Join Sonoma county abalone network SCAN today and get invovled !!!!

hey all I wanted to urge you all to join the Sonoma County Abalone Network SCAN today and get invovled !!!! They along with Recerational Fishing Alliance our are biggest surportes and advoctes for us divers and fisher men and women. here is some info on SCAN and a link to the web site please join it is only 20 a year and 500 for a life time mebership. it will be money well invisted.

link to scan
http://www.abalonenetwork.org/home

Purpose
Sonoma County Abalone Network is a non-profit public service Corporation (501-c-3), dedicated to the protection of the North Coastal Marine Environment and the wise management of the abalone resource. The main purpose is that of public education and raising awareness to the abalone resource and the damage that illegal activities (poaching) is causing.
SCAN is a volunteer partner with the Department of Fish & Game and assists the Department in roadside checkpoints and abalone "creel surveys."

During the prosecution of offenders, SCAN provides public support to the prosecution process.

SCAN is governed by a Board of Directors and welcomes members at large (see Membership).

Come on abalone divers we need your surport and we need to get united ! Give you all an idea, Currently, we are up against those who want to shorten both our abalone in possession limit and our abalone seasonal limit.  No one is working harder to prevent that from happening than SCAN, in particular, Milo Vukovich and Jim Martin.  so help these guys help us and you  and join SCAN ! It will be the best 20 dollars you have ever spent.


more on scan
Here is a link to Sonoma county Abalone Network "S.C.A.N" web page. These people have ben at the fore front of fighting and protecting divers rights, so please join and surport them. http://www.abalonenetwork.org/
here is a little over veiw about them.

Over view of S.C.A.N

" The Sonoma County Abalone Network (SCAN) was formed in 1994 by George Lawry in response to persistent reports of abalone poaching from Sonoma County waters. These reports ranged from petty violations of fish and game regulations to full-scale commercial operations that have pilfered the public marine assets. SCAN's initial focus, out of necessity, has been on petty violators. New recreational harvesters often learn how to harvest abalone from someone more experienced. In addition to lore, they also learn about abalone harvesting regulations from these same sources. Unfortunately, this often results in inadequate understanding of the regulations and potentially of fish and game citations. Fines start at $1500 (for the first abalone) and escalate (by $250 per abalone) from there.

SCAN's initial and ongoing focus has been to educate the diving public on how to interpret abalone regulations. This is done by maintaining a presence at popular dive sites and taking every opportunity to unobtrusively establish a dialog with the divers. This activity is an integral part of SCAN's Coast Patrol program.

SCAN is also involved in a Court Watch program. In late 1995, details of a local court settlement involving a major abalone poaching ring became public. Under the deal approved by the presiding judge, the leaders of a poaching ring responsible for plundering the Sonoma County coast of more than 20 tons of abalone over a 1 year period would face maximum penalties of 6 months county jail and $40,000 fines. Considering the magnitude of the loss to the citizens of California and the county as well as the financial motivations of the perpetrators, it was clear that the local court system was unaware of the importance of this resource to a large segment of the community or the dire consequences of this type of activity on the marine environment. SCAN was instrumental in organizing the presence of more than 45 concerned citizens at the sentencing hearing of the defendants and by providing the judicial system with more than 130 letters from all over the world protesting the light sentencing. SCAN maintained a regular courtroom presence throughout the eight months of trials and hearings that followed the original sentencing hearing. In the end, three of the leaders received 2 to 3 year prison terms and $50,000 fines; even the most minor participant received a 2 month jail sentence and $10,000 fine. SCAN continues to maintain a courtroom presence on those occasions when an abalone case is scheduled to be heard.

During the course of the 1995/96 courtroom testimony, SCAN learned that the most basic fishery-dependent data collection by the California Department of Fish and Game had been terminated for budget reasons. Because the data collection involved interviewing divers at the more popular dive sites, SCAN has been able to fill the gap by combining the data collection as part of its Coast Patrol activities. SCAN's participation in this activity for 1996 and 1997 involved in excess of 400 volunteer hours and approximately $1250 in materials and equipment.

Finally, SCAN has occasionally cooperated with law enforcement officials on observations made at the coast.

SCAN receives financial support through membership dues ($20 per year/$500 lifetime) from its base of 300+ members, donations by affiliated organizations and dive clubs, and contributions by individuals. Additional information or membership applications may be obtained by contacting SCAN at P.O. Box 3801, Santa Rosa, CA 95402. "

Sounds like a great cause Matt...thanks for sharing the info.

I plan on joining after my next paycheck comes in!!

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Excellent Jim work on all your dive buddies to join as well. Lets get this army of divers unified ! come at them with a sea of neoprene.

Come on abalone divers we need your surport and we need to get united ! Give you all an idea, Currently, we are up against those who want to shorten both our abalone in possession limit and our abalone seasonal limit.  No one is working harder to prevent that from happening than SCAN, in particular, Milo Vukovich and Jim Martin.  so help these guys help us and you  and join SCAN ! It will be the best 20 dollars you have ever spent.

Joined!

Thanks for promoting this good cause Matt!
 
Sincerely,

Jim

Joined!

Thanks for promoting this good cause Matt!
 
Sincerely,

Jim

Thanks Big Jim the more we can unite the stronger we are.

Agreed. I joined about a month ago after talking to Milo.
Sounds like a good cause...

My wife and I joined years ago. It was just kind of a thorn when the DFG gave them permission to search MY car on hiway 1. Trying to help the state defer costs and look what it got us. SCREWED!