Rocky Entries

Marine Resource Issues
Commercial Abalone Fishery Reopening?

At the December 5, 2005 meeting of the California Fish and Game Commission, the Abalone Recovery and Management Plan (ARMP) was adopted. At the same time, the Commission directed that the California Department of Fish and Game pursue a reopening of the commercial abalone fishery off San Miguel Island (SMI) with future consideration to focus on the Farallon Islands off San Francisco. This development is heartbreaking for those of us who have been involved in abalone resource management; 8 years of hard work developing a unique (by its existence) fishery management plan is narrowed to focus on a tiny piece of a larger problem solely for the financial benefit of a select few individuals.

This is an exceptionally bad idea. Reopening a commercial abalone fishery at this time will negate the minor gains made toward recovery of southern California's Red Abalone fishery since 1997. It was in 1997 that Senate Bill 463 was passed by the California legislature that imposed a moratorium on commercial and recreational fishing south of San Francisco. SB463 was preceded earlier in 1997 by an emergency closure of the abalone fishery ordered by the Fish and Game Commission. In January of 1998, SB463 was signed into law by Republican Governor Pete Wilson.

SB463 was the product of a long and painful effort by state legislators, the California Fish and Game Commission, the Department of Fish and Game, environmental organizations and the public to face and begin to deal with the looming loss of southern and central California's once vast abalone resource. The 1996 situation was summarized in the flyer: Important Facts About California's Abalone Resource.  As the 2007 update makes sad and clear, the situation south of San Francisco hasn't changed much since then.

Back in 1997, San Miguel Island (SMI) was one of only a very few remaining populations of Red Abalone off southern California with adequate densities required for successful reproduction. Now, 9 years later, dive surveys off SMI suggest that there's been some small and heartening increase in densities and size distributions. Unfortunately, in 2006, SMI has become the ONLY remaining Red Abalone population of any consequence off southern California. As such, SMI's abalone represents the sole opportunity for repopulating southern California's Red Abalone habitat short of expensive and risky transplants from northern California waters.

Over a 5 year period starting in 1998, the Department of Fish and Game developed the Abalone Recovery and Management Plan mandated by SB463. Submitted on schedule, the ARMP had been "pending approval" by the Fish and Game Commission since January 2003. Prior to January 2003, the ARMP underwent scientific peer-review which resulted in substantial changes and improvements.

Over the course of 2004/2005, the Commission directed the authors of the ARMP to add various management alternatives. Some of those alternatives weere championed by the California Abalone Association, the special interest group representing many of the ex-commercial abalone divers affected by the 1997 emergency FGC closure and subsequent SB463 fishing moratorium. These Commission-directed additions to the ARMP have not undergone any peer-review process.

On adopting the ARMP in December 2005, the Fish and Game Commission selected Management Alternative 8 that directs the Department of Fish and Game to pursue a reopening of commercial abalone fishing off SMI. This selection was made even though there is little dispute that SMI's Red Abalone densities are a fraction of that required by the Recovery portion of the ARMP before reopening a closed fishery. There is also little dispute that SMI's densities are a small fraction of the Red Abalone densities encountered off hundreds of miles of northern California coastline. Even though the Fish and Game Commission has reduced northern California fishery limits three times since 1998 out of concern over the sustainability of the recreational fishery, this same Commission is intent on reopening the few miles of southern California coastline where a reproducing population of Red Abalone still exists.

The Commission is pursuing Alternative 8 in spite of opposition by the Department of Fish and Game. Apparently responding to DFG biologist's opposition to the reopening, Jim Kellogg, Commission President, expressed his dim view of the best-available science saying he would accept the word of [commercial] fishermen who make their livelihood from the sea "over all of the science in the world." Unfortunately, Commissioner Kellogg didn't hear from "old school" commercial abalone fishermen who favored the closure in statements before the Fish and Game Commission in 1997. Nor did the Commission listen to the recreational dive community, dive clubs and commercial dive charter operations that, in 1997, strongly supported the 1997 closure. Instead, over the course of 2004 and 2005, some ex-commercial abalone divers "worked" the California Fish and Game Commission. By worked, I mean that they made frequent appearances and worked hard to make good impressions on the Commissioners. Over the past eight years, the Commission turnover has completely replaced the appointees involved in the 1997 emergency closure. The result is that the current Commission knows nothing of the outrageous and personal attacks and threats made by commercial interests on legislators, scientists and members of the public who advocated for the closure in 1997. So commercial interests are getting sympathetic hearings from the FGC for the idea of a reopened abalone fishery.

Aside from the reservations of marine biologists, DFG wardens also expressed opposition to a reopening of the SMI commercial fishery. Chief of the DFG's Law Enforcement division, Nancy Foley (that is, the chief warden) told the Commission the reopened fishery would aggravate current poaching activities. Poaching by commercially-licensed divers reveals itself on a too regular basis[1][2][3][4][5]. A recent northern California case involving commercially-licensed divers revealed they were transporting their illegal take to Mexico. Reopening SMI will facilitate the processing of poached abalone by California seafood processors.

Such is the situation as we end 2006. The SMI fishery may be reopened any time in the next year but it's expected that there will opportunities for public input. It's been almost 10 years since the diving public has been widely heard on the subject. Now is the time to start making yourself heard again.

California Fish and Game Commission 1416 Ninth Street Sacramento, CA 95814

In the 10 years since the recreational dive community got actively involved the southern California abalone resource concerns, a lot of new people have discovered the joys of diving. One difficulty of marine resource management is that new divers tend to calibrate their expectations based on their own initial observations. The result is that new divers think things are great today and base their future concerns against their initial observations. For new (and old) southern California divers, I invite you to calibrate your Red Abalone expectations by visiting northern California and doing some exploratory dives. What you will see will amaze you yet is but a small fraction of what was the southern California abalone fishery not that many years ago.

Last Modified: April 25, 2007

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