National Marine Fisheries Service folks came to town June 26 to meet with the draggers. Well, not just the draggers, but that’s all that came because of the surreptitious way it was announced in advance.

They say the Rockfish Pilot Program will start the first of 2007 and will generally follow Julie Bonney’s plan as told to us years ago. It’s 100 percent individual fishing quotas and processor quotas via “co-ops.” The NMFS guy, when asked if this was really going to happen, said, “Oh sure, it was congressionally mandated.”

So the great charade reaches a milestone. The end is in sight. This is the most dangerous time for “them.” There’s still the possibility that we might figure out what’s happening in time.

This is a plan that’s been in the works for decades, and the power of it has even driven fishery management over the years to store up a vast resource by under harvesting.

Once their plan is in place, they’ll start raising the rockfish quota, the total allowable catch. For every added pound of rockfish they’ll get that much more of the halibut and cod for bycatch. As the bycatch increases, the amount our IFQ halibut and cod fishermen are allowed to take will decrease.

What kind of numbers are we talking about here? Here’s a sample: In 1967, the foreign fleets took 44 times the present day harvest. These days, drag skippers and crews tell of mind-boggling masses of rockfish out there.

IFQ shares are about all a lot of Kodiak fishermen have these days. These will be degraded over time. The equity will evaporate. Al Burch will be catching their fish.

Meanwhile, we’re all tied up in a debate that has very little to do with anything. Yes, cod is a big deal. But it’s just one very fiscal fish that likes to totally disappear for 30 years at a stretch and seems to be already starting to do that.

They’ve hidden the hook well, but it’s there to see if you want to look.