"The existing GOA Prohibited Species Cap (PSC) limits have been in place for trawl fisheries since 1986 and for fixed gear fisheries since 1996."
"Monitoring of both historical and current bycatch mortality is inadequate, and the PSC limit for trawl fisheries should be reduced as a precautionary measure until the improved observer procedures are implemented, at which time the estimated bycatch mortality levels can be re-evaluated in the context of halibut stock dynamics." http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/npfmc/current_issues/halibut_issues/IPHC_PSCdiscpaper311.pdf
This has been an open secret for fifty years, as far as domestic trawling in the Gulf of Alaska is concerned. We know it. We have plenty of living witnesses. But few have had the balls to make it public. That rare video tape that you find on this blog illustrates the point that lies and deception have ruled the day. Money does indeed talk. So when the stodgy folks at the IPHC finally come clean and say that trawling on halibut stocks threatens the survival of those stocks, well, take heart. I smell change in the air. Or am I down wind of the haulout?
Keep yer flippers wet.
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4 comments:
HUZZAH
And isn't it about time?
Please, a round of applause for the IPHC, better yet, a standing ovation for finally stating the obvious. Enough already! It's time for the trawl industry to shoulder their fair share of the burden of conservation efforts when it comes to halibut. Lower the halibut psc cap and dare to strand some trawler catch? Damn right. Let's just hope that the NPFMC has the cajones to do it. Can't wait to hear the spin from the draggers on this one!
As much as none of us want Big Brother involved, it might be time for the policy makers in DC to take a second look at how the NPFMC is failing to get it right. DC seems so ready to defend Q, perhaps they might see that vested Q holders are doomed if bycatch waste is not stopped, at least in regard to halibut. Surgical trawling might be sustainable. This wholesale butchery is not.
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