Once and Future
2013-09-22 16:43:39
If you're wondering where this topic comes from, read the thread under "Oregon king fishing", of all things.
And let me tell you where talk of quota systems come from. It comes from fishermen who, when they were young, could outwork anybody to make their livings. But as they age, they realize they can no longer fish as long and hard as the young guys coming up. So they want to change the rules to preserve their share of the pie so no one can wrest it from them the way they wrested it from the previous "old timers". The want credit for work they have done in the past, and they want to rest on their laurels.
And where does that leave the young guys coming up, who have no money, and no way to compete in the world other than young muscles, a tough mental attitude, and their wits?
Life lesson: Everyone looks at everything from their own perspective, and does not put themselves in the other guy's shoes. We all feel sorry for ourselves.
Feel free to fire away at me, I can take it. Probably won't even bother to defend myself. And the funny thing is, I have neither the knowledge and experience (or catch history) of the old timers, nor the stamina and good looks of the youngsters.
akfish
2013-09-22 18:43:43
That very well could be the case. I have heard talks of this before since it is done down south I am sure it has been talked about here before as well. I was just listening in on the converstion and dont have the experience to really have an educated opinion. One of the guys was a young and had a 30ft double ender. He said he did like 80 Kings on the day of the opener but when the weather changed he just couldnt take that Kind of water and ended up with not as many fish as he wanted. The two older guys one of which claimed was going to try and approach the board of fisheries had other points. Kelper in one of the other posts keyed in on one which was what happens if they just dont show up until the next week? Wounded fish. Fishing a quota system would allow people to fish in calmer water and spread it out over the summer and be able to keep the Kings you catch while targeting Coho. Those are all good points but being able to apply something that work for the fisherman as well as Fish is probably not possible. Interesting though that two of the guys on this forum from down south fish with a different system than we have made a few comments and it would be interesting to learn how exactly it works there!
akfish
2013-09-23 00:23:13
I am not nearly computer literate enough to know how to post a link here. Oregon dept of Fish and Wildlife has a weekly breakdown if their chinook troll fishery online. Updated only until the end of July so far but interesting to look at!
Salty
2013-09-23 02:43:09
Thank you,
I have a sign up on my wall by my desk that says "Young at heart, slightly older in other places." A couple of comments:
1. Not everyone looks at problems solely from their own perspective. One of the things you are taught in some courses is to look at things from multiple perspectives. It is especially helpful when debating to have looked at the topic from the perspective of your opponents.
2. Not everyone looks for solutions solely for their own gain. I fondly remember the older fishermen who were willing to put both time and money into getting our SE hatchery programs going even after they realized they would be retired before real benefit arrived. I also was part of a group of vested fishermen who worked with ADF&G to leave ling cod as an open entry fishery to help guys get started without big capital for a limited entry permit. If you go to enough fishery meetings over enough time you will find examples of both people only thinking about their own gain and others who are sincerely working for the resource and the future.
While I undoubtedly fall into the "old fisherman" category both in terms of age and years trolling, I am still a strong proponent of a troll fishery which encourages and rewards labor, initiative, and innovation, as opposed to quota systems which reward history and capital at the expense of labor and initiative. That does not mean I favor the status quo in troll management. I think we constantly evolve and improve or we decay.
Tough day for me with a death in the family. Thanks for these posts to distract me for a while.
fveureka
2013-09-24 14:07:16
another way to look at the IFQ program, also know as the I f****n quit, is have a 2 tier license like Canada. West Coastal Trollers and Inland waters trollers. I believe if you can't fish you can lease quota and buy both licenses. They also have equal access to areas such the Taku here would be opened up for sockeye trolling and not sewed up by the gillnet fleet.
carojae
2013-10-08 16:36:24
When this old timer was young, tough, hard to bluff I didn't know squat about the finer points of fishing. I always thought I did but hindsight is pretty clear.
Now that I am old and do know some of the finer points (so they say) I can't work my a** off anymore... and so it goes.
I am still stewing over the halibut and black cod IFQ debacle; so count me in on the "screw IFQ'S" section.
Jim