Halibut opening

[Jencourt]

I would like to make a quick point.
The overwhelming majority of the 85% that is awarded to commercial fishers is exported out of the country. This is 85 % of what is allocated by IPHC after supposedly meeting all conservation requirements.

My point is that-what is assigned to Canadians is supposed to be utilized in a way that is respectful to the fish, meets social/economic needs in the best way and guarantees that the best use by Canadians for Canadians comes first.

As it stands now the rec sector does not get enough of that TAC to conduct a proper season. I would challenge that the restrictive size limits may even hinge on no longer being respectful to the fish. They have definitely greatly affected the expectation of harvest, forcing anglers to target a smaller and smaller demographic of the biomass. (Which happens to include the very size of fish that are lacking in the IPHC tests) Yet the mass majority of Canadians TAC continues to be utilized by foreign buyers holding prices high and benefiting fewer and fewer Canadians.

This is the result of ITQ fisheries. No good for Canadians and history has proved (according to stuff I have read on them) also no good for fish.

 

[porcupine]

For 2018, the recreational fishery halibut allocation is 927,990 pounds. The
following measures will be in effect as noted below:


COAST-WIDE:

Open time:
Effective at 00:01 hours on April 1, 2018 fishing for halibut will be opened
coast-wide until further notice.

Limits and sizes:

Effective April 1, 2018 until further notice:

-The maximum length for Halibut is 115cm.

-The daily limit for Halibut is one (1).

-The possession limit for Halibut is two (2), only one (1) of which may be over
83cm in length.

-The annual limit is six (6) Halibut per licence holder, as set out on the
2018/2019 Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence.

-All Halibut retained by the licence holder shall be immediately recorded in
ink on
the 2018/2019 Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence. The area from which each
Halibut is caught and its length shall immediately be recorded on the licence.


Licensing:
The 2018/2019 Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence and Conditions of Licence
are in effect starting 00:01 hours on April 1, 2018.


The exceptions to these openings are:

Areas 121:
No person shall fish for or retain halibut, rockfish and lingcod in Area 121
outside the 12 nautical mile limit seaward of a line that begins at 48 degrees
34.000 minutes and 125 degrees 17.386 minutes W and continues south easterly at
a bearing of 116 degrees True to a point at 48 degrees 28.327 minutes and 125
degrees 01.687 minutes W.

Area 121:
Closed to all finfish, year round in the waters of Swiftsure Bank, inside a
line from 48 degrees 34.00 minutes N and 125 degrees 06.00 minutes W, thence to
48 degrees 34.00 minutes N and 124 degrees 54.20 minutes W, thence to 48
degrees 29.62 minutes N and 124 degrees 43.40 minutes W, thence following the
International Boundary between Canada and the U.S. to 48 degrees 29.55 minutes
N and 124 degrees 56.20 minutes W, thence in a straight line to the point of
commencement.


Variation Order No. 2018-RCT-0124 (Close time), 2018-RFQ-0125 (Quota)


Non-residents of Canada wishing to fish for and retain halibut in Management
Areas 121, 23 and 123 must purchase an electronic licence through a Canadian
provider. Please see the list of Independent Access Providers at
http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/licence-permis/iap-fai-eng.html.

Note: Rockfish Conservations Areas (RCA's) and Marine Protected Areas
(including glass sponge reef closures) remain in effect - refer to the
following website for descriptions :
http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/restricted-restreint-eng.html


FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contacts: Brad Beaith (South Coast) - (250)756-7190
Peter Katinic (North Coast) - (250)559-8330
Carole Eros (604)666-7089.



Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN0256
Sent March 28, 2018 at 1104

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[ziggy]

Well I guess we will see if a 37.5% decrease in maximum weight in conjunction with a smaller TAC equals a full season?Given the % of fish caught after labour day, I can’t see it. Think I’ll put a more effort in this Spring.

 

[Rockfish]

Got out with a friend yesterday off Victoria on a good Conny pinnacle for the first time this season. The weather has not been very good for sport Halibut fishing so far this year. We put in a full day anchored up with three rods using salmon bellies and Herring. Not a bite all day, not even a doggy. I am thinking that they may be overestimating the actual sport take this year, at least so far down this end of VI.

 

[Gear'n'beer!]

Got out with a friend yesterday off Victoria on a good Conny pinnacle for the first time this season. The weather has not been very good for sport Halibut fishing so far this year. We put in a full day anchored up with three rods using salmon bellies and Herring. Not a bite all day, not even a doggy. I am thinking that they may be overestimating the actual sport take this year, at least so far down this end of VI.

Although I agree with halibut fishing being a little slow in usual SVI spots there have been 2 full sets of tides that have been plenty fishable this march.

 

[Rockfish]

Although I agree with halibut fishing being a little slow in usual SVI spots there have been 2 full sets of tides that have been plenty fishable this march.

Its not just the tides it's the wind. You want it rather flat when your anchoring in a 16 foot boat. Not that many days when you have a tide and its flat. I was surprised there were not many boats out yesterday given it was fish-able and the new restrictions don't kick in for a couple of days.

 

[Jencourt]

Here is an interesting comment taken from another site that was talking about price of Halibut per pound for commercial this year.This is in response to a statement that “it has been over priced the past few years “
Hmmmmmmm............

Quote:
“Overpriced is relative, most don't understand how valuable our seafood is to the rest of the world. We ship our product out, and ****** low grade product is shipped in, which keeps domestic demand down.”

 

[trophywife]

this could be a whole nother thread. same old tho... halibut etc is treated as a commodity, like all OUR resources. He who owns the freezers controls the marketed pricing. Unfortunately right down to the fisherman and the guy hired just to run the boat, they get screwed too , by the guy who owns the freezers and the boats here in bc. does he own american boats too? american quota? owns the lobbyists too!!

 

[Jencourt]

first day of the stupid “no one is allowed to actually Halibut fish “ Halibut season. Hope you all have fun cutting fish loose all season so the few that had the loudest voice could get their way. Sorry Uki marina, gas dock, restaurants and accommodations you will not be getting my money this year.

 

[calmsea]

If you think this season is stupid then wait until you see next year's! You may want to get out this year for the last trip in a while!

 

[Jencourt]

If you think this season is stupid then wait until you see next year's! You may want to get out this year for the last trip in a while!

Ya I am aware of what it is to likely look like next year.

 

[wolf]

Well I guess they figure we all go out and everytime we do we must have gotten a 133 cm fish,
So what im gonna say here is going to start a **** storm im sure when you do IREC do what DFO does and lie as well ........im sure you can all figure out whats going on here.....

 

[hali hunter]

Well I guess they figure we all go out and everytime we do we must have gotten a 133 cm fish,
So what im gonna say here is going to start a **** storm im sure when you do IREC do what DFO does and lie as well ........im sure you can all figure out whats going on here.....

Lots of people post pics on social media sites of 133 cm fish and they also write about them on these forums. Pretty easy for dfo to see that and create their own size average estimate!

 

[ziggy]

Unless you believe DFO is underestimating why lie? Personally I think they are overestimating so accurate numbers are to our benefit. Also at the end of the day if we are taking too many fish, then sadly we may have to accept more restrictions. Before someone leaps in with the argument we need more than 15%, I agree 100%, but we don’t have it, or the right to overfish.

Make no mistake I’m as angry as anyone else, but I do think an accurate catch record is very important. I intend to fill mine out accurately.

 

[Derby]

Well I guess they figure we all go out and everytime we do we must have gotten a 133 cm fish,
So what im gonna say here is going to start a **** storm im sure when you do IREC do what DFO does and lie as well ........im sure you can all figure out whats going on here.....

give your head a shake... maybe twice..........

 

[Jencourt]

Well I guess they figure we all go out and everytime we do we must have gotten a 133 cm fish,
So what im gonna say here is going to start a **** storm im sure when you do IREC do what DFO does and lie as well ........im sure you can all figure out whats going on here.....

Pretty sure that is already happening. And not just on IREC. Catch report said rec catch was 68k and change fish@ 1,100,000 or so lbs . Basic math gives that an average WPUE of 16.2 lbs or so. Wen everyone is saying they had a hard time finding fish under the 115 and definitely rarely get fish under the 83cm, tell me how many “see through” sized fish did we have to kill to bring that average down and where was it all caught? Something smells in alll of this.

Maybe not all that helpful, and rough numbers stated but none the less it keeps me
Up at night

I agree that we MUST give accurate and honest catch reports. We have nothing to build from if we start with a lie.

 

[wildmanyeah]

why is their only big halibut left?

 

[Jencourt]

why is their only big halibut left?

Ya why?

 

[searun]

Ya why?

Because there is a recruitment problem. The average age of the fish out there is 13 years, and that has been shifting each of the last several years. We don't have many young fish in the fishery due to recruitment problems. So the 115cm fish is now becoming increasingly rare as the average age (ergo size) increases. Pretty simple relationship. This is particularly problematic along WCVI where the average rec fish size is much higher than up in the Charlottes. The largest average size fish is in Area 19.

As for IRec and other catch monitoring for halibut, they are all estimates. The creel data is augmented by guide catch log books. So where we have vessel counts from the over-flights they take the average catch per unit effort (CPUE) as observed by the creel surveys, and multiply that across all the vessels counted in the over-flights, less the guide log books which are deducted. This is why it is very important for people to be extremely accurate when completing an IRec survey, and even more important that Guides get on the Guide Log Books and accurately complete them.

One glaring example in the 2017 data was the month of June in Area 19 which showed 900 halibut caught, which we all know is complete bs because very few people fish hali due to all the dog fish. Unfortunately some people did catch fish and the creel surveyor got that data and calculated a high CPUE...so we got nailed for 26,000 pounds of hali in Area 19 for the month of June...enough TAC to run the fishery coast-wide from Feb to April. So the answer is in all of our hands - we all need to step up and start filling in log books.

 

[SpringVelocity]

Because there is a recruitment problem. The average age of the fish out there is 13 years, and that has been shifting each of the last several years. We don't have many young fish in the fishery due to recruitment problems. So the 115cm fish is now becoming increasingly rare as the average age (ergo size) increases. Pretty simple relationship. This is particularly problematic along WCVI where the average rec fish size is much higher than up in the Charlottes. The largest average size fish is in Area 19.

As for IRec and other catch monitoring for halibut, they are all estimates. The creel data is augmented by guide catch log books. So where we have vessel counts from the over-flights they take the average catch per unit effort (CPUE) as observed by the creel surveys, and multiply that across all the vessels counted in the over-flights, less the guide log books which are deducted. This is why it is very important for people to be extremely accurate when completing an IRec survey, and even more important that Guides get on the Guide Log Books and accurately complete them.

One glaring example in the 2017 data was the month of June in Area 19 which showed 900 halibut caught, which we all know is complete bs because very few people fish hali due to all the dog fish. Unfortunately some people did catch fish and the creel surveyor got that data and calculated a high CPUE...so we got nailed for 26,000 pounds of hali in Area 19 for the month of June...enough TAC to run the fishery coast-wide from Feb to April. So the answer is in all of our hands - we all need to step up and start filling in log books.

Well that sums it up there why area 19/20 catch estimates are so high. If we have 900 taken in June then people aren't filling books out.