Quote:
Originally Posted by cioppino
We americans are just as guilty as anyone else when it comes to commercial over-fishing. Dont just point the finger at the Mexicans.
Bob when it comes to local fish you have to realize that they were and are commercially targeted. Commercial fishing by definition is the act of taking fish from the ocean for the purpose of profit. Well last I checked half day and three quarter day boats werent running out there to bring home fillets to the family. They were and are doing it strictly for cash in the pocket.
A fishing pole is not much different than a commercial Jack pole, just more line and sometimes more hooks. So now you have four half day boats and two or three three quarter day boats heading out when business is good. Shoot might as well fill em up to capacity, after all its not about fishing pleasure its about selling as many tickets as you can. So all those boats add up to about two hundred or so fishermen a day running out to la jolla, oh yeah don forget about the twilight boat, wouldnt want to give the fish a break. Do that everyday for an entire summer and fall or for as long as you can sell a ton of tickets. Shoot that adds up to tens of thousands of lines hitting the water locally a month. That adds up to some serious commercial fishing pressure if you ask me. That my friend is why a calico over twelve inches is so hard to come by towards the end of summer and why rockfish are so small.
The problems are numerous and BIG. Pollution, commercial pressure, cattle boat pressure. Not sure what to do about it Bob. The DFG should take a good hard look at size and take limits. Might be the only way to truly help our local fish species.
Honestly the yak community is the smallest part of the equation. I understand your concern Bob, but man there are bigger fish to fry.
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Cioppino,
You are not going to get any disagreement from me on the points you mentioned above. I am sure that you are dead-on, including your statement that yakfishers are among the smallest dangers to a sustainable fishery. As a group, we are probably the most responsible fishers out there as well.
That does not alter my opinion that even though we may behave better than some others, we still need to do our best to help protect this resource we all love so much. I am hopeful that the PBers and Cattle Boat operators will do the same.
Most of us are already doing all the right things and that is terrific. Unfortunately, there are still a few among us who either disagree with this philosophy or have not yet gotten the message.
This thread began in response to some young guy bragging about how he was able to catch and kill three huge YT in three days. That was a remarkable feat that most of us will never experience. I am curious about what happened to all the meat from those fish. If it was all consumed or frozen to be eaten a few months from now, great. No harm, no foul.
If, on the other hand, some of those fish were killed for no reason other than so this gentleman could display his trophies and show off what a great fisher he is, I have a problem with that.
There is a world class fisherman among us who fishes nearly every day, mostly targeting YT and WSB. I have been beside this guy as caught and released a big YT. It was the first time I had seen this done. Later in the day, he caught another, which he kept. If he had caught a third on that day, I am sure it would have been released. I suspect that this great fisherman releases more fish during a typical season than most of the rest of us will catch in a lifetime. To me this is the responsible way to enjoy our sport.
Bob