Seattle PFMC Yelloweye

[black magic]

In Seattle the PFMC adopted the latest yelloweye assessment. It is much lower than the old assessment.
The reason given is that this one is more thoroughly done and therefore more accurate than the previous. With that said it was also stated that the new assessment has a high degree of uncertainty. And so it goes. The data used was through 2001. No later data could be used, as the CPUE (catch per unit of effort) is not valid with no retention. The rebuilding plan calls for a coastwide bycatch to go down from 27 mt in 2006 to 12mt for 2007. A proposal to step down the OY in small increments for ten years was adopted as an option. This staves off the draconian reductions for a little while. This is only an option and has not yet been approved.
The concerning part here is the relatively small size of the calculated coastwide unfished population of yelloweye. 7448 metric tons. Not a lot of fish. The ABC (acceptable biological catch) is only 36.2 metric tons. This means that this is all that is available when the stock is fully rebuilt. 2006 is at 27 mt. It will always be a constraining stock. The future is a catch-22 (no pun intended) for yelloweye. With no catch data due to no retention the stock assessment isn’t likely to change in the near future. If OY level is too low then no fish are available for research. The step down bycatch proposal by the GMT will buy some time to pursue remedies which wouldn’t be available otherwise. This to me is a huge concern with serious long-term implications on saltwater sportfishing.
Oregon Anglers/RFA will be taking a long hard look at this issue. We are going to research all of the issues with weak stock management looking for practical and achievable actions which can get us out of this box or at least move the walls further apart.

[ron m]

Thanks for the info.
ron m

[Mark Mc]

John, does anyone at the PFMC ever mention....even whisper off the record....the idea of giving more of the allowable bycaych to sport, and less to commercial (e.g. trawl & longline)?

The idea being....one sport-killed yelloweye pumps a lot more into the economy than one commercial-killed yelloweye (at least I imagine it does).

[CATCH AND EAT]

That argument will never fly Mc Mark. We have tried that on the gillnet issue for the columbia and has fallen on deaf ears. But, ya never know until you ask, right?

[kamloops]

Not meant to inflame But,,,Not trying to hijack the post either.BUT,,,
Can Bad Reds be avoided at the Chicken Ranch halibut fishing?

I know it's easy to get them at the Rockpile halibut fishing.

I know where to get them up here Off the Columbia (great big fat ones) but elect not to. I was also told that the Garabaldi guys have little if any problem with Bad Reds halibut fishing.

Looks like we are going to get our hands forced on this deal.

[Mark Mc]

That's a good point....fewer reds at the ranch.

'course of folks just used 2 lb mackeral for bait with 16/0 - 20/0 hooks, few if any reds would get hooked.

I like your new term.... "bad red." Now say it like:

"baaaad dog."

Maybe Wak will chime in here.... he may have an opinion on reds.
:lurk:

[black magic]

Mark,
Hard to make a case for more rec. yelloweye. We already take more than anyone else. Coastwide: trawl & fixed gear = 6.2 mt
recreational = 13.1 mt. Commercial has much less impact than before due to vast area closures (RCA, etc.). Keep thinking, don't give up.

[kamloops]

20/O + Circles only and 16" + baits.
I like your think'n.

[wak'm&stak'm]

Thanks Black Magic....I think I will go throw myself in front of a bus, it is less painful.

It is amazing what they can do without the data to back it up. I would sure like to know how they have any idea what the bio-mass of YE swimming in our ocean.

When will they do a 100% accurate survey....(which includes all the water, including that rocky YE habitat that they have never looked at).? Even their original documents stated that the lack of mature fish in the draggers nets could be a result of habitat and behavior at the time.

Trying to make sense of their logic, is like releaving yourself over the starboard rail on a west bound boat, with a 25 mph northwester in our face.

This brings up the accuracy of their dock counts again doesn't it.

I can say... we did not catch one YE last year, NOT one...and we caught probably 60 halibut.

[Serious Fun]

"The idea being....one sport-killed yelloweye pumps a lot more into the economy than one commercial-killed yelloweye (at least I imagine it does)."

I read in some government publication a few years ago that the economic impact of sportfishing is 40 times more profitable per pound of fish over commercial fishing to local economies; i.e. for every dollar per pound of fish, there will be $40 for every pound of fish caught by sportsman, as opposed to $1 for commercial fishing on a relative scale. This is because of the reverberation/recycling of the dollar into the local economy via hotels, food, gas, shopping, etc. purchased by the sportfisherman and not the commercial fisherman.

[Threemuch]

Salmon bellies don't catch yelloweye either. Niether do whole shad.

I am seriously going to learn to fish the poison. Everything I see says ocean sport fishing is all but over.

[Metal Manipulator]

I slice my Shad down the middle and I have caught very large YE with 16/0 circles it is very iritating to catch these when you try not to.

[wak'm&stak'm]

I think Threemuch is correct...we're screwed.

Look at the pinheads logic...first we establish a doable quota.
Then every year we have more and more yelloweyes, due to the fishermans conservation practices.
Then we lower the the by-catch quota each year.
Pretty soon there will be so many flipp'n fish they will catch the quota in one day.

I am curious just how many diehard fisherman will be pursuing this activity in the next 3 years.

[skein]

And you guys laughed at me when I bought a horse. :grin:

Skein

[wak'm&stak'm]

Ok don't worry...I have a back up plan. As of right now I have ,6 apple trees, 3 pear, 5 peach, 2 aprocot, and 5 cherry trees planted close enough to the porch, so I can shoot starling out of them for the next 30 years.
Pretty soon I will fence the alfalfa field and put some cows out....so bring your horse down and we can chase them, and shoot birds, and drink beer and bad mouth enviromentalists.

[Threemuch]

Wak,
You can build a barn and start raising rock pigeons in it. Then shoot em all. Good sport and you can eat em!

The only bright spot right now is that I didn't spend that money repowering my boat. The whole thing makes me pretty sick.

[CATCH AND EAT]

And you guys laughed at me when I bought a horse. :grin:

Skein

Jim I now feel bad for doing so. Congradulations on the new hobby.


Kurt, I am doing a search to find out which trout lakes Cindy Lou is allowed on.

[edsr]

The interesting thing is people in Alaska are still catching and keeping bad reds. What's up with that? Is it possible to re-introduce some of those fish down here?

edsr

[Threemuch]

If you could C&R these fish, none of this would be a problem. I don't think relocation, without some kind of pressurized vessel is a possibility.

[Ducks4jimm]

Interesting concept. These fish take years and years to grow large. What if we convinced the eco-people to help invest in some form of saltwater hatchery where we could release thousands of red and yelloweye smolts(?) into the ecosystem each year? Hell, I'd support it with yet another $5 "ocean enhancement" license fee. Then at least we could argue that yes, stocks are being depleted, but we are also seeding trees for the future, so to speak. We all know the survival rate would be about .1%, but at least something would be happening and we would have a better argument to keep fishing, hopefully without more onerous regulations.

[coconutdan]

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/rockfish/yelloweyeprotect.htm :depressed: