
Originally Posted by
Cohoangler
Setting a goal is the easy part. Almost anyone can do that with a minimum of information. The difficult part is understanding what the goal means, and then managing to that goal.
For example, what does it mean if you don’t reach the goal? Who has to give up what to achieve it next time? And, likewise, what does it mean if you do reach it? If ADF&G reaches the goal for the next 10+ years, will it mean we will have more and larger females in the future? If so, will it be easier to hit the goal in future years, since there will be more older/larger spawners? From a scientific standpoint, that's still an open question.
Also, how should ADF&G manage the many competing interests to achieve the goal? Is reaching the goal for large fish more or less important than reaching the many other goals that have been established (e.g., BEG, SEG, OEG)? If they can’t reach all the goals, which ones should they try to hit?
I’m not throwing cold water on this idea, since I think it’s a good one. I’m only suggesting that establishing a large fish goal is the easy part. Everything that comes after that is much more difficult.