Abalone Action Possible

Joshua R posted this on a couple other dive forums so figured I would repost here for you guys not on those boards.

Josh was recently appointed to the CDFW Recreational Abalone Advisory Committee, and I am stoked that we have someone who is so passionate about the sport and the resource representing us.

There is concern that the deep water transects might hit the trigger in table 7-2 of the ARMP. No recruitment and low densities in the deep water refuge. I'm seeking credit for the extra 12% reduction last time they hit a trigger and a simple reduction of the TAC number. The TAC is set at 187,000 I think and a 13% reduction would bring it down around 162,000. I think the take for 2015 was 140,000 abalone. There is talk of a possible sublimit of 9 in Mendo just like the sublimit in Sonoma. I'm asking for expiration dates on the sublimit if it happens.

So far these options are being well received. I'll know more at the end of the month when they conclude their surveys.

This would avoid reducing the daily or annual bag limits

There is also a very animated discussion over on NCUH if you want to read up on some of the different viewpoints on this issue:

http://norcalunderwaterhunters.com/forum/index.php?topic=10030.0

 

Sincerely,

Jim

I was talking with Josh on Tuesday.  We are fortunate to have a respected knowledgable person on our side!

I was talking with Josh on Tuesday.  We are fortunate to have a respected knowledgable person on our side!

+1.

I don't envy him (or anyone involved in that whole process) their position, but am grateful for all his hard work on this issue, and previously with the Waterman's Alliance on issues like getting Striped Bass in the Ocean opened up to spearfishing.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Agreed, the folks that do this work couldn't be paid enough. Many people will never realize the amount of time, effort, and funds are spend keeping us in/on the water. Laura and I kept our kids out of school and took them to Sacramento, several years back, to attend a meeting on the recreational take of salmon. I spoke at the meeting and my kids did a report and spoke to their class about it the next day.

Great that Joshua reps us. Be fabulous if the DFG would go to more of an "on demand" tag system. For instance, minimum purchase would be a one day license for just three abs and priced accordingly. There are plenty of people who want to come to the coast, for instance for a family campout, just once and get some abs that one time.
Why not let people buy tags in increments of 3? That way the people wouldn't be tempted to go out in dangerous conditions just to make good on an expensive 18 tag license. And the DFG would have a much more accurate "feel" for how many abalone are actually going to be harvested each year.
Ideally, that could be extended so that people could also pay more to buy additional tags beyond 18. When my kids were smaller and every weekend seemed to have kids sports events, mostly I didn't fill my limit. Now that they're grown and I have more time, I'd like to dive more and pay more, for instance, to take 24.
My two cents worth...

Great that Joshua reps us. Be fabulous if the DFG would go to more of an "on demand" tag system. For instance, minimum purchase would be a one day license for just three abs and priced accordingly. There are plenty of people who want to come to the coast, for instance for a family campout, just once and get some abs that one time.
Why not let people buy tags in increments of 3? That way the people wouldn't be tempted to go out in dangerous conditions just to make good on an expensive 18 tag license. And the DFG would have a much more accurate "feel" for how many abalone are actually going to be harvested each year.
Ideally, that could be extended so that people could also pay more to buy additional tags beyond 18. When my kids were smaller and every weekend seemed to have kids sports events, mostly I didn't fill my limit. Now that they're grown and I have more time, I'd like to dive more and pay more, for instance, to take 24.
My two cents worth...

You are trying to look at it logically.  It will never happen.  They know some will only make it once a year and could care less if it saves them a buck.  It would reduce their revenues and that will not happen. 

Great that Joshua reps us. Be fabulous if the DFG would go to more of an "on demand" tag system. For instance, minimum purchase would be a one day license for just three abs and priced accordingly. There are plenty of people who want to come to the coast, for instance for a family campout, just once and get some abs that one time.
Why not let people buy tags in increments of 3? That way the people wouldn't be tempted to go out in dangerous conditions just to make good on an expensive 18 tag license. And the DFG would have a much more accurate "feel" for how many abalone are actually going to be harvested each year.
Ideally, that could be extended so that people could also pay more to buy additional tags beyond 18. When my kids were smaller and every weekend seemed to have kids sports events, mostly I didn't fill my limit. Now that they're grown and I have more time, I'd like to dive more and pay more, for instance, to take 24.
My two cents worth...

You are trying to look at it logically. 

Its not always about maximizing the number of dollars that come out of your pocket.  If you break them down into incremental tag sales you effectively triple (or quadrupled) the administrative costs to provide them to the public. That's more printing, more retail sales service required, more data collection costs, potentially more financial management resources to process retail collections (not quite sure how the state runs the financial side but you can bet there are accountants and clerks tracking every penny). 

With the added costs, how long before the price of a one limit card exceeds the old price for a full year limit?  Then everyone will be online complaining about how we need to go back to an annual limit card 

Naw, we've had the internet mainstream for about 20 years now. You can order postage stamps online. Salmon licenses for a single day have been around for ages, why not abs. And those printed plastic tags we get now? Almost zero cost compared to the price charged.
Guarantee if a private company like UBER took over the DFG licensing we'd could have on-demand abalone licensing almost overnight.
If DFG can't figure out how to operate on demand without big scale up in accountants, then they need to farm out the job to a company that can.
The whole world is getting way more efficient, why not DFG?

lol....you're right, it's that easy. 

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Thanks guys, I'll let you know what's going on when we get the numbers back.

They've decided to exercise the nuclear option.  The department is going to be suggesting an annual limit of 9 for next season.

what will be next a quota after you buy your Abalone card and won't be able to dive for till the end of season  ?

They've decided to exercise the nuclear option.  The department is going to be suggesting an annual limit of 9 for next season.

Looks like my gifting abalone days are gone 

That should also drive up the black market value. Poachers are going to love this. 

JoshuaB,

Thank you for taking this all on! We all owe you. 

Do you know if anyone has challenged the 8AM start time as violating the ADA? The vast majority of deep minus tides rock pickers need are before 8 AM, thus discriminating against those of us physically unable to dive from taking abalone. I'm pretty sure I am not the only guy with ear problems or other issues who got screwed by that rule.

Dan

I haven't heard of any ADA challenges.  They were talking about rolling it back to 7am before all the new transect data came in.  After this, any new changes will have to be to the new FMP that is supposed to go into effect for the 2018 season.