Great post Capt. Dom. While I hate to be affect by management decisions as much as the next guy, I wasn't participating in the Cod fishery when it boomed. I got into it when it was at the absolute bottom. So my entire experience has been one of year over year growth, with NO keeper cod in the first few seasons. I am happy to see the recovery taking place, but I would not call it a success by any stretch. It's just gotten better. The fish are typically small and they are thin. The fishery is still precarious IMO.
It's been a long slow recovery and I cringe when I see huge number of fish being hauled in by anyone, commercial, charters, OR rec's. I know I am going to have a lot of trips and catch a lot of fish over the season. I try to just take what I and my family will eat between trips with a little left for the freezer in the winter. I eat fish once a week at best. One trip can cover me for a month, and I fish more often than that. I don't think I have ever made my bag limit on the bank. I could, but I don't. I can't see the point of 4 rec guys hauling in 25 fish a piece (in the no bag limit areas).
M |