It is premature to claim the lobster resource is over-exploited. Let's see the data first. If a downward trend is indicated, changes will be justified.
Lobster is one of the DFG's best success stories due to intensive management. As Jim Salazar points out in Ed Zieralski's UT story, it is more effective and approrpriate to reduce limits and adjust minimum / maxium sizes rather than change gear types.
Here's the thing about hooping that those divers and commercial lobstermen who resent sharing the resource fail to mention (this is shaping up to be an allocation war, but they don't all hate hoopers - some believe in fairness
). For most people, the technique has a de facto depth limit. The majority of hoop netters give it up before they get into deep water - the nets are too much work to haul. Just like abalone, a portion of the resource is always in safe harbor (from hoopers anyway). It's not an issue for the commercial fleet.
One part of this proposed action is tremendously overdue - a definition for hoop net. Let's just hope its reasonable. If conical nets are targeted, it would be much better to propose a fished limit rather than ban products that have been on the market for years. Ouch $$$$.
But the idea of a hoop net posession limit is unreasonable, like saying you can't have more than 5 fishing rods on deck, whether fished or not. No more supporting kayaks from a bigger boat if this is approved. All they need to do to fix this is change the regulation from baited to fished or deployed in the water. And come on! If a net has been baited it's pretty obvious, even if the bugs have already gone to town on it:
Quote:
The current wording in subsection 29.80(b) needs to be written in a way that makes the intention of the section more enforceable. Currently a person may not fish with more then 5 baited hoop nets south of Piont Arguello while taking crabs and lobsters. The wording “fished” and “baited” make this section hard to enforce. In order to meet the elements of a crime, the nets in the water have to be baited. If the lobster
or crabs eat the bait when in the water prior to the warden pulling the hoop net, there would be no violation since the net is not baited. New wording needs to be added to the section making the limit for hoop nets, a possession limit, not a “fished” limit. This way the section can be enforceable.
|