Do you have any data that show's that the slot is a joke?
Hey Sculpin, the real joke is that there is no real data to show anything. None, nada, zip!
The numbers (or "data") that are used to determine our daily possesion limits and season lengths are base purely on guestimates, flyovers, trailer counts and of course the creel surveys. The whole goddamned system is a fricken joke!!! Our hands are tied until we can get some real numbers happening here. (We need Halibut tags and mandatory recording and reporting of all sport fishing Halibut catch). If we can get real numbers going then some solid decisions can be made around this fishery, everything else that we are doing is just smoke and mirrors, (early season start, late start, slot limit, juggling possesion limits, annual "bag limits", early season closure, late closure, area closures, etc,,,,,) it is all just smoke and mirrors. We don't have a leg to stand on in this argument (with DFO), because we don't have real data to back us up to say that we need more of the TAC, because DFO is making the decisions that we are using up our % of the TAC in the time frames that they determine (this year Sept, next year????), all based upon guestimates. Hell no one really knows for sure if we even used all of our % of the TAC, or if we went over. No question about it we need real data and not tomorrow, we needed it last year! This is a double edged sword here however, we all like the idea of getting more TAC, longer seasons, higher possesion limits, no slot, BUT,,,,, what if there is 100,000 Halibut anglers out there every year, say 50% of them actually catch a couple of fish (yes only two fish for the year), that is 100,000 fish. What is the average size of the fish caught??? 15lbs??? 20lbs???, at 15lbs per fish,,,,, that is 1,500,000lbs of halibut (yes, 1.5 million pounds), anyone know what our (sport sector) percentage of the TAC was in pounds last year?
We need data to know:
1. How many halibut anglers there are from year to year.
2. How many fish were caught, and subsequently how many pounds were caught.
3. How long our seasons will be based off of the given TAC for the next year.
4. How many fish we each will be allow to catch each season.
5. How much more % of the TAC that the sport sector needs or doesn't need.
I hate to say it, but for this season we are not likely to get anything more that what we had last year, hopefully however we can get a tag implemented this year so that next year DFO can budget the following season with some "real' numbers.
FH
