Where was everybody?

[Seacidal]

At the SAT meeting today, some fishermen reps had some comments but most of the public comment opportunities came and went quietly.

I admit I didn't catch every minute of the meeting, but what I heard was very different than the rallying that has gone on for other meetings.

Does somebody decide which meetings are worthwhile? Are we giving up on the SAT?

[zenspearo]

Sigh....

I was in San Jose from Tuesday afternoon until Friday night--in meetings until 7PM every night. A client is buying another company so it's due diligence from hell. This is the first meeting I've had to miss in months...

I guess I'd better get back behind the pushing to get the gang ready for the 19th....

[So Cal Shaggy]

I was having dental surgery and was somewhat incapacitated.

[linglover]

I was one of those "fishing reps" who commented, as was Joe Exline (FIN/FIC spokesperson) and Rich Holland (Senior Editor, Western Outdoors News).

These Webinar/Teleconference meetings raise a high bar to public participation. I'm a computer professional and I find them technically challenging, to say the least.

A passive way to participate is to go to AGP Video's website (www.cal-span.org) and watch the webcast live. Passive sucks! To truly get the most out of these events, you need to have both the computer capabilities and the time to first register for the Webinar and a free phone line while at your computer on the day. Then, expect to shut down everything else in your personal and professional life during the Webinar/Teleconference.

There are some rewards. Those of us who were logged in on yesterday's two-hour call were able to receive the documents and meeting materials by e-mail during the meeting--well ahead of general public.

That said, you didn't really miss much. The real meat of what was presented yesterday was intended to inform the BRTF during their meetings on Monday and Tuesday (4/18 & 4/19) coming up. And, the decisions they make those days are critical to all of us who fish.

Sadly, for the technically challenged, those meetings are also Webinar/Teleconferences.

-Joel
SCRSG Member

[Urchin_Diver]

thanks again Joel

[ralphthehalibut]

Are we giving up on the SAT?



Why would me? I mean, it's not at all like they are biased when they are so fastidiously ignoring the people who know what's actually out there it's almost like they have been told by the RLFF to do so (HMMMMM... Funny That...), ignoring obvious facts (my favorite is when they tell me there is not really a sea lion stealing my fish because they don't live in my area (I must just have a wild imagination)), etc.


Oh, and the guy that spends 300+ days a year for 30 years in a spot? Yeah, he doesn't know if there's kelp there, but the SAT does because they have 14 flyovers done in 7 nonconsecutive years. Besides, that guy who's out there is just an ignorant fisherman. I mean, he probably doesn't even have a masters degree, so he MUST be stupid, so the SAT is right in ignoring him.....

Oh, and this isn't about fisheries management, and the SAT doesn't fish anyways, so it's fine for them to put all sorts of restrictions on fishing, but god forbid they put restrictions on something that nonconsumptives do that actually does damage the envionrnment, like anchoring, because that would be starting down a slippery slope, and we don't want to go there, because the people that are buying their integrity.. err ... sorry, funding their studies..... don't want them to curtail nonconsumptives, just to come up with "science" to stop consumptives.

[rojodiablo]

Why would me? I mean, it's not at all like they are biased when they are so fastidiously ignoring the people who know what's actually out there it's almost like they have been told by the RLFF to do so (HMMMMM... Funny That...), ignoring obvious facts (my favorite is when they tell me there is not really a sea lion stealing my fish because they don't live in my area (I must just have a wild imagination)), etc.


Oh, and the guy that spends 300+ days a year for 30 years in a spot? Yeah, he doesn't know if there's kelp there, but the SAT does because they have 14 flyovers done in 7 nonconsecutive years. Besides, that guy who's out there is just an ignorant fisherman. I mean, he probably doesn't even have a masters degree, so he MUST be stupid, so the SAT is right in ignoring him.....

Oh, and this isn't about fisheries management, and the SAT doesn't fish anyways, so it's fine for them to put all sorts of restrictions on fishing, but god forbid they put restrictions on something that nonconsumptives do that actually does damage the envionrnment, like anchoring, because that would be starting down a slippery slope, and we don't want to go there, because the people that are buying their integrity.. err ... sorry, funding their studies..... don't want them to curtail nonconsumptives, just to come up with "science" to stop consumptives.
Oh Dave....you and your logic!!!:lol:

[Seacidal]

Dave,
If a fisherman has kept records on their personal observations for decades, and the records were collected according to a regimen, then they should be evaluated for incorporation.

Problem is, people are human and human memory is very fallible. Just ask any attorney or criminal law expert. Eyewitness testimony and personal recollection are very often faulty. We may not think they are, but memory can be deceiving.

That doesn't mean there isn't value in personal recollection. There can be. To make that value accessible to others in a meaningful way, it needs to be assembled and summarized and presented in a manner that establishes its accuracy and reliability and provides a scale for comparison of its value. Then it has to be incorporated into values from other data sets with a weighting that reflects its relative strength.

The SAT has a process for receiving materials from the public and other groups. I've posted that information on Spearboard and sent it to all interested individuals. It is also readily available from the MLPAI. But it takes a fair bit of work to get the data in a proper form.

If you know one or more fishermen or divers who have collected exemplary and appropriately reliable data over long periods of time, they should definitely work it up into a submission for SAT review.

It would be great to see additional data submitted to strengthen this process. I hope that we might see more such data introduced.

Chip

P.S. Regarding the evaluation of "other human activities" into the process, take a look at this seminar. I think this is right on target with what you are looking for.

Mappng Human Impacts on Marine Ecosystems (http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=83814)

Could be worth checking out.

[Tara]

I'm on the BRTF SAT meeting webinar/teleconference now...
wish there were more people in attendance, yikes