lynx on the kenai...adn article

[JuliW]

Has anyone seen that adfg is putting a moratorium on lynx hunting and trapping on the kenai until 2020? The adn article states that they want to reopen the season when the lynx population peaks again...(if I am reading it correctly) I am not a biologist but it seems more reasonable to open the season based on when sustainable numbers have been reached rather than a year when they think the numbers will be at their highest.

 

[0321Tony]

I don't think it should be closed completely. I think they can get the harvest levels down enough by closing trapping and dropping the limit to one. I was still seeing plenty of lynx sign last season. I don't like this closure at all. And to keep it closed for that long dosnt make sense either

 

[homerdave]

The closure is pretty much a direct result of increased predator hunting and higher success rates. Lynx are very susceptible to calling, and electronic calls are deadly on them.
20, heck even just 10 years ago there was little hunting pressure by predator hunters in the winter, and electronic calls were a rarity.
Blame the closure on too many hunters and technology.
http://www.adn.com/article/20141120/kenai-peninsula-lynx-hunting-trapping-hold-until-2020

 

[cod]

There's no question in my mind that Lynx population has crashed just in the last 3 years here on the kenai pen. In my normal winter travel area 3 yrs ago there were Lynx tracks everywhere. Last yr I only saw a couple tracks all year last year in those same areas. The hawk population has also plummeted. Grouse of course, also way down.
I welcome tighter limits on the troubled species but am confident they will rebound when the hares come back, like they always do.

 

[limon32]

I don't think anyone would argue they need to be closed right now, what I find odd is that they chose to close it for a predetermined amount of time rather than monitor populations and re-open the season when appropriate.


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[kasilofchrisn]

I actually like that they chose to close it until a certain date.
I think all our fisheries and game management decisions should be that way.
The reason I feel that way is because it is easy to close something but very hard to get it reopened.
With a set date it requires them to reasses the issue in a few years. Without a set date who knows when they would re-open it if they ever did.
If all fish and game decisions required a re-evaluation every 5 years or so we might actually have a better understanding of where we are at population wise.
For instance the shrimp population in Kachemak bay and Cook Inlet. We know they are still there but there hasn't been a survey in how many years? 2000 was the last one I could find thats 14 years. Dungeness crabs down there are the same way.
I am sure there are also game populations in this state that were closed to hunting that do not get enough study done to really determine if they can be reopened even if only a limited draw or something.
Ones that remain open are studied to determine if they can sustain the harvest.
A study done every 15 years or so is not good enough IMHO.
Putting a sunset clause on every closure will ensure they at least re evaluate every few years rather than leaving them closed forever.

 

[hoose35]

They can close it by EO, why couldn't they open by EO if the numbers rebound ahead of schedule?

 

[limon32]

I actually like that they chose to close it until a certain date.
I think all our fisheries and game management decisions should be that way.
The reason I feel that way is because it is easy to close something but very hard to get it reopened.
With a set date it requires them to reasses the issue in a few years. Without a set date who knows when they would re-open it if they ever did.
If all fish and game decisions required a re-evaluation every 5 years or so we might actually have a better understanding of where we are at population wise.
For instance the shrimp population in Kachemak bay and Cook Inlet. We know they are still there but there hasn't been a survey in how many years? 2000 was the last one I could find thats 14 years. Dungeness crabs down there are the same way.
I am sure there are also game populations in this state that were closed to hunting that do not get enough study done to really determine if they can be reopened even if only a limited draw or something.
Ones that remain open are studied to determine if they can sustain the harvest.
A study done every 15 years or so is not good enough IMHO.
Putting a sunset clause on every closure will ensure they at least re evaluate every few years rather than leaving them closed forever.

What if they peak and fall off quicker than expected?


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[kasilofchrisn]

What if they peak and fall off quicker than expected?


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My overall point is while things often get closed they do not always get reopened or reopening them is much much harder than it was to close them. Then 10-20+ years later everybody is wondering what happened and ADF&G says well give us some more money and we will consider doing a study on it.
The way it is written it WILL reopen in 2020 unless they can show some evidence as to why it should remain closed.
Otherwise they may put it o the back burner and it may never get reopened.

 

[limon32]

lynx on the kenai...adn article

They've been opening and closing lynx, using hare surveys for years, what bothers me is that they are going away from a metric and toward a policy that involves no metric.


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[kasilofchrisn]

They've been opening and closing lynx, using hare surveys for years, what bothers me is that they are going away from a metric and toward a policy that involves no metric.


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I see where you are coming from and maybe Lynx is one species that needs to be managed differently than some others.
But on other species and in certain fisheries that do not have the guides lobby pushing them it seems they are often quick to close a season but it's like pulling teeth to get them to open these things back up. Thats what I want to avoid.

 

[limon32]

I see where you are coming from and maybe Lynx is one species that needs to be managed differently than some others.
But on other species and in certain fisheries that do not have the guides lobby pushing them it seems they are often quick to close a season but it's like pulling teeth to get them to open these things back up. Thats what I want to avoid.

Makes sense, I'm definitely a little suspicious when they change how they've been managing.

I'll see if I can get some more info.


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