The time has come to Organize buyouts

[smilesforu]

Jen and fellow Ifishers I feel it is time to act to improve our fisheries.

How many times have we seen the mismanagement of our resource ruin our future fishing opportunities? Too many to count..
We need our fisheries management to move away from Maximum Sustainable Yield to a Maximum Recreational Fishery. We continue to use escapement levels far below the streams ability to produce fish. Rivers in Alaska/Canada are black with fish while our escapement remains at a levels where full recovery is impossible without increasing escapement levels. Our practice of low escapement lowers the diversity level of our future gene pool for the species.
Are you interested in forming a group to negotiate the buyouts with the commercial interests and the native rights? If you are this is the place to start the movement. A open mind will be required to find creative ways to finance and negotiate to get the resource back to historical levels. Everybody is welcome to particpate and no registration is required to post in the forum

If you would like to participate or have some ideas to contribute I can use your help to make this happen.


Sportsmen for Enhancement

[Pete]

Buyouts are probably only a part of the solution. The issue has been extensively studied and experimental buybacks have been conducted. Columbia River commercial gillnet license buybacks cost an average of $22,000 in 1996. There were over 500 licenses issued that year and 83 were bought back. In that low fish year it would have cost over $11 million to buy back the licenses. With inflation and better returns I'd bet the price of a buyback has gone up.

Read the details at:
Oregon State Survey of Gillneters

There is a lot of work on this topic. Do some research to see what has occurred.

[Salmonator]

Marty, I am one of the more politically challenged on the board, but I would be willing to donate time and effort to this. Even if half of the licenses could be bought back (or just a small percentage of them a year over the next several years) think of the impact that could have as long as the allocations didn't go up for the remaining licenses. This doesn't have to be an immediate buy out. If the whole process took the next ten years to buy out enough licenses to make a difference it would be worth it... Sal

[Pete]

Another study, a little on the long side, discusses commercial net buyouts in Oregon and Washington through 1986. While somewhat dated, this work indicates that a significant buyout effort occurred following the Sohappy v. Davis court case which modified the historic allocation of fish in favor of treaty fishers. It's also interesting to see the efforts in other fisheries; British Columbia, Florida. In addition, the study provides some background on the Federal legislation enabling some of the buybacks.

Commercial Fishing: Economic Aid and Capacity Reduction (1997)

[BUGLEMAN]

I am currious though. If there is less boats does that mean less allocation. Or do the commercial boats get to continue to fish longer?

[smilesforu]

The goal is fewer commercial boats for more fish escapement and sportsmen. Not a increase in the amount commercials get to fish. This is geared towards a reduction in commercial fishing impact. It takes 1000's of sporstmen to make the impact of one commercial boat. Commercials make money by using the resource..sporties pay money to use it!! Huge economic difference.

[smilesforu]

Pete
Thanks for the great survey/study. It really gives insight to the fishermens feelings on how they are treated and areas of opportunity with the fishery. Buyouts are only part of the solution but can be a major source for enhancing the waterways. One license/boat removed is one more closer to a healthier run.

As a group we will need to work with the commercials, government and the Feds.
First we need to have the information to support our cause so we can get funding.

Salmonator I agree it will be a long process. The more knowledge we have and finances the faster it will happen.

We will need contact information for the different fisheries managers. As I see and find information I am going to add it to the forum on my site. This would be alot easier if we have the help of some government officials since legislation to keep the state from reissuing licenses after we buy them. [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Keep the ideas and information coming...Thanks