Halibut opening

[SpringVelocity]

All I'm saying is there is something very, very wrong with the catch reporting. I believe you when you say there is no way we caught 900 fish in Area 19 in the month of June, unfortunately DFO's numbers do not agree. Their numbers are what matters.

I keep hearing the word "accountability" and lets "fight for more TAC". Some of the answers rest in our hands....Log Books gents. If you completed Log Books, those catch numbers in June would be different. Until we get on that program, the numbers won't change. I'm not blaming the creel people either. I have seen how the errors happen so easily in a big marina. The surveyor can't be everywhere, so they hang out at the cleaning tables.

The only reason I used the Area 19 example is it was the most obvious one where we know there is a problem - it is obvious, but so too is the solution which is clearly in our control if we want to bother doing log books. So don't get pissed off, understand the point being made and do something about it.

Oh ya, I do come down and Fish Area 19...see you in a few weeks.

Yes it needs to get looked at because June - August there is minimal effort down here. It can only be done in short windows, and dogfish are insane. This is question is it possible with the looming reductions next year that one size fits all model on the coast won't work? I thought about this last night but I remembered being told it was too hard to do. Maybe it is something to explore moving forward? Again I don't know the process with the data.

 

[007]

Victoria weekend fisher here.
Thanks Kelly and Roy.

I fish area 19 for hali, about 3-4x a yr, on friends boats.
Last yr 0 for 2 of us, in 3 trips.
Year before 1 for 2 of us, in 4 trips.
Yeah, I have no problem admitting were not great at it lololol!

I go on two charters a yr to Renfrew (7yrs in a row), for the experience with buddies and yes it's nice to have meat in the freezer. Unfortunately we have cancelled our May trip due to these regs., can't justify the cost to a guide - sorry Blair- for this amount of fish. We will still go to Renfrew, but in a buddies boat and save the $2000-2400 guide fee.

I support SVIAC through membership and other ways (Vacuum bags anyone? - lol).

Casper, i can attest to your comment at the ramp!!!!! the survey guy dont have a chance to catch up with you - ***** if I'm not paying attention you might be gone before I even have time to jump out of the boat and into the truck....Though maybe we should stop and provide our data.

Would be more than happy to report my catch and trips online - rather than the 1 survey I get a yr!!!!! Last year got it for Oct!?!?! didn't even fish that month!!!!

Well just my comments on the thread, from a true weekend warrior; that loves getting out on the water. And thank you to all the volunteers Chris, Rollie, Deryk and the many others that I don't know.

 

[richmake]

Trust me when I tell you this
We all need to stand up and say enough is enough as recreational anglers
Halibut is just a small window of what’s to come
How about this proposal
Yes...it’s the same board and yes it’s happening

Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just guy putting it out there as I feel the general public should know

Most everyone on this board has no idea what’s going on behind closed doors and should start making a positive move as recreational fisherman to attain access to the resource .
Your kids won’t be catching and eating anything in the future if we don’t make a stand

It all seems fine but once you give up access to any species of fish that has been made known as a species at risk through skewed data and false and misleading information
We won’t get it back

The motion put forth by the board pending DFO approval and likely more discussions is an aggregate mgmt proposal:


•( 5 ) - Total rockfish / day (no more than 5 rockfish per person per day in aggregate)

•( 2 ) – Quill, China, Tiger (no more than 2 pieces from this aggregate.)

•( 0 ) – Yelloweye, Boccaccio (0 retention)

•Mandatory Descending device on board rigged and ready

•No further reductions in season length

•return of lingcod to 3 / day.

 

[Last Chance]

Trust me when I tell you this
We all need to stand up and say enough is enough as recreational anglers
Halibut is just a small window of what’s to come
How about this proposal
Yes...it’s the same board and yes it’s happening

Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just guy putting it out there as I feel the general public should know

Most everyone on this board has no idea what’s going on behind closed doors and should start making a positive move as recreational fisherman to attain access to the resource .
Your kids won’t be catching and eating anything in the future if we don’t make a stand

It all seems fine but once you give up access to any species of fish that has been made known as a species at risk through skewed data and false and misleading information
We won’t get it back

The motion put forth by the board pending DFO approval and likely more discussions is an aggregate mgmt proposal:


•( 5 ) - Total rockfish / day (no more than 5 rockfish per person per day in aggregate)

•( 2 ) – Quill, China, Tiger (no more than 2 pieces from this aggregate.)

•( 0 ) – Yelloweye, Boccaccio (0 retention)

•Mandatory Descending device on board rigged and ready

•No further reductions in season length

•return of lingcod to 3 / day.

I know up your way groundfish is a big draw. We have a limit of 1 rockfish down here, and 3 west of Sheringham. Of course, we also have no rockfish......

 

[wolf]

I did a log book but I personally stop fishing halibut in june for one reason getting 45 dog fish in a day isnt worth it and the currents suck in june unlike the other areas WE ARE CURRENT dependent.
I am out there alot and can tell sometime I look as far as I can see and only see a handful of boats fishing halibut and talk to my buddies who are else where. and they say the same thing.
on a side note why the number are so skewed in june one plain REASON and no one has said it yet they start doing the fly over ... they count say 50 boats fishing halibut at the 9 am flyover, so then they figure in "their minds" that another 50 boats come out in the afternoon then they get the voodoo math going and figure so many halibut per boat... hence why the jump....
on those fly over they count just about anything too to a guy in a tin boat to a sailboat, and you wonder why the system is flawed?????? hmmmmmmmm
got it all figured out yet???

Wolf

 

[casper5280]

Casper, i can attest to your comment at the ramp!!!!! the survey guy dont have a chance to catch up with you - ***** if I'm not paying attention you might be gone before I even have time to jump out of the boat and into the truck....Though maybe we should stop and provide our data.

If you weren’t so dam slow I wouldn’t drive off with out you. Lol. Yes you are right this year I will make a point of talking to the creel guy. As others have said it all helps.

 

[007]

I did a log book but I personally stop fishing halibut in june for one reason getting 45 dog fish in a day isnt worth it and the currents suck in june unlike the other areas WE ARE CURRENT dependent.
I am out there alot and can tell sometime I look as far as I can see and only see a handful of boats fishing halibut and talk to my buddies who are else where. and they say the same thing.
on a side note why the number are so skewed in june one plain REASON and no one has said it yet they start doing the fly over ... they count say 50 boats fishing halibut at the 9 am flyover, so then they figure in "their minds" that another 50 boats come out in the afternoon then they get the voodoo math going and figure so many halibut per boat... hence why the jump....
on those fly over they count just about anything too to a guy in a tin boat to a sailboat, and you wonder why the system is flawed?????? hmmmmmmmm
got it all figured out yet???

Wolf

Thanks Roy. That is why I wanted to post my abysmal catch record, fly over is done and we are out there. Very different than counting your boat, or Kelly or Rollie or Ron's or Al's or Tailspin..........talk about skewed numbers!!!!!!!!!

 

[wildmanyeah]

I’d say just be careful what you wish for, you want specific area time and no size limit don’t be surprised if that turns it into a greedy situation where everyone from Vancouver comes out and fish’s your area. If you can get to your area by a nice paved road. I believe at the start of last year "fishing with rod" was advertising on his website that you would book a halibut charter and pay for it in meat. Even posted the breakdown on how much a fillet costs in vancouver,

Do you really want to make that situation easier?

 

[Jencourt]

Quick spur of the moment thought as I am working.(on my day off). Admittedly I have not given it much thought as of yet. Flyovers, creel, logbooks, guide boats, weekend warriors . Am I really fishing for Halibut or not? Would it be useful to suggest that maybe anyone planning to retain any Halibut on any given day must have in plain view of DFO planes and on water patrols, a certain colored flag or marker of some sort. Might even go so far as to say a different color for guide vrs non guide boats.
Key word is planning on retaining any Halibut. we all know many of our Halli come while salmon fishing the banks now a days. If ya get caught with a Halli on board and no flag ya get busted same as barb hook for salmon or fishing in an rca. Seems to me that as the data built it would make the extrapolation between creel,logbooks and flyovers more accurate.?????? Sure I know it comes down to enforcement. Wen we speak of possible ways to improve something it can not always come down to absolutes. some times it needs to be about just making it even a little bit better.

I will let you guys point out all the stuff I have not yet taken time to think about. Again it was just a spontaneous thought that was provoked by the current conversation on this thread.

 

[SpringVelocity]

I’d say just be careful what you wish for, you want specific area time and no size limit don’t be surprised if that turns it into a greedy situation where everyone from Vancouver comes out and fish’s your area. If you can get to your area by a nice paved road. I believe at the start of last year "fishing with rod" was advertising on his website that you would book a halibut charter and pay for it in meat. Even posted the breakdown on how much a fillet costs in vancouver,

Do you really want to make that situation easier?

That is an old argument. First of all I don't think we are going to get a halibut with no size limit. Lets look at Victoria is that area were given a choice to say not fish Jan-Aug no halibut while everyone concentrates on salmon than theoretically wouldn't it help other areas out anyway? Victoria guys majority of them stay at the Malahat sign and dont drive, so its not likely they will come up and impact other areas for halibut that much.

While I believe a one size fits all limit is fair across the coast I do believe there is room to possibly tweak the time fishing is open. Look at the prawn fishery its managed area specific? This is just an idea, but I realize it has challenges in the data. But could you imagine if we had actually dates that worked in each area. Maybe just by doing that we could weather the storm so to speak.

 

[casper5280]

Just throwing this out there. For us South Island guys would it be worth it to shut down say the month of June or whatever months are as others have said ****** months to fish in. Make it more like February-May then shut down June. For the north island guys shut down whenever is bad for them. I guess you would call it a pulse fisherie. I’m sure smarter people than me have though of this. Is it workable?

 

[SpringVelocity]

Quick spur of the moment thought as I am working.(on my day off). Admittedly I have not given it much thought as of yet. Flyovers, creel, logbooks, guide boats, weekend warriors . Am I really fishing for Halibut or not? Would it be useful to suggest that maybe anyone planning to retain any Halibut on any given day must have in plain view of DFO planes and on water patrols, a certain colored flag or marker of some sort. Might even go so far as to say a different color for guide vrs non guide boats.
Key word is planning on retaining any Halibut. we all know many of our Halli come while salmon fishing the banks now a days. If ya get caught with a Halli on board and no flag ya get busted same as barb hook for salmon or fishing in an rca. Seems to me that as the data built it would make the extrapolation between creel,logbooks and flyovers more accurate.?????? Sure I know it comes down to enforcement. wen we speak of possible ways to improve something it can not always come down to absolutes. some times it needs to be about just making it even a little bit better.

I will let you guys point out all the stuff I have not yet taken time to think about. Again it was just a spontaneous thought that was provoked by the current conversation on this thread.

Now that was a good idea on the marker.

 

[SpringVelocity]

Just throwing this out there. For us South Island guys would it be worth it to shut down say the month of June or whatever months are as others have said ****** months to fish in. Make it more like February-May then shut down June. For the north island guys shut down whenever is bad for them. I guess you would call it a pulse fisherie. I’m sure smarter people than me have though of this. Is it workable?

Just asking some of the guys that are close to data. CP or Derby can you guys comment more on the issues with this. I know I brought it a few times back in the day.

 

[Last Chance]

The total amount of halibut caught in JDF in the whole year, let alone the summer is so small it is a rounding error. Area 19 and 20 are only a problem because we can only fish early in the year.

 

[Derby]

SeaRun or Cut plug have a better handle on the numbers then myself.... Regarding a Monthly closer..Its really hard to model what that would like and what saving it would show ... even if you ran pulse day closer in a week.. more pressure would shift to the open days or weeks for that matter.... would u want to limit yourself to none retention in the month of June anyways? What about the guy trolling for a Chinook and bye catch's a hali? I'm sure that happens ...

 

[Tips Up]

It would have been a beauty day to be Hali fishing off Victoria today.
...just saying

 

[GLG]

Here is the data from the 2017 harvest report for area 19&20 as a percent of estimated harvest
Month Pounds Percent
Area 19
Feb____12,368___1.09%
Mar____3,674___0.32%
Apr____8,446___0.74%
May___13,303___1.17%
Jun___26,738___2.35%
Jul____8,259___0.73%
Aug___14,667___1.29%
Sep____3,684___0.32%
Total__91,139___8.01%

Area 20
Feb____278___0.02%
Mar___236____0.02%
Apr___1,083___0.10%
May___338____0.03%
Jun___5,269___0.46%
Jul___6,364___0.56%
Aug___3,078___0.27%
Total__16,646__ 1.46%

These numbers show IMHO why we need to keep the start date at Feb 1. Anything less is like throwing them under the bus for no good reason.

 

[SpringVelocity]

Here is the data from the 2017 harvest report for area 19&20 as a percent of estimated harvest
Month Pounds Percent
Area 19
Feb____12,368___1.09%
Mar____3,674___0.32%
Apr____8,446___0.74%
May___13,303___1.17%
Jun___26,738___2.35%
Jul____8,259___0.73%
Aug___14,667___1.29%
Sep____3,684___0.32%
Total__91,139___8.01%

Area 20
Feb____278___0.02%
Mar___236____0.02%
Apr___1,083___0.10%
May___338____0.03%
Jun___5,269___0.46%
Jul___6,364___0.56%
Aug___3,078___0.27%
Total__16,646__ 1.46%

These numbers show IMHO why we need to keep the start date at Feb 1. Anything less is like throwing them under the bus for no good reason.

I can't understand June % for 19. That seems completely out of step from what we can fish on that month.

 

[GLG]

I can't understand June % for 19. That seems completely out of step from what we can fish on that month.

I cant judge that without all the data that dfo collects but my point is regardless of june it's still a very small amount next to the total estimated harvest.

added:
Don't get me wrong I do understand the argument with the June numbers and I have been at this a long time with these halibut harvest data and models. I don't fish that area but looking at the big picture I'm just giving my honest 2 cents.

 

[SpringVelocity]

SeaRun or Cut plug have a better handle on the numbers then myself.... Regarding a Monthly closer..Its really hard to model what that would like and what saving it would show ... even if you ran pulse day closer in a week.. more pressure would shift to the open days or weeks for that matter.... would u want to limit yourself to none retention in the month of June anyways? What about the guy trolling for a Chinook and bye catch's a hali? I'm sure that happens ...

If anglers were given the choice though between say more reasonable bigger fish like last year or this though then they might accept it. All I am saying. It just seems again the one size fits all doesn't satisfy all areas. It may have in the past but with a shrinking percentage what choice would we have? I don't think guys are really going to care if it was clamped down in summer, and then fished in spring. It is sounding personally where we are headed right now. If you implement a coast thing next year it is going to be tough as the needs aren't going to be met in 19/20 if opened later.

I am not saying 19/20 is the center of universe either. I am sure lots of the areas have unique fisheries where this might help. Sacrifice some months across the areas to keep the entire fishery on coast moving.

Just thinking of ideas to keep conversation going. Maybe I am wrong.