Noyo Jim
12-14-2008, 01:47 AM
F&G Commission Puts Abalone on the MLPA Cutting Block
RFA and SCAN have been lobbying for a change in the proposed MLPA regulations for the north central coast for several months – ever since the regulations were drafted in April. In particular, we cannot support the abalone closures at Fisk Mill Cove, Saunders Reef, Jenner and Sea Lion Cove.
Thanks to the Monterey Tritons, NorCal Dive Club and Dolphin Divers from Sacramento, there was a good turnout of abalone divers on Friday, at the Dec 12th California Fish & Game Commission meeting. There were enough people who showed up and gave us their speaking time to give a 1/2 hour presentation about the abalone issue. (Without that turnout, we would not have gotten the time.)
The Commission will put the issue of our requested changes on their agenda for the February meeting. So you get another opportunity to show up and voice your concerns!
You can watch the webcast of the meeting here:
mms://www.cal-span.org/calspan/Video_Files/CFG/CFG_08-12-12/CFG_08-12-12.wmv
If that link doesn't work, try this www.cal-span.org.
It begins with a discussion of the DFG's new automated licensing system, and then there is a discussion of the listing of the pacific fisher as endangered. Then about 9am they allowed us to begin our presentation.
I introduced the Recreational Fishing Alliance and the Sonoma County Abalone Network and described our contributions to combat poaching, educate divers about the regs, and so on. I gave them some background on the biology of abalone, about our fishery on the north coast, and its economic value to the local community. Then Milo Vukovich, President of SCAN, showed the Commissioners how the MLPA closures would result in an effort shift in the fishery – raising the landings at Ft. Ross from 37,000 a year up to 47,000 per year. Using graphs showing the relative landings around Pt. Arena and the area south of sea ranch, Milo explained that private property and steep cliffs create a situation where there are serious impact to the abalone fishery under the proposed MLPA closures on the north-central coast. I concluded our presentation with a request for a line change at the Stewarts Point Reserve, north to 38 degrees, 37.5 minutes, and to allow abalone diving at the conservation areas proposed for Sea Lion Cove, Saunders Reef and Jenner.
The following discussion by the Commissioners was the best they have had so far about the MPLA. Commissioner Jim Kellogg, a real friend to the hunters and fishermen of California, made a motion to include options for our changes in the proposed regulations. This set off a lively discussion about the timeline of the process, whether the Commission should just rubber stamp the proposals sent to them by the Blue Ribbon Task Force Commissioners Richard Rogers and Cindy Gustafson indicated that they would not be inclined to make any changes to the package the BRTF handed them.
Cindy Gustafson said that she did not want to upset any of the BRTF members and make changes. She worried about setting up a situation where every group comes forward with more changes. (So far, no one has, and they won't have data to back up their request, as in our presentation with the abalone punchcard data. President Rogers backed her up, and indicated that Kellogg's proposal would not get their support. Dan Richards tried as hard as he could to get the other commissioners to support options for the changes requested by the abalone divers, and they all agreed that there were several questions the DFG needed to answer. After consulting with their legal council, the Commission set an agenda item on their February meeting in Sacramento, to discuss the new information and decide then what they wanted to do.
Although we did not get the vote we requested, we came very close. The President of the Commission, Richard Rogers, had made it very difficult for us to get time at many Commission meetings over the past several months, even though the Commissioners had all agreed they wanted to hear from RFA and SCAN and that we would have time to present a powerpoint to them. Finally we were running out of time and decided to show up with a bunch of divers who donated their time to us and we got r done on Friday.
Thanks to Tino Bernazzani, Tom Krebs, Richard Sears, Fred Cochrane, Jerry Benbow, Eric Sabbe, and many others who showed up and donated their speaking time to us. Without these dedicated folks, showing up at 8:30 am at the Resources Building in Sacramento, we would have been toast.
Up 'til then, we had been denied at every turn, and it looked like there would not be much public discussion of the regulations before they were adopted, beyond the minimum required for keeping things legal.
We still have a couple of more shots at this, to convince the Commission to do the right thing for the abalone fishery and the resource.
Mark your calendars for February 4-5, when the F&G Commission meets in Sacramento. The MLPA will be on the agenda and we need a few more abalone divers to push this point home. Win or lose, this is a very important battle and divers are being specifically targeted for no good reason in the MLPA process.
RFA and SCAN have been lobbying for a change in the proposed MLPA regulations for the north central coast for several months – ever since the regulations were drafted in April. In particular, we cannot support the abalone closures at Fisk Mill Cove, Saunders Reef, Jenner and Sea Lion Cove.
Thanks to the Monterey Tritons, NorCal Dive Club and Dolphin Divers from Sacramento, there was a good turnout of abalone divers on Friday, at the Dec 12th California Fish & Game Commission meeting. There were enough people who showed up and gave us their speaking time to give a 1/2 hour presentation about the abalone issue. (Without that turnout, we would not have gotten the time.)
The Commission will put the issue of our requested changes on their agenda for the February meeting. So you get another opportunity to show up and voice your concerns!
You can watch the webcast of the meeting here:
mms://www.cal-span.org/calspan/Video_Files/CFG/CFG_08-12-12/CFG_08-12-12.wmv
If that link doesn't work, try this www.cal-span.org.
It begins with a discussion of the DFG's new automated licensing system, and then there is a discussion of the listing of the pacific fisher as endangered. Then about 9am they allowed us to begin our presentation.
I introduced the Recreational Fishing Alliance and the Sonoma County Abalone Network and described our contributions to combat poaching, educate divers about the regs, and so on. I gave them some background on the biology of abalone, about our fishery on the north coast, and its economic value to the local community. Then Milo Vukovich, President of SCAN, showed the Commissioners how the MLPA closures would result in an effort shift in the fishery – raising the landings at Ft. Ross from 37,000 a year up to 47,000 per year. Using graphs showing the relative landings around Pt. Arena and the area south of sea ranch, Milo explained that private property and steep cliffs create a situation where there are serious impact to the abalone fishery under the proposed MLPA closures on the north-central coast. I concluded our presentation with a request for a line change at the Stewarts Point Reserve, north to 38 degrees, 37.5 minutes, and to allow abalone diving at the conservation areas proposed for Sea Lion Cove, Saunders Reef and Jenner.
The following discussion by the Commissioners was the best they have had so far about the MPLA. Commissioner Jim Kellogg, a real friend to the hunters and fishermen of California, made a motion to include options for our changes in the proposed regulations. This set off a lively discussion about the timeline of the process, whether the Commission should just rubber stamp the proposals sent to them by the Blue Ribbon Task Force Commissioners Richard Rogers and Cindy Gustafson indicated that they would not be inclined to make any changes to the package the BRTF handed them.
Cindy Gustafson said that she did not want to upset any of the BRTF members and make changes. She worried about setting up a situation where every group comes forward with more changes. (So far, no one has, and they won't have data to back up their request, as in our presentation with the abalone punchcard data. President Rogers backed her up, and indicated that Kellogg's proposal would not get their support. Dan Richards tried as hard as he could to get the other commissioners to support options for the changes requested by the abalone divers, and they all agreed that there were several questions the DFG needed to answer. After consulting with their legal council, the Commission set an agenda item on their February meeting in Sacramento, to discuss the new information and decide then what they wanted to do.
Although we did not get the vote we requested, we came very close. The President of the Commission, Richard Rogers, had made it very difficult for us to get time at many Commission meetings over the past several months, even though the Commissioners had all agreed they wanted to hear from RFA and SCAN and that we would have time to present a powerpoint to them. Finally we were running out of time and decided to show up with a bunch of divers who donated their time to us and we got r done on Friday.
Thanks to Tino Bernazzani, Tom Krebs, Richard Sears, Fred Cochrane, Jerry Benbow, Eric Sabbe, and many others who showed up and donated their speaking time to us. Without these dedicated folks, showing up at 8:30 am at the Resources Building in Sacramento, we would have been toast.
Up 'til then, we had been denied at every turn, and it looked like there would not be much public discussion of the regulations before they were adopted, beyond the minimum required for keeping things legal.
We still have a couple of more shots at this, to convince the Commission to do the right thing for the abalone fishery and the resource.
Mark your calendars for February 4-5, when the F&G Commission meets in Sacramento. The MLPA will be on the agenda and we need a few more abalone divers to push this point home. Win or lose, this is a very important battle and divers are being specifically targeted for no good reason in the MLPA process.