Your question, Larry, is where data is damn necessary.

Agree! Sufficiently detailed and reliable data is paramount in making management decisions that will be understood and supported by stakeholders.


I understand the idea that one likes to out in the salt in their boat and they aren't getting any younger. That is a legitimate concern. Does it trump short-term conservation? I don't know but that is a discussion worth having.

Does it trump short-term conservation? If it gets down to an either/or decision then conservation wins. I am not convinced managers place sufficient value on the human side of the equation - especially when those humans are the stakeholders whose dollars are supporting related research/management.

They believed that having some annual fishing kept the industry alive. Also meant that rebuilding would take longer. Trade-offs either way.

In a perfect world if short term pain would see substantial recovery it might be sufferable. Unfortunately, the collective "we" are unable and/or unwilling to implement significant efforts to reduce or eliminate factors inhibiting recovery other than to reduce fisheries. And that picking of the low hanging fruit has resulted in those fisheries being less and less of an impact - all things considered. Now, if I was King .......