I am in St. Petersburg, Florida at the Marine Resource Education Program this week. We are learning about stock assessments and the regulation making process. This is an outreach program and they want us to reach out to other fishermen to get them more involved in the process. Is anyone interested in having a discussion about this? Please let me know if you are and feel free to ask any questions.
Anyone who wants to contact me directly can do so at. freefish7@hotmail.com
Freefish, Should I assume from this post that you are a fishery manager, possibly with DNR or Noaa? If so, I think fishermen CRAVE information on how decisions are made. What you suggest is a wonderful idea.
Be careful what you ask for Free!!
Not positive (okay I am positive) that Skineej, Phin and of course Sells would LOVE to talk about this! Hope you aren’t doing anything for the next few months - those guys have more information than you can ever imagine!
Thanks for trying to include us in how the process works!
It seems kinda broken to me!!!
36 Contender Fisharound
Are We There Yet?
Have heard about this program up in the Northeast…Here is info on the program: http://www.gmri.org/community/display.asp?a=5&b=15&c=266
And the workshop agenda: http://www.gmri.org/community/display.asp?a=5&b=15&c=270
Always wishin’ I was fishin’…
I am a commercial fisherman who has been actively defending our freedom to fish and eat them for the past three years. I believe in offering positive solutions that solve problems rather then just complaining. I was invited to attend the workshop BFTFishGal provided the link to with the expectation that I would share what I learned with other fishermen and try to get more people involved in the process. I have also been invited to apply for one of the three open seats on the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s Snapper/Grouper Advisory Panel. I do not mind doing any of this, but I really want to get others involved and be a voice for everyone who loves our fisheries and freedom. I want to use this site and others to discuss ideas and work together. I even have an online radio show set up so we can have live discussions about issues whenever we want.
This meeting has been very positive and given me new hope that we can solve many of the problems in our fisheries. We just need enough people who are willing to get involved. I will give a summary of the meeting after it is over and be happy to answer any questions. You can learn more about me and what I am doing on my website. www.freefish7.com Thank you.
This is a summary of my experience at the Marine Resource Education Program in St. Petersburg, Florida. Overall it was a very positive experience and I learned a lot. The program directors asked us to be something like ambassadors to our fellow fishermen and other concerned citizens. They want us to share what we learned with others and try to get more people involved in the fishery management process. How many people are willing to get involved will determine how successful this program was and how well our fisheries will be managed in the future.
Two things that kept coming up were uncertainty in almost everything in the fishery management process and the need for better data. John Carmichael gave a good presentation of how stock assessments are done. We talked several times one on one and I got the sense he did not have an agenda, but was just using the data provided within the Magnuson-Stevens Act guidelines. We agreed on many issues. Most of the other presenters and scientists were very open and willing to talk. The only real clash came with one presenter when I asked if the Constitutionality of things like Vessel Monitoring Systems and onboard cameras were considered. He bluntly told me that because we were harvesting a public resource, those rights did not apply to us. I disagree and do not think he would like to have a camera in his office we could watch since he is a public servant paid with public money to manage public resources. I did not push the issue to avoid a scene. I also asked about the Law of the Sea Treaty when that came up and the presenter supported it. He mentioned many other names of high level public servants who support it as well while dismissing my question about the UN taxing or otherwise profiting from the harvest of offshore resources including seafood.
I would like to discuss a few options about better data collection that could help extend seasons and achieve better results from stock assessments. Here are two options, one for recreational and one for commercial fishermen