1.
Most people recognize that the stocks aren't what they were a decade ago. They've come to this conclusion either by the data that is readily available, or through tangible experience, or both. And when I say "most people" I mean 90+ % of people who have been fishing for a while, up and down the coast, not someone who is new to the fishing and has managed to catch a couple of fish.
2. That's a very small part of the BIG picture. There are always going to be some fish around and those who know how to catch them will usually ferret them out, both from boat and surf.
This, of course, includes the comms. They are good at what they do, have the facility to locate and get on the fish and fill their quota. There are still enough fish for that, but that's still not the BIG picture.
.
3. So just because the comms found fish off shore, or BrianNY or Pablo have been on some big fish on the bunker schools for a couple days in their boats, or a friend of mine had some fish in the 30 lb class from the beach,
doesn't mean a thing in the BIG picture.
4. These events are isolated incidents and have to be measured against the average, the BIG picture. Until people are ready to step back and look at the BIG picture then this will just keep going on forever, to the detriment of the fish we all love to catch. It's in ALL of our best interest, comm and rec, to expect better management techniques, up and down the coast. Better management benefits EVERYBODY in the long run!
So do you want to be "right", or do you
want to solve the problem?
Oh, I forgot.
There is no problem.