Vanishing Halibut in the Bay (Santa Monica Bay)

Interesting. I think in these times there are too many knee jerk reactions. My bet is its a cycle. For instance the 2010 salmon run up the Frasier river. It's just a cycle like every single thing on this planet.

Have you noticed a decline Mike? Many times there is an exaggeration on the part of the fishermen. I have only heard that the numbers have rebounded since the ban of inshore gill netting.

What say you???

Read the comment on the page about the wetlands being gone. I wonder if it's a valid observation. Also, where the hell do they get all those numbers of fish in lbs anyways? I've never been there so don't know but it's interesting for sure.

some rambling thoughts.

Read the details. Look at the graphs.
California Department of Fish & Game, Marine Region, State Finfish Management Project, California Halibut Stock Assessment

Read the Peer review
http://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=36258&inline=true

The models have great uncertainty....

Do we have less halibut and less wetlands than 1910.... Of course... and wetlands are important to halibut..... but are we at 13 or 14% of unfished???? I find that hard to believe.

Are there natural cycles -Yes... on local and larger scales.

Things I know from personal observation diving (a lot) for halibut since 1952. -- now there are more 15#+ halibut being taken by recreational fishermen than for most of the past 50 years.... I credit the gill net ban in state waters.

Changes in Catch.... In the 60's (see graph) there were massive halibut catchies inside LA Harbor. You would see boats just off Belmont shores loading up every afternoon. I also remember great halibut diving at Torrance Beach and Malaga cove in the 60's.

Cycles and local changes.... There's an area we dove a lot at Catalina in the early 80's that looked good for halibut.... but I only found a few. That same area for the last few years has be a go to spot for good size halibut...........

I'm not sure but I think gill nets are still used / allowed on the Ventura shelf outside of State waters.... This is a major halibut area. And these fish move around, so still some impact.

So, what's to come. I assume we'll see a lower limit on halibut...

Quote from The freediver

Read the comment on the page about the wetlands being gone. I wonder if it's a valid observation. Also, where the hell do they get all those numbers of fish in lbs anyways? I've never been there so don't know but it's interesting for sure.

Very very valid point about the wetlands. They are instrumental to local species, especially halibut. It'll be interesting to see how the Huntington Beach wetlands being opened up.

-Davis

La redes de arrastre en fondos de arena hacen mucho daño, no solo se llevan el pescado deseado el indeseado (Descarte equivale a: un cajon de pescado bueno,
doce de pescado malo) y destrozan los alevines,
huevos, ademas de destrozar la comida de los depredadores que viven en la arena, ¿CUESTION?, depredadores desaparecen y supervivientes cambian
de ubicación aguas mas tranquilas
Las cifras y gráficos son realizadas por las declaraciones de las capturas de desembarco de los pescadores profesionales, las autoridades se fían de
esas declaraciones, a veces exageran un poco según intereses ecologistas, otras son la realidad.

<º)))))><

The trawls on sandy bottoms do much damage, not just take the unwanted fish desired (Discard equals: a box of good fish, bad fish twelve) and destroy the fry,
eggs, besides destroying the food of predators living in Lorraine sand, Questioning?, surviving predators disappear and change
Location calmer waters
Figures and graphics are made by the statements landing catches of professional fishermen, the authorities are wary of
such statements, sometimes exaggerated somewhat by environmental interests, others are reality.

A good amount of people catching halibut from shore are now practicing catch and release. This is also very true with corbina and surf perch. I think any population numbers based on pounds taken rather than total number caught can open a door to incorrect info.

of course the pounds landed is less now than when they were able to fish with gill nets when the fish were in spawning .now its harder to catch them with the gear that commercials are allowed to use. if they were allowed to use gill nets again for a year i bet the tonnage landed would be right back up or above the old numbers.the guy that the quoted in the article also is pushing for a halibut hatchery where he fishes ,and if the numbers ore fine why should there be a hatchery?there is always more to consider when you look at a report like this.
phil