As if the Regs Weren’t too Much Already 3

103, that's right, 103.  That's how many proposed rule changes are set to be ruled on for the 2010-2012 fishing seasons.  We as sportfisherman have from now until Dec. 5 to make our voice heard. I am just now getting in to all of these proposed rule changes and some of them have validity and some I feel are very mis-guided.  As I have stated quite a few times in the past if we as sportsfishermen don't get more active politically, then we are going to continually see are rights and access taken away one proposal at a time.  I for one can't stand for this and I will not let some do-gooder with an agenda determine my access to the sport that I love. 

The first proposal that really caught my eye was proposal #8. It reads as follows:

#8. Daily Limit for Other Food Fish
Proposal: For species of food fish for which no daily bag limit has been established, the daily limit
would be 2 fish of any species.
Explanation: Under current rules if no daily limit has been established for a species of food fish,
there is no limit on the daily take. The proposal would establish a daily limit of two such fish per day
with the intent of providing limited harvest opportunity while also providing conservation. Most of the
fish affected by this rule change are uncommon in Washington waters and include species such as
bonito, white seabass and barracuda. If large numbers of any of these species were to occur in
Washington waters in future years, and the resource would support higher rates of harvest, the
department could quickly modify the rules through the emergency rule process to increase harvest
rates.

Now you might be asking yourself, "why do I care about that, I have never even heard of a barracuda being caught in Washington waters".  Well, when I saw that rule I wondered to myself what else is on that list?  Is albacore on that list?  I called WDFW and was told that albacore was on that list but for a complete list I would have to contact someone else in the department.  Contact I did and then I was told that albacore is not on the list.  When I pressed for a complete list I finally saw that indeed albacore is on the list. I know, I know, albacore are caught in federal waters and it doesn't apply here.  Well, here is a scenario for you.  You and your buddies get on a hot bite of albies early one morning, fill your boat and decide we have all the tuna we want, let's head back in to catch our limit of salmon.  Well under this new rule you would no longer be able to do that.  You can't fish an area when it is closed or you are over the limit of fish on board for that particular area, even though you might be fishing for something else.  Are you going to leave it to enforcement to make a discernable decision here?  Not me. I fear that this is the first step in the state getting involved in regulating how many albacore land on our shores.  We already know that at least one commisioner wants to discuss limits for albies.

There are quite a few other proposals that I  may or may not have issue with as well.  On page 147 of the proposals is a suggestion that the slot for lingcod be reduced from 40 down to 36 inches.  There is also proposal to limit bottom fishing to 120 ft or less.  Did you hear that they want to reduce the daily limit of dungees down to 4 from the 5 we have now? By the way, I am only on page 3 of the actual proposals.  You may or may not agree with some or all of these proposals but unless you read, research, and make your voice heard you will let OTHER people determine your rights and access to our states resources.

For a list of all the proposals and and where to send your comments, please click below:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/do/newreal/release.php?id=sep2409a