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Topics - Joshua R.

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General Talk / Volunteers needed with Urchin Removal Event

« on: June 21, 2018, 08:23:08 AM »

Hey all,
we need volunteers to help kayak the full bags of urchin from the divers to the boats at the next event. I'm hoping some of you will be up early for the NCKA event the following weekend and be willing to help. Having kayaks to shuttle the bags increases the divers productivity exponentially because they don't have to swim to the boat every time they fill a bag.

Rob102 is coordinating the kayak volunteers so send him a PM if you're interested.

Kayak Diving and Spearfishing / Press Democrat article about our Memorial Day event

« on: June 07, 2018, 06:33:38 AM »

Contact Rob102 if you want to be part of the next urchin removal event at Albion July 21-22. We need kayakers to ferry the full bags from the divers to the boats.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8353809-181/north-coast-divers-take-the?artslide=11&sba=AAS

Kayak Diving and Spearfishing / Abalone FMP submitted for peer review

« on: June 06, 2018, 11:23:43 AM »

The departments proposed Abalone FMP has just been posted for the first time. You can see it and the TNC's proposal at the bottom of the page under additional resources.

http://www.oceansciencetrust.org/projects/abalone-fishery-management-plan-peer-review/

Kayak Diving and Spearfishing / Purple Urchin Removal Events on the North Coast

« on: May 31, 2018, 02:41:15 PM »

http://www.mendocinobeacon.com/general-news/20180531/divers-make-a-day-of-it-urchin-clean-up-addresses-kelp-ab-die-off

Kayak Diving and Spearfishing / Update on Commercial Urchin Removal as of 5/18

« on: May 18, 2018, 07:39:08 AM »

I attended the Sonoma County Fish and Game Commission meeting last night for the final decision on a grant application I had submitted in April. The Commission is very supportive of our endeavors and voted unanimously to award us another $20,000 for our commercial efforts in Sonoma County. With this grant the Watermen's Alliance and Scan have cracked the $100,000 mark for funds raised to pay the commercial divers.

Here's the breakdown:

$25,000 Grant from Mendocino County Fish and Game Commission
$20,000 Grant from Sonoma County Fish and Game Commission
$20,000+ donations to Watermen's Alliance from divers and tournaments
$35,000+ from donations to SCAN and allocated from dues paid by members

I want to thank all of you that have donated to the project, and some of you have donated very generously. I know this sounds like a lot of money but we are going to run out of money in Mendocino soon, probably by mid June. If anyone is a member of the Elks, Eagles, Masons, or any other organization that raises money for charity please ask if I can come make a pitch to your board. Remember, this project is going to go on for years. We need to constantly find new ways and new places to get donations and raise funds. I'm thinking of running a poker tournament to raise money.

If anyone is an employee of Apple, Watermen's Alliance is registered now with their charitable donation matching program. Apple will match your donation twice, making your donation three times your original donation.

Thanks again guys and see you at Ocean Cove next weekend.

Josh

General Talk / Urchin Removal Project on North Coast looking for kayaking stakeholder

« on: February 22, 2018, 08:20:13 AM »

Hey guys,

I've been working with the DFW and Greater Farallones Sanctuary on a program to let recreational divers and others eradicate the purple urchin on the north coast. It's slow going working with these government agencies but we're getting there. The Sanctuary is setting up a round table of stakeholders and would like someone from the kayaking world to represent. Preferably a professional, perhaps a guide or instructor that has connections in the industry and kayaking community. This person should have a lot of water time in Sonoma and Mendocino. If you are interested or if NCKA would like to put forward a representative contact Rietta Hohman at rietta.hohman@noaa.gov

Kayak Diving and Spearfishing / Important Meeting December 3, 2016

« on: November 18, 2016, 08:44:41 AM »

On Saturday December 3rd from noon to 4 Watermen’s Alliance is hosting a meeting with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the public at the CV Starr Center, 300 S. Lincoln St. in Fort Bragg to discuss current and future abalone management.

The first portion of the meeting will discuss the current emergency action being proposed. This portion is intended to share information about the current situation and discuss ways to improve communication and participation in decision making process. This will be an opportunity to discuss current and alternative management methods.

A second portion will discuss the regulatory action for 2018. Any emergency action is temporary and will expire unless additional action is taken within one year. If the situation improves, the emergency action can be allowed to expire but in the event that our situation does not improve the department is going to begin regulatory action to take effect in 2018. This is a more lengthy process and allows more time to come up with options and to allow public input.

The rest of the meeting will be dedicated to what abalone fishermen want from the next management plan. All of the preceding discussion should be a good indicator for what we want improved, but how. One of the criticisms of the current management plan is that it is designed to maintain very high abalone numbers at the expense of opportunity. An important issue to discuss is what do fishermen want and at what price – there are no free lunches. The answers to this question will guide the management and regulations of our sport going forward. The Department needs to know your preferences. Finally, we will discuss how we might make the management plan work and desired behaviors. We will discuss not only management methods but also identify desired outcomes.

I hope to see you all at this meeting,
Joshua Russo
President, Watermen’s Alliance
Director, SCAN
North Coast Representative, CA DFW Recreational Abalone Advisory Committee

Kayak Diving and Spearfishing / Option B

« on: November 16, 2016, 09:18:33 AM »

Ok guys. I drove down to Los Alamitos for the Marine Resource Committee meeting yesterday and met with the commissioners before the meeting to discuss the proposed changes. I’ve got to tell you, these commissioners do not believe that the fishery is healthy. In fact when I said that the fishery is healthy, one of them looked at me like I was crazy. It is because of this that they are going to be as conservative as possible in the upcoming emergency action ruling on December 7th. There was no way I was going to get them to agree to only hit us with one deduction but there is good news. During the MRC meeting I asked the commissioners if they would consider an alternative option that has the same result but that divers would support and they agreed.

This means that I have one week to come up with an alternative way to reduce take by 25% that the department agrees will work, that the wardens will agree is enforceable, and that divers will support. If we can come up with another option by November 22nd that the department signs off on, then I will have one week to demonstrate public support for the option. It’s going to be simple e-mails again, “I support option B.” It won’t have to be elaborate or meet any criteria. It just has to demonstrate a significant amount of support for the option. We will only have one week to show support for the option. The commission will have to announce that another option is being considered no less than five days before the ruling on December 7th.

As it stands, the department wants to go to 9 per year and close November. I can get us back up to 12 per year if we’re willing to also close April. What we need to do right now is brainstorm.

How are we willing to reduce take in order to preserve as much of our limits as possible?

I have about 24 hours to present our ideas to the department in order to give them time to research what credit we will get for each suggestion. These options have to be extremely simple, preferably something they already use in management. Remember, right now we are only brainstorming. I’ll run these by the department and see what they might accept tomorrow and by Tuesday I’ll know what percent they anticipate we would gain by using these alternatives. At that time, I’ll come up with a proposal to see if divers would support the option. We would have 24 hours at best to deliberate this proposal and make changes before I need to give it to the department as “our option” and then we have one week to show support for this option.

Josh Russo

Kayak Diving and Spearfishing / What Can We Do

« on: November 07, 2016, 02:35:59 PM »

This is the letter I sent to the commission today. I need all of you to write to the commission to support this request. It will help if you mention my name or the Watermen's Alliance or even this letter specifically. Also, The Watermen's Alliance, SCAN, and The Mendocino County Fish and Game Commission are hosting a meeting in Fort Bragg on December 3rd to discuss the options proposed by the department and anything that comes out of this meeting at the MRC next week. We need as many people as possible at the December 3rd meeting. I know it's just outside of abalone season but if you didn't know already, December is when the big lings come in shallow. I'll set the time for the December 3rd meeting when I meet with the department next week but I expect something like noon to 4.

Kayak Diving and Spearfishing / RAAC meeting 11/5/16 and new abalone regs for 2017

« on: October 25, 2016, 07:52:40 AM »

Finally got a location confirmed for the RAAC meeting. They're going to be discussing options for management changes in 2017 so I expect everyone who ever complained that they always hold these meetings in San Diego on a weekday to be there. This is your opportunity to give input. The decision will probably be made at the December commission meeting. That meeting and the MRC meeting in November are in SoCal.

Kayak Diving and Spearfishing / Transect Results 2016

« on: October 06, 2016, 10:34:59 AM »

The DFW has completed their transects for this round and as we suspected they have hit a trigger. According to the current management plan, (table 7-2 of the ARMP) when densities in the deep water transects are <2,500 abalone per hectare and no recruitment occurs the commission could choose to reduce the TAC, Total Allowable Catch, by 25%. The Department’s Recreational Abalone Advisory Committee, (RAAC) has a regularly scheduled meeting on Saturday, November 5th. We are currently looking for options as far as location to make this meeting more available to divers for input on the current situation and possible management actions. The Marine Resource Committee meeting will be in Los Alamitos in November and the Commission meeting where the action will probably be voted on will be in San Diego in December, so this will most likely be the only chance for Northern California residents to be heard in person.

We need to start discussing what we as divers think is a prudent decision in this case. We know that what is happening has nothing to do with fishing pressure and that the amount of pressure divers pose on the fishery is very small, therefore it makes little sense to change fishing regulations unless what is happening might be considered a threat to the species. We also know that the “Perfect Storm” regarding the kelp was not as bad as predicted and that we actually had a decent kelp year. What I would like to see is a voluntary management action with expiration dates so that if the situation persists or gets worse, we can modify our action but if it gets better whatever we decide to do now will expire and just go away. The biggest concerns right now are for what “might happen.” I prefer not to manage for what might happen but for what has happened. We’ve all seen the shriveled abs and most of us know that it’s easy enough to find healthy abalone if you look around. If we as fishermen are ok with looking around a little to find healthier abalone it is ok to not manage to the standard of a Cadillac fishery.

Joshua Russo
President, Watermen’s Alliance
Director, SCAN
North Coast Representative, RAAC

General Talk / Big shout out to Bill, (Fishing For The Cure)

« on: May 27, 2016, 11:05:01 AM »

I wanted to do more than just thank Bill for helping me out with choosing a fish finder for my "new to me" boat. I have a Lowrance Elite 5 DSI on my kayak and I absolutely love it so when I bought the boat I knew the electronics were going to be Lowrance and I knew they were going to be high end. I've met Bill at a couple of events where he had his Lowrance booth set up so I pm'd him for some advice a while back. He met up with me one day at the Bass Pro Shop in San Jose and went over everything I wanted to know and more. I chose the Gen 3 HDS-9 with 3D Structure Scan. It's a significant investment and if it weren't for Bills help I wouldn't be half as excited or confident as I am about the purchase.

Thank you Bill.

Josh

Kayak Diving and Spearfishing / Abalone FMP update 4/16

« on: April 19, 2016, 09:53:12 AM »

Sometime in the next couple days there will be an announcement that on Monday, May 2 a workshop will be held in Santa Cruz regarding the FMP. The format will include several presentations from the department and others regarding the management of abalone here and around the world. What works and what doesn't? Then after lunch there will be a public participation forum. This is where the department and other professionals will be answering questions and looking for your input to asses what was presented in the morning and to make sure that we are all on the right track to creating an FMP that divers want and will be happy with.

I strongly suggest that if you have an interest in the FMP that you make this meeting. This is where you will get the most bang for your buck as far as when and where to give your input. I expect that there will be discussion on the previous workshops as well as the survey that went out and how the information is being interpreted so if there is any discrepancy, now is the time to say so. Once we get neck deep in language and policy it will be much harder to shift direction or revisit old topics.

If you want input on what goes into the new management plan you should be there on May 2.

It will be important that if you do speak at this forum that you are clear on your points and that you be less emotional, and more rational in your reasons. If we come off as just an angry mob we will lose the attention of the people that matter. If you're not a speaker but you agree with what's said, applause are an accepted way to show agreement without having every speaker repeat what's already been said so even if you don't want to speak you should attend. One person making a point and the entire room applauding is a very powerful message.

I think it would be a good idea for us to get together as a group and discuss what's been done so far, what's possible or not, and what to expect from the workshop on May 2. Instead of creating a separate event I've asked the Tritons if I could address the crowd at the Triton Open on Saturday April 30. I'll also be asking the shops and others to be promoting both the workshop and the discussion at the Triton Open. This is your best chance to be heard as an individual and our best chance to be heard as a group.

Josh

Kayak Diving and Spearfishing / Freedive Shop 2016 Season Opener Talk

« on: March 11, 2016, 06:28:45 AM »

The Season opener talk is next Saturday. The TNC (The Nature Conxervancy) Abalone Working Group is the second half of the event. The chair of the working group and myself will be talking about the work we've been doing thus far, how we see it benefiting you/us, and our hopes for the FMP (Fishery Management Plan) process. This is a rare opportunity to get informed on the progress and anyone interested in the abalone FMP should be there.

Kayak Diving and Spearfishing / update on FMP survey at MRC meeting 3/4/15

« on: March 05, 2015, 08:42:03 AM »

Ian Tanaguchi reported at the MRC meeting yesterday that as of mid February 675 surveys had been returned, 88% were by divers, 14% by rock pickers. He then said that as of this week almost 1,500 had been returned but he didn't have the percentages of who was turning them in. I've asked for those numbers but I'm not holding my breath that I'll get them before their made public.

My point is that between mid February and now the survey was published in several news papers and online forums that are not dive related or not hunter friendly and in that time more than half of the surveys were submitted. One could look at the numbers from mid February and get a sense that the results will be heavily driven by actual ab divers but it's possible that the opposite may occur. It's important that we, (divers), all fill these out and get as many others to fill it out as well.

Survey ends tomorrow.

https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Invertebrates/Abalone/Survey