Prevent Commercial Abalone

[cisurfer]

Normally im disgusted with RFA and find them quite hipocritical but here is an issue that i strongly am opposed to and support RFA on.
Opening the commercial harvest of red abalone at San Miguel Island and the Farralon Islands. As somebody who loves abalone, and not only eating them Joey, i am afraid for their future. Weve made so much progress at their restoration and this would only be a giant step backwards.

Efforts are underway to reopen commercial abalone harvesting off southern California's San Miguel Island and the Farallon Islands 26 miles west of San Francisco. These efforts are sponsored by ex commercial abalone divers with support and encouragement from certain members of the California Fish and Game Commission and the Department of Fish and Game.

Taken from RFA Website:
HELP RESTORE CALIFORNIA'S ABALONE RESOURCE

San Miguel Island is among the Channel Islands chain, where the last remnants of southern California Red Abalone can be found. This population is quite small and localized to a very short section of the coastline. The California Abalone Association has been working hard to reopen Red Abalone harvesting off San Miguel Island as well as central California's Farallon Islands. So far, these ex-commercial divers have had some success developing support from the Fish and Game Commission.

At a value near $100 per abalone, it is clear that this effort is by and for the benefit of some portion of the 106 commercial abalone divers affected by the 1997 closure. Central California Council Diving Clubs (CENCAL), the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA), the Golden Gate Fishermen's Association (GGFA), the Sonoma County Abalone Network (SCAN), officials of the Department of Fish & Game and the Channel Islands National Park have all testified in opposition to a San Miguel Island reopening.

The monetary costs would be too high, the potential for increased poaching too high, the impact on abalone recovery too risky and the benefits to the citizens of California non-existent. Everybody involved in this issue agrees that San Miguel Island Red Abalone are still recovering from earlier depletion. With scientists, resource managers and commercial divers currently embroiled in rearguing the proper techniques for counting abalone, it becomes obvious that the best abalone experts on every side still do not have the knowledge to safely and wisely manage harvesting of a marginal and recovering abalone resource. For now, the Fish and Game Commission must heed their own claim of overriding Department of Fish and Game recommendations "only where it is convinced that such action is in the best interest of the resource and truly reflects the wishes and needs of the people." (From the mission statement of the Fish & Game Commission.)

There were Abalone at San Miguel Island when the Fish and Game Commission declared an emergency closure in 1997, and there have been no substantial changes in Abalone populations since. It is absolutely irresponsible to consider opening a fishery on a very small, but viable population of Abalone in Southern California. The Commission should put its effort into trying to expand this population, not harvest it.

Tell the Commission and your elected officials that you place the abalone resource first, and harvest second:

Recreational Fishing Alliance

Follow the link to the RFA Website to sign the petition

[cisurfer]

Will S. California island be open for abalone?

TAKEN FROM PACIFIC FISHING MAGAZINE
COMMERCIAL FISHING PUBLICATION
Eleven years have passed since 1997 legislation banned recreational and commercial harvest of red abalone south of the Golden Gate Bridge. Populations had dwindled to virtually nothing in most locations, and approximately 100 Southern California commercial abalone divers hung up their ab irons and said farewell to a way of life.
Not completely, though. Nearly 90 ex-divers still see a future in one isolated location off Santa Barbara — San Miguel Island. Here, the red abalone still dwells in relative abundance, and growing interest in resuming harvest has prompted the California DFG and various stakeholder groups to assess the local population and determine the viability of a fishery.
Survey dives in the summers of 2006 and 2007 have provided only a limited understanding of the island’s abalone stock, and the anecdotes and opinions of former divers may be more telling.
Chris Voss, who heads the California Abalone Association, and Jim Marshall, both of whom now dive for urchins, each report that the San Miguel Island abalone population appears to be as healthy as it ever was and is ready for a resumed, highly regulated take.
Fishery proponents are also quick to point out that annual commercial landings of abalone at San Miguel Island remained more or less steady for decades; it was a sustainable fishery, they say, averaging almost 140,000 pounds annually, or some 40,000 abalone.
Most locations south of Marin County saw abalone numbers dwindle last century, due both to over-harvesting as well as predation by growing sea otter populations.
California’s North Coast, however, boasts a coveted wealth of red abalone. DFG surveys have found abalone in densities averaging 8,000 per hectare, or 3,238 per acre, from the tidal zone to 50 feet of depth.

The underwater inspections at San Miguel Island, however, have tallied up only 1,200 per hectare, or 485 per acre. This would preclude any hope of a fishery, according to guidelines set in 2005 by the DFG’s Abalone Recovery and Management Plan (ARMP), which defines 2,000 abalone per hectare as the “minimum viable population” density and 6,600 per hectare as the “minimum sustainable fishery” density (809 and 2,672 per acre, respectively).
But Marshall says that the North Coast DFG surveys focused on regions known for especially dense abalone colonies, resulting in an inaccurately high population snapshot. He adds that surveys at San Miguel Island included large swaths of seafloor hardly suitable as habitat, an oversight that skewed the curve.
“What you really need to know is how many abalone in this population are within one meter of another abalone, since they’re broadcast spawners. If you take this standard, then 87 percent of the abalone at San Miguel are part of a breeding population.”
Another survey dive at San Miguel Island was being planned for this summer, and DFG senior biologist Ian Taniguchi says efforts will be made to gain a clearer understanding of the red abalone’s health as a breeding population.
The DFG aims to provide a conclusive report to the Fish and Game Commission by December 2008, at which time various proposals for resuming the fishery will be reviewed. Recreational divers, former abalone divers, biologists, managers of local federal agencies, and the DFG will all contribute to the discussion, and the conversation may continue for years.

[Michael J]

You are right sir.The science is not accurate.What about Withering Foot? What about the little hole boring thingie.
As much as I like to fry up those helmet fishes,lets leave em alone.

I dive ALOT,and on the coast I haven't seen em like I used to.
The ones I have seen,but don't get me wrong in the numbers are Pinks.Love to feed em,so cool when they reach out and eat.
MJ.

[smidge]

Very cool Ryan. I think that's great that you are sticking up for what you believe in even though you are a commercial guy. I have had some heated arguments with some of my buddies who stand to gain from the possible openings . Hopefully this does not come to fruition.

[TheWind]

I remember as a little kid my Dad and his buddies would paddle out to seal rock from T-street and get big Abalone and the precede to party all night.lol Alot has changed in 50 years on the california coast..amazing.