 Half Moon Bay Riptide Sportfishing & Whale Watching Ahoy there! I have enclosed a document that I will submit to the PFMC Council Oct 30-Nov2 in regards to the changes in our ROCK FISH season for the year 2001. The Council meets next week in Vancouver WA. These recommendations are a result of a meeting of the group of individuals listed at the end of the document. If you wish to add your support to this statement of recommendations from the recreational fishing community please provide me with exactly how you wish to have your name listed. The Council prefers to be informed of your full name, address, phone, and affailiation so that is the specific kind of information you need to provide me. The more individuals who support this effort, the stronger my voice will be in representing all of our needs to the Council. In addition, in December the California Department of Fish and Game will adopt and modify the recommendations from the PFMC. We anticipate good news for California anglers and we will again be looking for your support in early December. ____________________________________________________________ Date: October 28, 2000 To: Pacific Fisheries Management Council From: Capt. William E. Smith Riptide Sportfishing Reference: CPFV Proposed Recommendations for the PFMC Groundfish Meetings Vancouver WA October 31-November 2, 2000 The commercial passenger fishing vessels (CPFV) working the Central Coast of California want to express our collective concern for the health of the fisheries and publicly acknowledge it is our desire to preserve our marine environment. We are the stewards of this valuable resource and the preservation of the marine environment for our children and future generations is the concern of us all. We have reviewed the options presented by PFMC for the year 2001 recreational fishing season along the California coast. The individuals below are expressing our support for specific options as follows. On-Board Observers: We support on-board observers. We feel that the accurate reporting of the fish we catch is very important and on-board observers will improve the quality of data available for analysis. Log Books: We agree with the need for more detailed log books. This will ensure more accurate data collection and although this will require additional time on our part, we are confident that more detailed logs will provide the governing agencies with the ability to make a more thorough analysis of the situation. The MRFSS data collection process does not provide a clear analysis of the coastal waters. The MRFSS data collection needs to be reviewed as there is evidence of significant deficits in this process. The data provided by the new log books will provide a new data source to balance against what MRFSS provides. Bag Limit: We support the option of maintaining the bag limit of 10 rock fish (of which 2 bocaccio, 1 canary) and 2 ling cod (ling cod 26 in. minimum size). The savings of the amounts of bocaccio from the closures in the south for the “cow cod” should help with the amount of total catch. It is important to note that recreational fishery came in under the total tonnage for bocaccio in 2000. Hooks: A status quo of three hooks is our first choice. If there has to be a reduction of hooks then our recommendation is 2 hooks as the use of only one hook will actually increase the pressure on the specific species we are trying to avoid. With multiple hooks, anglers will fish within the school fish above the bottom, thereby avoiding the affected species dwelling on the bottom. Further economic impact on CPCV is that fishing in deep water with only one hook will likely decimate our clientele as the productivity will be severely limited for the amount of work involved. Weather: As we are certain the governing agencies are aware, weather is a significant factor in this fishery. Winter and spring storms often force cancellation of trips. For a CPFV, once a day is lost, it is never reclaimed. When considering the actual closure periods, we are asking that the agencies take into account the weather impact on the fishery. Rare is the season when fishing is consistent throughout the winter and spring months due to good weather. Closures: Given that there has to be any closure, it is our preference to retain a status quo of the year 2000 two (2) month closure (March and April). These recommendations come from the CPFV representatives listed below and also represent concerns that have been expressed to us by both our customers and private recreational anglers. We believe these recommendations represent a “go slow” approach to further limitations on the recreational regulations. This approach is important because an accurate assessment of the effects of the changes that were made during the year 2000 has not yet taken place. That assessment is essential before significant additional impact is forced upon the recreational fishing community. Also, the recruitment cycles of the fish cannot be accurately assessed until further data collection (i.e. triannual trawl survey and Cal Cofy Survey combined with the new log data and on-board observers) has been analyzed. Finally, we wish to emphasize to the Council that the recreational fishery has the ability to easily move to another fishing area to lessen impact on the species of concern. |
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