per pound of Prawns increases (as it did last year), the commercial fleet can survive on less prawns so containing commercial harvest last year wasn't as big a hit to the fleet as it could be in future if the price per unit drops.
Hot Rods
Member
The rumours you are hearing FD are probably based on the 2015/16 Prawn Integrated Fisheries Management Plan (IFMP) that DFO put out last week. It is a draft of how they plan to run the fishery this year. Commercial season starts May 12th. so at least we have 6 weeks of prawning after they reopen the rec closures on April 1st. The big shock in the IFMP however is in the high-use areas like Alberni, Saanich and Stuart Channel where they have reduced the commercial spawner index to 125 from 150 to allow the commercial fleet to extract more prawns from these areas. These are the very areas where the majority of the recreational prawning is done because of the close proximity to major populations and sheltered waters... and recently, a growing first nations FSC harvest. The rec sector has been fighting for years to get the commercial index increased in these areas to allow more prawns to flow through for the other user groups and increase the sustainability of the resource. I interpret this move by DFO as a blatant kick in the teeth to us. Been trying to find that graphic of the angler with the big screw in his back. It illustrates precisely how we are being treated.
LowTide
Member
I can't be sure that the DFO is making any decision based on science or historical data. I understand that last year they closed all of the DFO libraries and shredded 100 years of data. This was immediately followed by a proud announcement and press release that they intended to start collecting data. Clearly this has not been done as they now claim that they have no money to do so. If all of their new data is coming in the form of survey answers tied to licence purchases, as it seems to be, they might be better off consulting Kreskin.
