interesting from the Halibut news
- Thread starter Jencourt
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Clint r
Well-Known Member
How sad. "Required by law to keep it". Don't know why a rec fisher catching
The same fish would have to release it when large halibut caught by commies obviously arnt considered brood stock. Just one more reason BC needs to implement its own dept of fisheries and we can run DFO out of this province.
The same fish would have to release it when large halibut caught by commies obviously arnt considered brood stock. Just one more reason BC needs to implement its own dept of fisheries and we can run DFO out of this province.
OldBlackDog
Well-Known Member
Because you need to read the article.
This is not about Canada.
Nothing to do with DFO!
Jess Field / Petersburg Pilot
The 396-pound halibut caught by Brian Mattson and Doug Corl is hoisted up for processing on Aug. 7.
Earlier this month the buzz around a monster halibut caught by local commercial fishermen in Thomas Bay went crazy after news of the catch spread through social media sites.
Many of the comments expressed amazement for the monster catch, but some talked about sadness because another "breeder" was taken out of the reproduction equation. Multiple people talked about the cruelty of killing such a remarkable fish or simply said, "Should have put it back."
No matter what your stance is, there are two undeniable truths. First, the fishermen were doing their job. Second, putting the fish back would have been illegal, according to Ian Stewart, head stock assessment scientist for the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC).
"There is currently a regulation in the fishery that they are required to retain any legal halibut that they capture," he says. "So in this particular case it would not have been legal for those fishermen to release that fish."
The IPHC often fields questions regarding the impact of large fish being caught, and the organization has even kicked around the idea of mandatory release when dealing with them. On paper, the idea of mandatory release to sustain a large-bodied breeder should work, but results would rely heavily on survival rate. The IPHC has conducted studies by tagging and releasing fish in various stages of condition from injured to healthy, Stewart says.
"The problem is that it's very difficult to pin down what the absolute rate of discard mortality is for the fish that are in the best condition," he says. "It turns out to be, scientifically, a very difficult question to test."
Based off the IPHC's efforts, Stewart assumes around 60 percent of halibut released do not survive. The other unknown in the scenario for the IPHC revolves around reproduction of large fish versus its much smaller counterparts.
"Certainly a 400-pound fish will produce a lot more eggs than a 40-pound fish, because it's ten times heavier," Stewart says. "But it won't necessarily produce more eggs than ten 40-pound fish."
Almost all big halibut, anything over 100 pounds, are female because males simply fail to reach that size. Halibut are broadcast spawners, and researchers assume the quantity of eggs the species produce is a function of the body weight. However, when it comes to contributing to spawning stock, the 396-pound halibut caught by the F/V Day Spring is certainly in the minority.
"The vast majority of the spawners in the halibut stock are much smaller than that particular fish," Stewart says. "The potential contribution relative to the tens of thousands of fish that are in the 20 to 40 pound range is very small on a population level."
Stewart says another misconception made about large halibut is the thought their size indicates old age. Many comments on Facebook referred to the fish caught by Mattson and Corl near Petersburg as "ancient." The age will never be known, because Corl wanted to save the otolith bone for a souvenir and the aging process would have destroyed the keepsake. But it turns out, extremely large fish are usually middle aged fish typically somewhere between 15 and 35 years old, according to Stewart.
"These tend to be middle aged fish that have a really fast growth trajectory," he says. "So just like people some halibut don't ever get very big and some halibut get really big."
The reasons for the accelerated growth could be genetics or conditions the fish experienced, but scientists cannot say for sure. Stewart readily admits there are a lot of unknowns when it comes to studying halibut and other species making their home below water.
"I certainly don't want to understate our uncertainty," he says. "Fish are hard to study. They're not like going to the forest and looking at trees where you can count them and put a tag on each one and you can go back and look at them a few years later."
For instance, halibut spawn in the winter time and the eggs and larvae spend a couple months floating in the Gulf of Alaska where observing the event is extremely challenging. Then the juveniles settle out in shallow, sandy areas, and spend one to two years "basically unobserved" in inaccessible locations. After that period they begin making an appearance in troll surveys and fisheries as three- and five- year olds. To combat this and other information gaps, scientists at the IPHC have extensive data going back to the turn of the last century, Stewart says.
"As a scientist part of my job is to explain to people what we do know, but a lot of the fascination is in exploring some of the things we don't know about the stock," he says. "The more data we collect, the more we start to understand what we don't know."
This is not about Canada.
Nothing to do with DFO!
Jess Field / Petersburg Pilot
The 396-pound halibut caught by Brian Mattson and Doug Corl is hoisted up for processing on Aug. 7.
Earlier this month the buzz around a monster halibut caught by local commercial fishermen in Thomas Bay went crazy after news of the catch spread through social media sites.
Many of the comments expressed amazement for the monster catch, but some talked about sadness because another "breeder" was taken out of the reproduction equation. Multiple people talked about the cruelty of killing such a remarkable fish or simply said, "Should have put it back."
No matter what your stance is, there are two undeniable truths. First, the fishermen were doing their job. Second, putting the fish back would have been illegal, according to Ian Stewart, head stock assessment scientist for the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC).
"There is currently a regulation in the fishery that they are required to retain any legal halibut that they capture," he says. "So in this particular case it would not have been legal for those fishermen to release that fish."
The IPHC often fields questions regarding the impact of large fish being caught, and the organization has even kicked around the idea of mandatory release when dealing with them. On paper, the idea of mandatory release to sustain a large-bodied breeder should work, but results would rely heavily on survival rate. The IPHC has conducted studies by tagging and releasing fish in various stages of condition from injured to healthy, Stewart says.
"The problem is that it's very difficult to pin down what the absolute rate of discard mortality is for the fish that are in the best condition," he says. "It turns out to be, scientifically, a very difficult question to test."
Based off the IPHC's efforts, Stewart assumes around 60 percent of halibut released do not survive. The other unknown in the scenario for the IPHC revolves around reproduction of large fish versus its much smaller counterparts.
"Certainly a 400-pound fish will produce a lot more eggs than a 40-pound fish, because it's ten times heavier," Stewart says. "But it won't necessarily produce more eggs than ten 40-pound fish."
Almost all big halibut, anything over 100 pounds, are female because males simply fail to reach that size. Halibut are broadcast spawners, and researchers assume the quantity of eggs the species produce is a function of the body weight. However, when it comes to contributing to spawning stock, the 396-pound halibut caught by the F/V Day Spring is certainly in the minority.
"The vast majority of the spawners in the halibut stock are much smaller than that particular fish," Stewart says. "The potential contribution relative to the tens of thousands of fish that are in the 20 to 40 pound range is very small on a population level."
Stewart says another misconception made about large halibut is the thought their size indicates old age. Many comments on Facebook referred to the fish caught by Mattson and Corl near Petersburg as "ancient." The age will never be known, because Corl wanted to save the otolith bone for a souvenir and the aging process would have destroyed the keepsake. But it turns out, extremely large fish are usually middle aged fish typically somewhere between 15 and 35 years old, according to Stewart.
"These tend to be middle aged fish that have a really fast growth trajectory," he says. "So just like people some halibut don't ever get very big and some halibut get really big."
The reasons for the accelerated growth could be genetics or conditions the fish experienced, but scientists cannot say for sure. Stewart readily admits there are a lot of unknowns when it comes to studying halibut and other species making their home below water.
"I certainly don't want to understate our uncertainty," he says. "Fish are hard to study. They're not like going to the forest and looking at trees where you can count them and put a tag on each one and you can go back and look at them a few years later."
For instance, halibut spawn in the winter time and the eggs and larvae spend a couple months floating in the Gulf of Alaska where observing the event is extremely challenging. Then the juveniles settle out in shallow, sandy areas, and spend one to two years "basically unobserved" in inaccessible locations. After that period they begin making an appearance in troll surveys and fisheries as three- and five- year olds. To combat this and other information gaps, scientists at the IPHC have extensive data going back to the turn of the last century, Stewart says.
"As a scientist part of my job is to explain to people what we do know, but a lot of the fascination is in exploring some of the things we don't know about the stock," he says. "The more data we collect, the more we start to understand what we don't know."
Clint r
Well-Known Member
Thank you Derby. I'm surprised at the high mortality rate too. Makes me wonder even more why we have to a release a fish that's been played for maybe an hour or longer If It's probably going to die anyway. And for you OBD,
I'm pretty sure the I in IHPA means international. That would mean Canada too.
I'm pretty sure the I in IHPA means international. That would mean Canada too.
Jencourt
Well-Known Member
Lots pertaining to Canada in there OBD.
We live under the umbrella of IPHC too.
High assumed mort rate like that did not help wen adding mort charge to rec.
IPHC using release data from Alaska slot that promotes more releases than the BC slot did not help .
There are some other key statements in there that maybe I will not get into on the open forumn. none the less are directly related to canada and our present fishing regs.
BTW: Anyone... Other than having to release fish that are too small, is our can commercial fleet required to keep all fish over the min size or is it discretionary wen deciding to release a big fish or not? Seems odd I do not know this but I do not. I do know some do and some do not though.
We live under the umbrella of IPHC too.
High assumed mort rate like that did not help wen adding mort charge to rec.
IPHC using release data from Alaska slot that promotes more releases than the BC slot did not help .
There are some other key statements in there that maybe I will not get into on the open forumn. none the less are directly related to canada and our present fishing regs.
BTW: Anyone... Other than having to release fish that are too small, is our can commercial fleet required to keep all fish over the min size or is it discretionary wen deciding to release a big fish or not? Seems odd I do not know this but I do not. I do know some do and some do not though.
OldBlackDog
Well-Known Member
Petersburg fishermen bring big halibut onboard
Jess Field / Petersburg Pilot
Doug Corl, left, and Brian Mattson prepare to offload their massive catch at PFI on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
Brian Mattson and Doug Corl are no strangers to catching fish, the pair have fished together for almost two decades, and last weekend was no exception. Around 10 p.m. on Saturday the local fishermen hooked a monster.
They made a quick trip on the F/V Day Spring to Thomas Bay, rather than going south of town, because they drew a NOAA observer. Two sets later they had a nearly 400-pound halibut aboard. They caught the fish "right where everybody goes tanner crabbing," Mattson says.
"Normally we catch some big fish in Thomas Bay," Mattson said. "On one set we got this fish and another fish, and the other set didn't have anything."
Mattson's been fishing since 13 or 14, like many local fishermen, but now he can tell a story unique to Petersburg that needs no embellishment although the event itself was uneventful.
"A lot of the smaller ones they'll move the line around and stuff, but this one just came up," he says. "We were expecting it to fight, but it never fought."
It was obvious they had a special catch. After using a shark hook to hoist it aboard they measured it and checked the Tide Book. The book, using length of fish, estimated the weight of the fish to be around 435 pounds. The fish ended up weighing just over 395 pounds on the scales at PFI in Petersburg.
"That's definitely the biggest we ever got," Mattson says. "We've had them in the low 300's, high 200's, but this is definitely, for Doug and I both, the biggest we have ever seen since we've been fishing."
Corl sent a picture to his son, who was out seining, and he put it on Facebook. On Sunday, when they placed a call to PFI to schedule a landing, a cannery employee told the fishermen they had already seen a picture of the fish, shocking Mattson.
Once the Day Spring hit the dock at PFI, the catch had the attention of cannery workers and management alike, and quickly became the focal point of every camera around.
"It's been a long time since we've seen a fish that large," says Patrick Wilson, PFI plant manager. "It's a rare occasion when you see a fish that big, no question, and it's been many years."
PFI does not track individual catches, so no record is available for largest halibut processed at the cannery, but it's definitely one of the biggest Wilson's seen. He says halibut average 20 to 30 pounds, with a handful over 100 pounds each year. Big fish bring more money per pound, and the catch was worth about $2,700, Wilson says.
"It's always fun to see something unusual like that, for sure," he says.
Levy Boiter, port sampler for the International Pacific Halibut Commission, meets longliners at the cannery to monitor catches. Boiter took out the fish's ear bone, or otolith, which
he will use to age the fish. Otolith's
are like a tree's concentric growth
rings, adding rings as the critter ages, making the process of aging a halibut fairly easy.
Boiter figured the fish was anywhere between 25 to 45 years old. He's been at PFI for 17 years and remembers a halibut a couple years back weighing around 350 pounds, but Sunday was one to remember, he says.
"We're not seeing too many of these guys," Boiter says.
As for Corl and Mattson, it was back to business and more sets.
"We got bait," Mattson says. "We're going to get ice here pretty soon and then head down to the south end of the Narrows."
Jess Field / Petersburg Pilot
Doug Corl, left, and Brian Mattson prepare to offload their massive catch at PFI on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
Brian Mattson and Doug Corl are no strangers to catching fish, the pair have fished together for almost two decades, and last weekend was no exception. Around 10 p.m. on Saturday the local fishermen hooked a monster.
They made a quick trip on the F/V Day Spring to Thomas Bay, rather than going south of town, because they drew a NOAA observer. Two sets later they had a nearly 400-pound halibut aboard. They caught the fish "right where everybody goes tanner crabbing," Mattson says.
"Normally we catch some big fish in Thomas Bay," Mattson said. "On one set we got this fish and another fish, and the other set didn't have anything."
Mattson's been fishing since 13 or 14, like many local fishermen, but now he can tell a story unique to Petersburg that needs no embellishment although the event itself was uneventful.
"A lot of the smaller ones they'll move the line around and stuff, but this one just came up," he says. "We were expecting it to fight, but it never fought."
It was obvious they had a special catch. After using a shark hook to hoist it aboard they measured it and checked the Tide Book. The book, using length of fish, estimated the weight of the fish to be around 435 pounds. The fish ended up weighing just over 395 pounds on the scales at PFI in Petersburg.
"That's definitely the biggest we ever got," Mattson says. "We've had them in the low 300's, high 200's, but this is definitely, for Doug and I both, the biggest we have ever seen since we've been fishing."
Corl sent a picture to his son, who was out seining, and he put it on Facebook. On Sunday, when they placed a call to PFI to schedule a landing, a cannery employee told the fishermen they had already seen a picture of the fish, shocking Mattson.
Once the Day Spring hit the dock at PFI, the catch had the attention of cannery workers and management alike, and quickly became the focal point of every camera around.
"It's been a long time since we've seen a fish that large," says Patrick Wilson, PFI plant manager. "It's a rare occasion when you see a fish that big, no question, and it's been many years."
PFI does not track individual catches, so no record is available for largest halibut processed at the cannery, but it's definitely one of the biggest Wilson's seen. He says halibut average 20 to 30 pounds, with a handful over 100 pounds each year. Big fish bring more money per pound, and the catch was worth about $2,700, Wilson says.
"It's always fun to see something unusual like that, for sure," he says.
Levy Boiter, port sampler for the International Pacific Halibut Commission, meets longliners at the cannery to monitor catches. Boiter took out the fish's ear bone, or otolith, which
he will use to age the fish. Otolith's
are like a tree's concentric growth
rings, adding rings as the critter ages, making the process of aging a halibut fairly easy.
Boiter figured the fish was anywhere between 25 to 45 years old. He's been at PFI for 17 years and remembers a halibut a couple years back weighing around 350 pounds, but Sunday was one to remember, he says.
"We're not seeing too many of these guys," Boiter says.
As for Corl and Mattson, it was back to business and more sets.
"We got bait," Mattson says. "We're going to get ice here pretty soon and then head down to the south end of the Narrows."
OldBlackDog
Well-Known Member
Canada is a member of the IPHC, yet is not ruled by the U.S. Rules.
As this is Alaska, they have separate regulations.
Washington and Oregon have different rules that do not have anything to do with Canada.
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Cuba Libre
Well-Known Member
Ummmm-- we ARE talking about these dudes now ..Right? http://www.iphc.int/about-iphc.html LOL
Having been commercial Halibut fishing I'd say 60% mortality on released fish is low. The fish is hauled aboard by the line attached to the hook as the distance from the vessel deck to the water is 5 feet or so. On a large fish what would probably happen is that a large chunk of it's head would get ripped off.
Cuba Libre
Well-Known Member
So---- what do you guys think about guides hauling large halis on board to take a photograph for the client?
Prairie Locked
Well-Known Member
Well, if we believe the mortality rate to be accurate at 60%, there would be only a 40% that there is no harm to your fish.
IMHO, if any type of fish is to be released (for whatever the reason), the decision should be made before handling the fish. If the decision to release is made, every fish should be handled as little as possible and kept in the water. That's the only way to truly minimize the morbidity and mortality of a caught fish.
No one can say with any certainty that a 10 second rule of fish out of water is truly ok. Since there is no scientific consensus, do as little as possible.
Aces
Well-Known Member
I personally never bring them out of the water unless i am going to keep any fish
This should Not be practiced, no different then laying a big Chinook across your lap then dunking it back. Just release in the water period.
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