Area 4 Halibut closed Thursday 5/21

[BruceL2_Fish]

I just called WDFW to confirm, halibut is closed tomorrow opens again on Saturday.  This is total bull, no notice and they close the fishery.

[GregE]

It's not on the web page?????  Who did you talk with, ph # ??

Listening to the hot line  360 902 2500

[BruceL2_Fish]

I talked to both the call line and the regional office. I suggest all call to register out displeasure at the poor planning and communication by the state. The regional office said the notice is being generated now.

[GregE]

Yes confirmed at the Coastal Office  360 249 4628

Said they had enough quota for one day and selected Sat for better weather and more access......

Expressed my displeasure-  I'm sure they are going to hear more of same.

[GregE]

Reply form WDFW copied from BDs

The news release should go out shortly. We had a long conference call this morning with folks from Neah Bay, La Push, IPHC and NMFS. We only have enough quota for one more day in the North Coast and while I recognize the short notice is not something we typically do, there was strong support for offering a Saturday rather than a Thursday to provide more fishing opportunity and give anglers better access to the remaining resource. We also considered the weather which is marginal for Thursday and better on Saturday which should also improve access for fishermen. The decision to close Neah Bay after one more fishing day was going to be difficult regardless and I felt more comfortable explaining the short notice than explaining that the last day would be offered on a day that could create safety issues for some. I am responsible for the decision, I hope my explanation of the rationale behind the decision helps. ~Heather

[GregE]

Just phoned HemiGTX - they were already to CQ.

gonna be a lot of unhappy folks showing up a NB

[rasslingref]

What the heck?  Less than 24 hour notice. Someone earned a huge black eye on this deal. See most of you up there.


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[Chasin Baitman]

OH

MY

GOD

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is so typical of the ever-increasing incompetence of the agency.  They will say "we don't WANT to do this and find no joy taking opportunity away from anglers, especially at the last minute" which is absolutely true.  But it doesn't mean they aren't incompetent.

Radio Shack didn't WANT to go bankrupt.  Hoover didn't WANT to country to slide into a depression.  Wanting the right thing to happen doesn't necessarily equal good management.

Unsworth is off to such a bad start.

[Threeweight]

The notice sucks, but the quota isn't set by WDFW, that comes from the Pacific Halibut Commission and is set jointly by the US and Canada.  We burned through a metric shat ton of halibut quota last week at Neah Bay.  I know not everyone got into fish, but judging by the fish cleaning station most boats limited both days.  My three guys got 6 keepers, and released at least 6 or 8 more.

The ham-fisted thing is the late notice. 

[Chasin Baitman]

Yeah, managing the quota is THEIR JOB.  The problem is how slowly the data moves through the system due to bureaucratic inefficiency.  Surprise!  This is exactly what happened with blackmouth in area 7.  When they reduced the bag limit to 1 they were ALREADY OVER QUOTA but didn't know it because the data moves so slow.  When they finally got caught up they were like "oh crap, we have to close the area!".  Awful.

[croaker stroker]

"Heather" is going to receive a lot of flak for that one.   

[Chasin Baitman]

Pretty soon we're all going to be "recreational boaters" here in WA

[HemiGTX]

Thanks for the call, Greg.  We ducked into Sekiu and will pound it out here on Thurs-Fri, then head up to Neah after the morning tide.  Several Arimas here already. 

I called wdfw and voiced my disgust as well. 

[CanvasGuy]

Well Thanks to Bruce's call
we changed plans and are staying here in Sequim sleeping @ home...
mooring @ John Wayne for 4 hali days...

Thanks Again Bruce. boats in the water ready to go.
big salmon isn't taking any calls left message before the box was full...
They owe me credit for last week , they overcharged me for two days moorage..plus todays.. we'll see...
Good luck to the guys out west...

[HANNIBAL II]

Run over to Canada?

[BigMac]

I was at C 11 when the word came down.  Found out via the fish checker, who after checking in our fish, went to the blue North River tied up in C 13.

The guy apparently hadn't heard the word yet, so it fell on the poor fish checker to give him the bad news.  He really got steamed and ripped on her, but she kept her cool and it never got out of control.  I was watching and listening in case it really got ugly (don't know what I would have done, but fortunately didn't get to find out).

I felt so sorry for her, so I stopped her as she went by C 11 and complimented her on the way she handled the situation.

Yeah--they could have figured out the count and made the decision sooner. Would have limited the heartburn.  Maybe their abacus was broken.

(Dave)

[dbhazjack]

Hi Dave, (Big Mac), I was behind you in C11 in the "white white" 17 Chaser.
Thanks for your help at the dock. I wish we could of fished with you guys. Maybe next year.
As to the poor checker, it seems that the folks that make the decisions are seldom the ones in contact with the public. She obviously had nothing to do with it. My daughter is a flight attendant and typically catches it when the airline mess up people's plans. She's always thankful when there's a Big Mac on board to watch her back.
So I'm I.....

[BigMac]

Let's try for next year.

(Dave)