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Concerns about maintaining the future of Northern California's
abalone fishery confront us from a number of directions:
- overharvesting by legal recreational users,
With the 1997 closure of southern California's abalone
fishery, Sonoma and Mendocino Counties experienced a large (greater than 20%)
increase in abalone fishing pressure. Effectively, the average landings for the
entire state were focused on just those two counties; no decrease in the number
of harvesters nor in the number of abalone landed statewide was seen. If you
run the math, it's hard to believe that level of landings could be sustained
indefinitely. Even before the 1997 closure, underwater survey results from the
late 1980s reveal northern California abalone densities are approximately 1/3
the densities found within the few no-take refuges we have on the north coast.
Unquestionably, we are having a substantial and measurable impact.
- low-level but continuous sport-to-commercial poaching
activities,
There's a fond belief held by northern California's
recreational fishers that "the problem" is abalone poaching. There was a time I
would have agreed and I continue to strongly support aggressive enforcment and
prosecution of poachers. But, being a pragmatist, I
also believe there's a point of diminishing returns; that you can increase
enforcment efforts and expenditures without ever totally eliminating poaching.
That also means there comes a point where the impact of legal harvesting is a
larger part of the abalone "problem".
- large scale commercial poaching by a few individuals/groups.
Commercial-scale poaching is the wildcard when it comes to
impacts on abalone resources. Commercial-scale poachers use tanks and boats to
remove large quantities of abalone each time they go out. The impacts of this
kind of activity are devastating and may well be responsible for reports of
lowered abalone populations at refuge depths where sport divers rarely venture.
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Looming future concerns include:
- the lack of recuitment today,
Abalone being landed today are almost entirely the result of
one major spawning event in the early 1990s. No equivalent event has occurred
since. Obviously, until a new and significant spawning event occurs, the
abalone fishery is headed for thinner days.
- decreasing refuge-depth densities seen at some index sites,
The latest in-water surveys reveal some lower population
densities at a few reference locations at depths greater than the vast majority
of recreational divers can work. It's believed those refuge populations account
for the historical success of northern California's abalone fishery and it's
reduction is a serious cause for concern.
- the liklihood of a future sea otter expansion to the north
coast,
Should (when) the sea otter permanently resettles the north
coast, the recreational fishery for abalone is doomed in short order. The same
will be true for mussels, clams and, very likely, the commercial oyster farms.
That's because sea otters have a voracious appetite and no human explotation of
shellfish resources lasts for any length of time following sea otter migration
into an area.
- introduced diseases.
Non-native diseases have been introduced into the wild abalone
populations of northern California by activities related to the aquaculture
(abalone farming) industry. Whether or not those diseases gain a widespread
foothold may determine if northern California has a fishery in the future.
So, who can say how long it will last. My best suggestion is to
enjoy it while you can and to support proactive management decisions even when
they're personally painful to swallow. Sorry I can't provide any brighter an
outlook. Maybe next year?
If you're interested in learning more about the hard management
issues related to abalone, you can jump from this "fun" abalone section of my
web site to the less-fun Marine Resource and/or
Abalone Resource Issues sections. I'm sure you'll
find more concerns in either of those two areas than you ever wanted to be made
aware of. |
