Quote:
Originally Posted by Zed
So if I'm sitting in an acre of mixed pac mack, jack mack, and sardines, and they just don't want to take a sabiki, I technically didn't catch any. It's happened. So that would be zero mackerel. I saw 10,000 +/-10%.
Actually the "clipboarder" would record your observations and they would be taken into consideration. Anecdotal evidence is used all the time in fisheries research, and other sciences.
Also I'm sure 48hrs otw off LJ (6 trips) w/o a yellowtail isn't uncommon. Must not be any yellowtail there either. Too many flaws in that type of data collection. Good bad data versus bad bad data.
There are many things that come into consideration when they model the fish stock populations. This is one of those things. Fish age, fish length, the number of years it takes to for a fish reach sexual maturity, number of fish caught in commercial fisheries, number of fish caught in recreational fisheries, water temperature, location, egg biomass, larvae biomass, etc.... There are many different places they gather data from. The equation is pretty complex.
"Just because they're not biting, doesn't mean they're not there."
|
You make very good points.
But you do realize that regardless of whether or not it is bad bad data or good bad data, they are going to collect the data no matter what. And they will use the data.
So, if they are going to continue to collect data, and the data says there are no fish in the sea, what do you think the environmentalists are going to think?
Its not entirely their fault that they think the oceans aren't what they used to be. The easiest thing is to do is to blame fishermen (fishing is the only thing they have a chance of controlling). They don't have the same crazy addiction that fishermen get, spending all their free time on the water looking for that trophy fish. All the signs say there are not as many fish in the sea as there used to be.
You can't blame them for not knowing that our fisheries are alive and well. They don't witness it firsthand. One way to change their attitudes is to show them. Prove them wrong! Make them feel guilty for buying their imported fish from unknown sources and locations.
Data will be collected. That is a fact. One of the main reasons why the data is only good bad data is because most of us don't participate. The difference between good good data and good bad data is in your hands.