———–More indecision by the Asmfc weakfish board——–
The weakfish are in the most depleted condition in history with the real possibility of extinction! 98% of the letters received were pleading for a moratorium for weakfish. The data clearly indicated a moratorium would offer the best chance for recovery. Yet, the weakfish board made one more bad decision,in allowing 100 pound by catch per trip” for ever commercial net on the east coast and to allow recreational fishermen to kill the last of the breeders. obviously, this decision was made in complete disregard to the majority and the science. It is time for some new council members!
Tom Fote quote—–
How do you keep an industry going?
You know, we also talk about we’re supposed to
build a sustainable fishery for a sustainable industry.
If you start closing down both those industries, it
takes a long time for that industry to recover. end——-
MR. RICHEN BRAME —–quote
I think this stock is in such a state that you need to
tell the public that it’s in real trouble. It’s near
collapse.
Even with a moratorium, it won’t recover in 20 years.
Your goal should be to maintain as much SSB as
possible in order to allow a quicker recovery
whenever the conditions allow it to recover. The
good news is this is not a red snapper or a goliath
grouper. It doesn’t have a 40-year recovery time. It
can recover in two or three or four years, so we’re not
looking at a long moratorium. I think that this is a
time when this commission needs to stand up and say
this fishery is real trouble and we need to stop fishing
for them. It’s pretty much that simple. Thank you.
Quote——- MR. MARK GIBSON ——————quote:
Even if that’s all I got, it’s better to
have twice as much than zero and put the stock
precariously close to extinction as far as I can see
from this. I think the peer review panel said much
the same thing, that F is still a limiting – is
exacerbating the problem and it’s unsustainable.
That’s what you have to manage. A lot of managers
don’t like to accept the fact that what you have to
manage is F and that sometimes sustainable Fs
declines with externalities that happen to fish stocks.
It’s a lot like the serenity prayer if you’re familiar
with it. You know, you have the wisdom to know the
difference between the things you can change and
those that you can’t and have the courage to change
the ones you do. I think that’s what we’re faced with
here.
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