[Mr. Sandman]

The charter permit rules are relatively simple but I still think all the rules are dumb. (and your right, the website sucks, it is very convoluted and confusing)

As I understand it...A charter permit holder can operate in either category..rec or comm and it is based on the FIRST fish you keep. If you take a small fish you are a rec that entire day and the charter/headboat retention rules for rec fishing apply that day. If you keep a 73+ you are a comm that day and the general category rules apply that day.
( you have to be a charter capt and have all the safety req like you would for comm fishermen to get this permit)


That said the measuring rules are downright dumb. First, it is not easy to accurately measure a live 72 in fish in water without bringing him into the boat and doing some damage to him. Yeah, if it is 50" you know he is too small and you let him go but as they approach 73, after a big battle, the waves, boat motion, excitement, and excited fish etc...it is not as easy to do a CFL measurement in the water in heavy seas.

Comms are bringing in a lot of short fish that are close but no cigar. One buyer told me he has rejected 35 fish this season so far. (he can not get caught with a undersized fish) OK..what then happens to this fish?

Rec's are fishing like mad in CC's and killing a lot of fish as well. Many are keeping illegal fish and cleaning them at sea and hiding their catch as a "who will know?" attitude. There is little enforcement out there.

I think they should stop with all the complex length measurements and just have a bag limit (what ever the number is) for all categories. Take 1, 2, 3 whatever makes sense of any size and say once you have your limit you have to stop fishing and head back to port. This would stop all the C&R (C&killing) that is going on and make it a lot simpler when a borderline fish is boat side.

As far as the equipment costs go...IMO every boat should have all that gear, not just survival suits, everything. This is no place for a small boat no matter what you see by the goons on the Saturday morning TV shows. What looks like a nice day can (and often does) turn into a nightmare in the afternoon for small boats. Inside the bay fine, but offshore is a different animal.