Tuna Regs..All kidding aside.

[corrirod]

Hey folks, there were some great discussions on the "Marlin Bait" thread that I think we really need to take to heart.

It's been realized by myself, and various other Ifishers recently, that we can make a difference in how our fisheries are preserved.

There was a significant amount of research and also life experience shared in that thread regarding the enforcement of regulations in Federal water. From what I see, now is our best chance to set the regulations up the way we want them, rather than have them forced down our throats by someone who doesn't understand the fishery.

As we all know, eventually someone will notice the "grey area" and decide to create some more defining regulations. I can hear the thinking now......."Hmmmm...let's just make it the same as our Salmon regs, barbless hooks and 2 fish limit. O.K. done."

Anybody want to go out 40+miles for 2 fish?

Or better yet, the fisheries council decides to lump us recreational guys in the same category as the commercials, just like the bottomfish problem we're in right now. Let's not let it get to that point again.

Uglygreen, it sounds like you've had some close calls. Perhaps we can keep that from happening again by sealing this thing shut. Defining our own regs.

Before I go on too long here (too late), am I off base here or does anyone else agree. I've got to admit, I'm not one who usually gets overly involved with politics but I've really enjoyed catching Bullets this year and I want to make sure I can in the future.

Look forward to hearing from you.

[Mark Mc]

Hello Corrirod; since you brought it up.....
Last year the PFMC was working on a Highly Migratory Species Plan. This was THE opportunity to provide the kind of input you are talking about. I brought it up on this board,
provided summaries of the 250+ page proposal, and asked a few very specific questions to try and stir the pot. Yet I am sorry to say that the response was surprisingly minimal, and most of the few responses were along the lines of "no new rules", "no I won't let my tuna be counted", no I don't want to pay any more money for anything".

Maybe the timing just wasn't right? I don't know. At any rate, I'd enjoy sharing with you the present management issues being discussed, e-mail you the plan, and tell you what I know about this.

One point to ponder: Sport-caught tuna in Oregon, & Washington (except for 70% of the charter boats) are not being counted; if the regulators set quotas on commercial vs sport allottments, they may be based on catch data. In the eyes of regulators, if there is no record of our catches, we did not catch them.

Refer to this PFMC site for the current management process:
PFMC Highly Migratory Species

Thanks for asking!! - MarkMc

[Pilar]

Maybe they are not counting, but we are. Look at all of the posts regarding piles of dead tuna and photos and tell me that we have not set an adequate record.

Mark, the 250 page pill is a little hard for the layman to swallow. Can we boil it down a little and focus on the relevant parts? If you need any help with that E me and lets chat.

I'm with Corrirod about the tuna fishing. It must continue and we must make it sustainable for that to happen. 9 out of 10 new Tuna fishers agree, chasing Al is just too much fun.

It was bittersweet, blowing the Tuna horn. Share it, make it accessible or notorious even and risk having it become 'Popular', 'Highly regulated' or even 'closed'.

[ 09-16-2002, 07:25 AM: Message edited by: Pilar ]

[Mark Mc]

When I get the chance, I'll retrieve the white paper I wrote which does boil down the 250 page document. By "blowing the horn" I assume you meant turning other sportfishers on to tuna. The regulators were already moving on this 2 years ago. So rest assured, all these i-fish posts & new tuna fishers are not triggering the interest by the regulators; it was in the works.

If anything, I am hopeful that with this expanded group of tuna fishers, there will be more folks providing input into the management process on behalf of sportfishers.

The only possible "bad press" I have seen that may reflect badly on sportfishers comes from a few isolated incidents in N California, where one party boat in particular seems to have a reputation for having a few "deadheads" (non-paying hot-shots) catching 50 or 60 tuna each during wide-open bait bites, just to jack up the boat score. And the one story about a bunch of albacore rotting in a ditch in the Sac. Valley (this has turned into a cat-in-the-microwave story: it keeps getting repeated but no one has seen it).
We'll just have to add this to the list of causes:
- keep hatcheries open;
- sportfishing priority in groundfish / nearshore matters;
- highly migratory species management.

See Ya! MM

[Deepslayer]

Hey Mark, now athat I am a tuna addict I would like to see your "abridged" synopsis. I tried your link for the full report, but all I got was server unavailable. :depressed:
,Ed