Does anyone think we should do our part to make sure most of that quota is not allocated to dead discards?
Found your website and bought some Calendars with a donation.
Thanks for your help!
NN
07, 23 Key West, Twin 115 Yammys
“Coastal Bound”
I think we should do that. What do we need to do? Are we going to get a season?
Thank you DoubleN!
scdiver, I will be talking to some SAFMC members this week about ways we can collect data the council will recognize. Almost everyone can take video with their phones now. We need fishermen to send the council video proof of anglers using decent assist devices on fish with barotrauma. We could start a voluntary tagging program to collect data on discard mortality and other information needed for better stock assessments. We can have a significantly longer season next year if we start soon. We could have an eight month season in 2015 if enough fishermen will work together.
would they be willing to work with the public to do our own barotrauma survivablility studies? it is not that hard to catch fish then lower them in a large cage and monitor them after a few days to show that rapid recompression will without a doubt reduce bycatch mortality.
baracuda, the new council Chairman said he wants to work with his fellow fishermen to collect better data. This sounds like a great way to start.
i would be willing to donate time and fuel as well as materials for making the cages etc… but only if they will be willing to work with me and accept the data as valid. of course they would have oversight of the project so that everything would be on the up-and-up. i will not be able to attend the meeting in december due to work. if you are able to get some ■■■■■■■■ from the chairman about working on this, send me a PM.
quote:What about cage mortality?
Originally posted by baracudawould they be willing to work with the public to do our own barotrauma survivablility studies? it is not that hard to catch fish then lower them in a large cage and monitor them after a few days to show that rapid recompression will without a doubt reduce bycatch mortality.
These studies have been done in the GOM and if I recall, it showed an 80+% survival rate. The SSC (Scientists who come up with this regulation fantasy) choose not to use this information. Furthermore, I showed a couple of weeks ago that their own documents dictate that barotrauma is NOT the leading cause of death in “catch mortality” but instead, “hook trauma” was the #1. Now that circle hooks are in place, this number should already have dropped drastically.
well we cant beat information into their heads from previous studies, but in a controlled experiment with adequate oversight from their own people and proper oversight, they will not be able to refuse the data. even if the survival proves to be only 80%, it is still better than the number they are using i am sure.
quote:I think my point is that if they didn't go for the idea the first time around, why should we do the same thing and expect them to adopt it the second time around? That being said, if they did approve of it, I would be in support.
Originally posted by baracudawell we cant beat information into their heads from previous studies, but in a controlled experiment with adequate oversight from their own people and proper oversight, they will not be able to refuse the data. even if the survival proves to be only 80%, it is still better than the number they are using i am sure.
And again, barotrauma is a small percentage with respect to catch and release mortality. If you want to make the biggest impact, go for the biggest bottleneck…
well with all the success of the previous arguments brought to them… i guess you are right. we should bring the same arguments with the same approach and expect a different result
I talked with Bob Mahood(SAFMC Executive Director) and several other council staff today including Chairman Hartig about working with willing fishermen to collect data for stock assessments including data about discard mortality. Everyone said it should not be a problem and to talk with John Carmichael about the details. I will be having lunch on Thursday with John, Chairman Hartig, and a few fishermen including fishnbarrels to discuss this issue.
Don’t give up on the Barotrauma reduction idea, but Skinnee is right about attacking the low hanging fruit. If “hook trauma” was the #1 item on their list and it has been resolved or at least greatly reduced with the requirement of non-stainless circle hooks, then it should be removed from #1 and placed further down the list. THOSE FISH SHOULD BE GIVEN BACK TO US!!
We haven’t pushed the right button yet, but by keeping pressure on these guys, they at least know we are watching what they are up to. Having the ear of some of our Representatives and feeding them good information / data is definitely a plus.
My gratitude to you guys that dig up the data and lead the way.
218WA Sailfish
The "Penn"sion Plan
quote:
My gratitude to you guys that dig up the data and lead the way.
Mine too. What can I do to help the cause?
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
We should make sure any videos of fishermen using decent assist devices also shows the circle hook being carefully removed. Any video submissions to the SAFMC should be accompanied with a brief summary of what is happening and asking the council to reduce the official discard mortality rates. We should also do a voluntary tagging program to collect better data over time. Please send videos and comments to this email address. safmc@safmc.net Please also post your submissions on here and other social media sites to encourage other fishermen to do the same thing.
FYI - fished yesterday. Caught well over 100 fish and and only had 1 floater which was a small to medium size sea bass… No release device was needed.
i agree, well over 95% of fish dont need the device. i never descend sea bass, triggers, or snapper/grouper under about 20". i have notices the vast majority of floaters are larger snapper and grouper in over 100’. after a long fight they dont have enough energy left to get themselves back down.
i 100% agree with pushing the circle hook issue as far as we can. i am just looking to the future so that we can keep them on their toes and bring fresh data and arguments to the table.
already working on plans to set up a camera rig with the gopro, and will be hopefully be getting some footage of both small snapper being caught and successfully released with minimal impacts due to circle hooks. also, using the descent devices to release any larger fish in greater depths, which is the target of the MPA restructuring, to cover more of the deeper water where they are concerned with their other precious species.
My only concern is that there is only so much effort that the average fisherman will donate to “the cause”… If we burn them out on issues that will not help, then we lose. I’m all about “doing something”, but I want to know it will have a big impact and I don’t want to waste time and effort on issues when there are bigger fish to fry. It’s like we are throwing spaghetti noodles at the wall hoping a few will stick.
well i will just keep flinging noodles
Hey Skinnee, how many are there to get “burned out”?
Seems you would have to be “engaged” in some way in order for that to happen. Just doesn’t seem to me that many are, or, not as many as there once was.
Just sayin, you certainly know more about this than I do.
Thanks,
NN
07, 23 Key West, Twin 115 Yammys
“Coastal Bound”