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Topic: If you want a 2018 Abalone Season, get your voice heard  (Read 881 times)

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Dale L

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Your voice may make a difference this time.  Make sure you get heard.

I’m not sure why this subject isn’t getting more traction on NCKA but I’m putting it out there now.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has recommended to the California Fish and Game Commission (the deciders for lack of a better word) that the Abalone Fishery be completely closed in 2018. For reasons that are somewhat complex if this happens there is a real possibility that the closure may last decades and may even become permanent.

The decision will be made at the next Fish and Game Commission meeting in early December.

Normally the Commission puts into law the recommendations made by CDFW. However in this case it appears that the Commission is seriously looking for options to keep some sort of a season open.  From my experience this is an unusual circumstance but it is real.

For this reason I believe that everyone who wants to see an Ab season next year needs to contact the Fish and Game Commission and make their position known. 

Don’t get me wrong, if there is a season in 2018 it will be drastically curtailed from even this years season, but I believe there is hope for a 2018 season.

Contacting the Commission is easy, email works, or paper mail if that suits you better.

By email at  fgc@fgc.ca.gov

Physical mail is
California Fish and Game Commission
PO Box 944209
Sacramento, CA 94244-2090


In my opinion the most effective letters are respectful and cite some reasoning for your position.


Here is mine, it got pretty long, yours doesn’t need to be anything like mine, just get your position known. Kinda like voting.


Recommendations for a 2018 Abalone Season

To the California Fish and Game Department,

My name is Dale Della Rosa, I’m a lifelong California resident and have been abalone diving for over thirty years. While I don’t go as often as I used to, it is still important to me, especially as I introduce my son to the sport.

The decision on the 2018 season is slated to be made in December. Therefore, herein, I offer specific comments and proposals.

In the past I believe the normal course of action would be for the Commission to follow the recommendation of the CDFW and the guidelines of the ARMP.  However, in this case with the ARMP admittedly being flawed, the new Red Abalone FMP being in the works, and the observed, albeit slight, improvement in ocean conditions and kelp this year, I believe another course of action is available and I am encouraged by the Commissions’ attitude towards other options that I observed in the video of the Oct 12 session.

With that said I offer the following specifics, which is simply my personal opinion after reviewing all the data I could find as well as a couple trips to the coast last week. One was a trip for surface observation (looking for kelp) and talking with divers. The second one was a personal dive trip to see conditions for myself before writing this proposal.

Recommendation for a 2018 Abalone season;

1.   Limit the number of cards sold to 15000,
2.   Annual limit of 8
3.   Daily limit of 2
4.   Annual limit for Sonoma County and southward of no more than 4 total
5.   Annual limit for Mendocino County and northward of no more than 6 total
6.   Increase the cost of the Abalone card to make the estimated revenue equal to the average revenue of
        the last 3 years.
7.   All other facets of the current regulation remain in place.

This proposal is designed to drastically reduce total take and spread fishing effort across the entire range of open waters while offering a higher level of protection to Sonoma County in light of the higher degree of concerns in that area. 

It is also designed to keep current revenues in place.  A reduction in revenues would result in a reduction in CDFW efforts whether abalone specific or not. The increased card cost is warranted as I believe any reduction in CDFW efforts would be counter-productive.
 
While each item above is painful to the abalone fishing community it offers a way to have a 2018 season versus the CDFW recommendation of a complete closure of the fishery.  Hopefully proposals like this can help the Commission to decide to have a season and at the same time not reduce revenues.
 
Another reason to have some season versus a total closure is poaching. An active group of legal abalone divers is one of the best prevention measures to spot and limit poaching. No season means no legal abalone divers and an extremely limited enforcement effort due to lack of divers to check (just plain less enforcement work) and the funds to have the wardens there. Legal sportsman have always been the in frontline against poaching.

I would also like to make recommendations against some of the options I’ve seen offered.

1.   Changing the minimum size to 8”,

First, while this most likely would reduce take, it has a potentially significant downside. I sincerely believe, when considering everyone involved in the abalone fishery, that in the attempt to take abalone of  8” minimum size more undersize animals would be removed from the rocks and the resulting mortality even when they are immediately replaced would be greater than is now occurring with a 7” minimum size limit.  I believe from experience that it would be highly likely that there would be an increase in the total abalone mortality per legal abalone taken.

Second, this change would result in more >=8” abalone being removed from the breeding pool versus with a >=7” minimum. An 8” abalone produces more offspring than a 7” abalone.  This change could in effect reduce the mass of the breeding pool.

I believe for these two reasons an 8” minimum size may actually be more detrimental than protective to the overall abalone population.

2.   Requiring abalone to be measured before removing from the rock.

In the case of “rock picking” this change might make sense, but most abalone are taken by divers where this measurement would take place underwater out of sight of enforcement officers. Therefore it would be especially hard to enforce to the point of being a mostly meaningless unenforceable regulation.  CDFW especially doesn’t not like regulations that are hard to enforce. This item would just clutter up the regulations.

In closing, I think at this point there is a mountain of undeniable evidence that the abalone population has been under extreme stress and some significant action must be taken. Red Tides, a starfish die off that resulted in a kelp munching urchin population explosion, and warm water intrusion have all contributed to get the abalone population and kelp to its current state.

I’ve spent many hours gathering and digesting what information was available from CDFW surveys and studies as well as other sources. I recently took a trip up thru Sonoma County to observe the Kelp canopy and talk with divers. I also did a single dive day at Van Damme State Park in Mendocino County last week to see the conditions for myself. I was quite disheartened to see the acres and acres of purple urchin barrens where I used to find a vibrant community of sealife including thick kelp and almost countless abalone.  On the other hand during the same dive just a few yards away I was also excited and encouraged by what I found in the current existing kelp beds, sealife and abalone everywhere, truly, cracks where the abalone were shoulder to shoulder “just like it has been for decades”.

Thank You,
Dale Della Rosa


HamachiJohn

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Sent mine in, keeping fingers crossed

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

Down to 1 Hobie Revo...


LoletaEric

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Good letter, Dale.  Thanks.  :smt001
I am a licensed guide.  DFW Guide ID:  1000124.   Let's do a trip together.

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Being an honorable sportsman is way more important than what you catch.


Fish Master1

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Just sent in an email.  :smt009 :smt010
..........Sincerly A-Hull Muggle.


Willha

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----Willha


Fish Master1

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It becomes everyones problem when its too late. Everybody starts bitching after the fact. This is some serious shit! I don't even like abalone but its my choice if I want to dive for it or not. There will be no choice if this passes!!!! :smt013
..........Sincerly A-Hull Muggle.


TW

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It becomes everyones problem when its too late. Everybody starts bitching after the fact. This is some serious shit! its my choice if I want to dive for it or not. There will be no choice if this passes!!!! :smt013

Exactly ....
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anything