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The whole process is in many ways brilliant by those who would love to eliminate fishing. They have the legislative authority to shut down large portions of fishing grounds and are pushing hard to complete the process before those most affected have the time to organize and provide counter arguments.
They also seem to understand that closing certain areas will be more effective in reducing fishing because they will reduce access. These areas are targeted for closure while other areas that are similar in geography and biological makeup are not considered.
The science presented was incomplete and largely inconclusive. I don't mean to say that a college professor with a hand full of students looking at a small amount of data and previous models is incompetent, I just don't think it's sufficient data to warrant endangering the lifestyle and livelihoods of many Californians.
Any working model should be constantly measuring the error between predicted results and estimated results. The only clear predictions I heard were not quantifiable. When questions were asked for clear predictions and expectations for the closures, they were immediately dismissed.
I guess my point is there were groups and individuals that painted fishermen as ignorant people who want to kill all the fish and environment they live in. At least one speaker accused us of ruining the chances for our children to fish. Fishermen are not stupid, ignorant people, but what we seem to be is complacent and maybe even lazy. We are about to lose a lot with little justification but the large majority of us are just standing by unwilling to participate.
-the other Josh
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