Posted by mike on July 11, 2001 at 17:24:08:
In Reply to: Is there enough of the right kinds of areas set aside? posted by Eric Frasco on July 11, 2001 at 15:31:44:
and a shot has been fired across our collective bow regarding just that!!
In Florida, Parts of the Dry Tortugas are indeed OFF LIMITS TO ALL DIVERS, EVEN THOSE WHO TAKE ONLY PICTURES AND LEAVE ONLY BUBBLES! There are a couple of posited reasons for this (and i won't even go there) but the net effect is a total closure for everybody, period, exclamation point. One would hope that Cal F&G would not opt for exclusion of even non-consumptive usage of the Marine Reserve areas. It wouldn't surprise me if either the more rabid "tree-huggers" or the commercial fisherman or anglers tried to get such a thing through (on the idea that if we can't have it, neither can they).
I guess it just comes down to showing up at the meetings and shouting and howling with the rest of the wolves. If any meetings are held locally after Aug 7th, then i'll see some of y'all there!
regarding the lack of estuaries, yeah, that does look kinda funny now that you mention it. Such a thing might warrant a closure off of Newport Beach, Marina Del Rey or wherever else there is a remnant of an original estuarine system.
As far as tried and failed DFG schemes in the past, well, having gone to school /w/ some of those folks, i can certainly vouch that they all have job security with their GS-11 positions, but i do have to agree that collectively, there are a lot more of us in the water up and down the coast every weekend, than there are grad students, F&G biologists, and we often see things that they might have missed.
Still, i would definitely have qualms (& flat out oppose in some cases) about the total closure of Rat Beach to Malaga or the front of Anacapa or West End Catalina or any of the other MR areas for that matter.
We (myself included) probably ought to put away the polemics which includes the "tree hugger" or "redneck hunter" label for some of us on this board (i get called both, all the time), look carefully at the map, think about where you like to look for yellowtail, bugs, calicos, scallops or take your pictures and then try and think of a plan that works for you and your favorite weekend activity?
How about the area off of outer Cabrillo Beach? There's some wrecks there in that pukey green water (accordin' to Kev)! I'd hate to see that closed to ALL access or even turned into an absolute no-take zone, especially to the Ca Wreck Divers ; )