CDFW Considers CaliHali Limit Reduction

Maybe they should ban all halibut fishing except from kayaks

I haven't looked into this myself, but it seems Hilborn is fraught with controversy himself.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/05/12/477827180/fisheries-scientist-becomes-latest-target-of-activist-s-records-requests

Ray Hilborn doesn’t seem prone to backing away from controversy. About funding I learned about that one from a journalist in 2010 or 11 so greenpeace wasn’t breaking any news, just a weak attempt at character assassination by ideologues, no attempt to challenge any of the science he’s done. Btw NPR put a link to his response in that article which is worth a read:

https://rayhblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/hilborn-response-to-greenpeace.pdf

Since Worm coauthored the paper w Hilborn in 2006 that discredited his original claim that global fish stocks would collapse by 2040 it seems like he should get equal billing w Hilborn as a “denier of overfishing” in the greenpeace complaint

Pretty conspicuous sin of omission there

Good! I hope this happens. Better to be pro-active about this.

Two halibut is plenty amid a growing population of fishermen. I'm going to write a letter before the May 17th meeting encouraging barbless hooks as well.

Actually the the number of fishermen in California has been on the decline. Over 2 million in the 70s, and down to a little under 1 million last year. The was a small bump up in the beginning of Covid but the numbers didn’t stick. Once our numbers get low enough the anti fishing/hunting groups will put an end to it. Here are the the statistics on license sales over the years:  https://wildlife.ca.gov/Licensing/Statistics

I don't know. I'd wager that the Bay Area fishing population has increased. The kayak fishing fleet has exploded in the last few years. Not only are parking lots crowded now, but the water is crowded. You can't troll in a straight line anymore without bumping into other kayaks. It wasn't this way 10 or more years ago.

In the past 20 years, I have seen what appears to be a steady increase in fishing activity along the coast of northern California. So, I would guess the decline in license sales reflects a decline in the quality of inland trout fishing, Delta/Central Valley fishing, and ocean salmon fishing.

The license sales statistics don’t really tell us the story. We  need to know fishing effort across various fisheries.

It seems like the majority of the population, and therefore fishing effort, would be in Southern California. The number of licenses sold and effort in LA is probably skewing the data if what we are concerned about is how many are sold north of Fresno.

The proposal will be discussed at the May 17, 2023 California Fish and Game Commission teleconference meeting.

What is the time-frame for adoption if they aren't discussing it until a month from now?  Doesn't seem fast enough

The proposal will be discussed at the May 17, 2023 California Fish and Game Commission teleconference meeting.

What is the time-frame for adoption if they aren't discussing it until a month from now?  Doesn't seem fast enough

Isn't that the day after the salmon season advisory board meeting? Maybe there will be input about halibut at the meeting/discussion?

I never catch even ONE