Fluke Season is Open

[Billfish715]

These are smaller than some of the river fish I've caught. They were for sale in a local market. Notice the price on the sign which also indicates the place of origin or capture. Size limits or no size limits, these are fish that any of us would have voluntarily released. They were (at best) 13"! You can't tell me that at the price per pound, the commercial guys are not making a living! It's no wonder why the commercial fishing lobby is so determined to hold on to its share of the fluke quota!

The commercial fishery will get its share of the quota no matter how many fish they catch to get them there. Imagine how many fish of this 12" size they will take to make their quota. Unfortunately, if they threw those fish back, the fish would die anyhow.

The biggest obstacle for us (the recreational fishermen) to overcome is the fact that our quotas are nebulous. They can never be accurately measured and can only be determined by a conceived formula. Whether we meet a prescribed quota or not can't be accurately measured; whereas the commercial quota can be gauged by the required recorded weights at each of the commercial fishing co ops.

So the argument goes on. The recreational fishermen have no process to legitimately record the total weight of their catch and therefore there is no way to accurately determine how many fish they caught. As a result, the scientists can only estimate how many fluke were taken. The fear is that if the recreational fishermen catch too many fish there will be fewer for the commercial guys to harvest and therefore there is a threat they will make less money.

It's a vicious circle. One last observation is that the fluke that were for sale in the picture at best might have weighed one pound. In order to "monger" one pound of fillets, several fish would have to be cut up to fill the bill. How is any of this "conservation"? Establishing a larger size limit on commercial fluke would ensure more small fluke would be spared while still maintaining the same poundage quota with a smaller amount of fish being harvested. Wouldn't that be conservation? Isn't it better to harvest fewer fish which are larger and weigh more in order to promote the growth of more and bigger fluke? Or, if the fisheries managers are intent on conservation. then decrease the commercial quota of fluke. The reduction in quota tonnage would allow fewer fish to be harvested and in that way it would increase the fluke population.

It makes sense to me but what do I know? I'm not a scientist.