Cabezon Retention Prohibited

chumchum said on FB that there was an unusually high number of violations due to misidentification. So a good portion of the quota was gone before 7/1.

chumchum said on FB that there was an unusually high number of violations due to misidentification. So a good portion of the quota was gone before 7/1.

Seriously? What on earth do you misidentify a cabezon as? The only thing I can think of that's close is a red irish lord, which most people don't keep anyway. 

For real, I am not sure how you would misidentify a Cabezon, although with the number of them I have caught in the last couple of years it was likely a "Whoops I didn't know that it wasn't a ling" (because not legal to retain) sort of misidentify.

My first thought was that the commercial versus recreational quota proportions are way out of whack. 50/50 across the board seems more fair. Also - the recreational & commercial quotas being managed independently of each other looks to me like a political decision more than a biological one.

I'd be okay with a slot limit of 18 to 28 inches.

I also think a single species population survey is an inefficient & time consuming way to gather data. I'd like to see these surveys consolidated, completed & analyzed in a more timely manner so we don't have to wait twelve years for updated information.

I'm also wondering where the revenue from our licenses & tags go. In the meeting the ODFW staff were talking about the increase in charter trips the last two years. Has license & tag revenue increased proportionally? IMO - every dime of this revenue should be going back into ODFW fish & wildlife management programs.

chumchum said on FB that there was an unusually high number of violations due to misidentification. So a good portion of the quota was gone before 7/1.

Seriously? What on earth do you misidentify a cabezon as? The only thing I can think of that's close is a red irish lord, which most people don't keep anyway. 

As hard as it is to believe, I believe it.  I remember a post on the Waldport Community FB page this spring of a guy bragging about all the bottomfish he caught.  Laid out on the lawn among the rockfish and lings in his photo were three big cabezon.  Guy was utterly clueless.