Posted by Steve Herbert on February 08, 2001 at 11:06:04:
The following is from Steve Campi of Cen Cal Council:
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2001 22:21:26 -0800
The California Department of Fish and Game is holding Scoping Workshops Regarding Development of a Nearshore Fishery Management Plan. The southern California session is:
Tuesday, February 13, 2001, 7:00-10:00 PM
Dumke Auditorium, California State University Office of the
Chancellor 401 Golden Shore, Long Beach
The purpose of these workshops is to receive public comments on the
Department's approach for developing a Nearshore Fishery Management Plan.
To RSVP, for more information, or to request an information packet, please contact:
Maura Leos
California Department of Fish and Game
20 Lower Ragsdale Road, #100
Monterey, CA 93940
831/649-2829 831/649-2917 fax
mleos@dfg.ca.gov
Northern and southern California divers and recreational fishermen have attended both the December 8 (Eureka) and March 3 (Sacramento) Fish & Game Commission meetings and have made powerful arguments for a substantial reduction in the commercial take of nearshore fishes. The Commission has listened and interim measures have been adopted that help curtail the rape of the inshore fishery. However these interim measures are only a beginning because the commercial fishery has been expanding exponentially during the last decade. It is now time to let the Department know that the same arguments we have used to justify the interim restrictions should be included in the development of the Fisheries Management Plan which by law
must take effect Jan. 1, 2002.
The first thing to do is to join the Nearshore e-mail list. This will keep you informed of current thought on the issues. We also need your thoughts. Go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/
At "Join A Group" type in "nearshore" and hit "Search"
(oceancoalition and CAnearshore are also important groups to join)
Click on "more"
Click on "Join This Group"
Please attend the Long Beach Scoping Workshop and testify as to your
personal observations as to the health of the southern California nearshore fishery - especially as to the amount and size of the sheepshead you have observed. The meat of the F&G Commission presentations has been:
1- The United Anglers of Southern California's (UASC) proposal of Oct. 2, 2000 is the best measure to protect the slow-growing/ residential fish of the nearshore ecosystem.
You can find the text of the USAC proposal at:
http://www.best.com/~cdegler/CALFISH/interimmeasure.html
2- The nearshore fishery has traditionally been a recreational fishery. It has been, on a "de facto" basis, re-allocated to the commercials and harvested to such an extent that there is no longer a satisfying recreational fishery. This is contrary to the Fish and Game Code which states that "It is hereby declared to be the policy of the state to encourage the conservation, maintenance, and utilization of the living resources of the ocean and other waters ... for the benefit of all the citizens of the state... This policy shall include ... the following objective ...: The maintenance of a sufficient resource to support a reasonable sport use ....
3- The nearshore fishery is not healthy enough to support the current level of commercial harvest. Until it is proved that a commercial harvest is viable there should be no commercial trap or stick fishing in the nearshore (less than 120 feet) area.
Please check the nearshore list for more information or contact me.
Thank you.
Steve Campi
http://www.cencal.org
scampi@dnai.com