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March 26, 2012

Media Contacts:
Carrie Wilson, DFG Communications, (831) 649-7191
Mary Patyten, DFG Marine Region, (831) 649-2804

The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) will be holding two public meetings to share information about the Spiny Lobster Fishery Management Plan (FMP) process. The meetings, which will be held in Oxnard and Carlsbad, will provide the public and interested organizations with an opportunity to learn more about DFG’s plans to develop a comprehensive Spiny Lobster FMP.

DFG photo by Dianna Porzio

The public feedback from these meetings will help inform the Spiny Lobster FMP process and aid in the plan’s development.

“The spiny lobster is a prime candidate for an FMP,” said Senior Biologist Kristine Barsky, who will coordinate the FMP process. Barsky has worked predominantly with invertebrate species such as lobster during her 37 years with DFG’s Marine Region.

The Spiny Lobster FMP is being developed in accordance with the Marine Life Management Act of 1998, as the spiny lobster supports important commercial and recreational fisheries and plays a key role in the Southern California kelp forest ecosystem.

“DFG is committed to making this process transparent, objective and accessible to all, with the goal of completing an adaptable FMP that will ensure a sustainable lobster resource and healthy fisheries,” said Barsky.

The agenda is identical for both public meetings so interested parties need only attend one meeting. Members of the public can provide comments in person at either of the following locations and times:

Oxnard: Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Open house begins at 6 p.m.
Public meeting will be held from 6:30-9 p.m.
Oxnard Performing Arts and Convention Center
Ventura Room
800 Hobson Way
Oxnard, CA 93030
www.oxnardpacc.com/directions.html

Carlsbad: Thursday, April 19, 2012
Open house begins at 6 p.m.
Public meeting will be held from 6:30-9 p.m.
Grand Pacific Palisades Hotel
Grand Ballroom
5805 Armada Drive
Carlsbad, CA 92008
www.grandpacificpalisades.com/map-directions

Written comments may also be submitted after the meetings, either by e-mail through the Lobster FMP web site (www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/lobsterfmp/) or by regular mail to:

Department of Fish and Game
Attn: Lobster FMP
1933 Cliff Drive, Suite 9
Santa Barbara, CA 93109

For more information about these meetings, the Spiny Lobster FMP process or to be added to the list server, please visit www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/lobsterfmp/.

Individuals who cannot receive e-mail may sign up to receive the Lobster FMP news notices via mail. Please contact Rosalyn McFarland at (805) 568-1231 to provide your mailing address.

View the original post at:  http://cdfgnews.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/dfg-holds-public-meetings-on-spiny-lobster-fishery-management-plan-process/

Simplistic, naive and unhelpful

A recent editorial in The Economist would have us believe that of all the problems facing the oceans—acidification, plastics pollution, decline of habitat—overfishing is the easy win, the simple fix. Really, the article argues, this whole overfishing mess is the fault of fishermen. If fishers would just wise-up to the long-term environmental consequences of taking too much, they would make the well-informed and uncomplicated choice to just simply catch fewer fish. This finger-pointing exercise is about as helpful and logical as driving past an unemployment line and yelling out the window, “Get a job!”

The article unfairly downplays and depersonalizes the fraught process of transitioning fishery management to catch shares, glossing over the fact that it can destabilize and threaten fishers’ livelihoods. Communities where these changes have been implemented can spiral into bitterness, economic havoc and, sometimes, violence. Is that so surprising? How easy would it be for you to take a pay cut, change everything about the way you did your job, and submit to rules that stripped you of a way of life that had supported your family for generations – in return for the uncertain promise that the resource on which you depend will “likely” rebound in the future? That is a brutally personal risk to take.

Also, explain to me this: Who’s a “fisherman?” That term can refer to a subsistence fisher, a modern day slave on a commercial trawler, or an Asian corporate conglomerate with pirate fleets fishing illegally. Often, individual fishers are not the decision makers. To hang the overfishing problem on “fishermen” makes them the scapegoats for a system of historically unchecked corporate profiteering that has victimized the ocean, fishers, and the communities where they reside.

I agree that enacting policies to shift incentives for individual fishers do work. But to suggest that these shifts are no-brainers, or that fishermen are stonewalling because they just don’t get it, or are simply greedy, is downright careless and disrespectful.

There are groups doing amazing work with fishers, and they know that these transitions to shift human behavior are complex. The journey involves education, risk mitigation, and real solutions to the very real economic hit that fishers take to make change.

For example, in developing nations, RARE helps communities self-police illegal fishing practices using awareness campaigns that instill pride in the fishery.

In the U.S., the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) is a marine science center that helps create solutions to the complex twin challenges of ocean stewardship and economic growth. GMRI hosts neutral dialogues with fishermen and scientists that build trust, and helps local fishers meet the new pressures of the market and regulation with better gear, better business management and more cooperation.

These are not overnight changes or easy fixes. They are also not enough.

Fishermen represent one link in a complex supply chain that creates motivations to overfish at every level. Our research, which included sending anthropologists into the field to observe the day-to-day activities of processors, distributors, importers, exporters, brokers, and other industry players, revealed incentives that drive illegal fishing, mislabeling, masking of scarcity, and other practices that directly affect overfishing behaviors.

And let’s not leave ourselves as consumers off the hook. Our desire to enjoy shrimp cocktail in blissful ignorance to how it’s caught and our expectation of finding our favorite fresh fish all year round are part of the unrealistic demand cycle that pushes the industry. I’m not sure I think these are easier behavior changes to pull off than weaning folks off their SUVs, or getting our governments to enforce carbon emissions commitments—both of which are core to fixing the supposedly harder task of addressing climate change.

The solution? More innovation. More work to demonstrate the rewards (for every player in the chain) of better practices that drive the end of overfishing, like increased traceability and more efficient communication between supply and demand in the marketplace. More memorable and nuanced ways to tell the story of our endangered oceans in ways that live not as slogans, but as delicious choices for dinner. We work with entrepreneurs who are creating these new solutions daily.

Shifting complex systems requires deep understanding and empathy, neither of which is evidenced in The Economist’s analysis. Forging an ecosystem of solutions that address the multiple of layers to overfishing is difficult. But it is doable. We know enough about where to head and how to get there that I believe ending overfishing before it’s too late is absolutely achievable, if not easy.

When “easy” means oversimplifying and picking targets for blame, we fan the very the flames of resistance we’re trying to extinguish. If I’m anyone but a fisher reading this article, the analysis and solution sound great: It’s someone else’s fault and someone else’s job to fix. But until all of us, not just fishers, own our part in creating this systemic problem, we’ll continue to deplete this precious resource that is all of our responsibility to save.

Update (02/29/12): Check out Ecotrust VP and FoF innovator Ed Backus’s blog on why the Economist has it wrong on overfishing.

To view the original post — please follow this link: www.futureoffish.org/simplistic-naive-and-unhelpful/

[read the entire article here on californiawatch.org]

www.sbmm.org/events/4/maritime-museum-commemorates-the-bicentennial-of-the-war-of-1812-with-paintings-by-hans-skalagard

Steve Escobar, Mike McCorkle, Gary Burke, Chris Miller, Michael Harrington, Chris Voss, Linda McCorkle and Stephanie Mutz.

Fisherman, Steve Escobar, brought his wood fire pizza oven, and SB fishermen made made blackcod and spiny lobster pizzas. Chris Miller donated the spiny lobster. Mike McCorkle got a white seabass from Andy Rasmussen, and fried it up.

We got an ‘Honorable Mention’ for our fresh and delicious seafood.

Contact: Tom Weseloh, Joint Committee on Fisheries consultant, (707) 445-7014
Andrew Bird, Chesbro communications director, (916) 319-2001

SACRAMENTO – The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture’s 39th Annual Fisheries Forum is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 22, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Room 4202 in the State Capitol in Sacramento.

“The Fisheries Forum is the primary opportunity in California for those involved in fishing and aquaculture to come together and speak directly to the Legislature about issues of critical importance to them,” said Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D – North Coast), who chairs the Fisheries Committee. “California’s fisheries and aquaculture industry are vital to the state’s economy and serve as an indicator of the health of our entire aquatic environment.”

Former Senate Majority Leader Barry Keene started the annual hearing, formerly known as the Fishermen’s Forum, in 1973. Initially established to address issues confronting North Coast commercial fishermen, the Forum has since expanded to cover issues statewide concerning commercial and sport fisheries, aquaculture and fisheries research. Since 1981 the Forum has been hosted by the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture. Many laws protecting fisheries, aquaculture and marine interests were developed as a result of information gathered at past Forums.

The public is welcome to attend the Forum. There is no cost.

After opening remarks by Chesbro and other legislators who serve on the Committee, the agenda includes presentations from Charlton Bonham, director of the state Department of Fish and Game; Sonke Mastrup, executive director of the California Fish and Game Commission and Rod McInnis, regional administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service. The forum will also feature reports from the California Advisory Committee on Salmon and Steelhead Trout, the California Salmon Stamp program, the California Dungeness Crab Task Force, the Sea Urchin Commission and the Aquaculture Development Committee.

“We will also hear from many of our hardworking fishing men and women, members of the aquaculture community, and conservation groups,” Chesbro said.

There will also be time for public comments.

Agenda:
I. Welcoming Remarks
Chairman Wesley Chesbro
Opening Statements by Members of the Joint Committee

II. Agency Updates – Priorities for 2012
Charlton Bonham – Director, Department of Fish and Game
Sonke Mastrup – Executive Director, Fish and Game Commission
Rod McInnis – Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service

III. Committee Reports
California Advisory Committee on Salmon and Steelhead Trout – Vivian Helliwell
California Salmon Stamp Committee – Mike Ricketts
California Dungeness Crab Task Force – Mike Cunningham
California Sea Urchin Commission – Tom Trumper & Bob Bertelli
Aquaculture Development Committee – Tony Schuur

IV. Ocean Science and Monitoring
Dean Wendt Ph.D. – SLOSEA, Center for Coastal Marine Sciences, CPSU
Dave Rudie – San Diego Oceans Foundation

V. Tuna/Herring/Abalone
Wayne Heikkila – Western Fishboat Owners Association
Ernie Koepf – California Herring Association
Jim Martin – Sonoma County Abalone Network

LUNCH

VI. California Fisheries – Permits, Sustainability and Fishermen Initiatives
Ronnie Pellegrini – Humboldt Fisherman’s Marketing Association
Pete Halmay – San Diego Fishermen’s Working Group
Stephanie Mutz – Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara, Inc
Mike McCorkle – Southern California Trawlers Association
Kenny Belov – FISH Restaurant

VII. Groundfish
Zeke Grader – Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations
Roger Thomas – Golden Gate Fishermen’s Association

VIII. Marijuana Cultivation Impacts on Watersheds and Fish
Nancy Foley/TBD – Department of Fish and Game
Greg Giusti – UC Forest Advisor
Scott Greacen – Friends of the Eel River

Break

IX. Salmon
Dave Bitts – Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’ s Associations
Linda Sheehan – Earth Law Center
Victor Gonella – Golden Gate Salmon Association
Caleen Sisk – Winnemem Wintu Tribe

X. Aquaculture Development
Ken Beer – The Fishery
Greg Dale – Coast Seafood Oyster Co.
Mark Drawbridge – Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute
Don Kent – Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute

XI. Public Comment (2 minutes each)

XII. Closing Comments by Committee

A Pictorial History by Scrap Lundy

Who: Scrap Lundy will talk about the abalone industry in Santa Barbara
Where: Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, Munger Theater, 113 Harbor Way, Santa Barbara, California
What: Lecture Titled: The California Abalone Industry: A Pictorial History by Scrap Lundy
When: Thursday, March 15, 2012; 7-8:30 pm
Why: To learn about the intriguing and little known history of the abalone industry
Cost: Free (members), $5 (non-members)

To RSVP or purchase tickets, Call: (805) 962-8404, x115

A.L Lundy aka “Scrap” Lundy’s presentation will explain the various aspects of one of the least known, most interesting, and oldest industries in California – the abalone industry. The Lecture will be held Thursday, March 15 from 7-8:30 pm in Munger Theatre at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum as part of SBMM’s ongoing lecture and film series.

Lundy, a formal navy, commercial, abalone diver and now recreational diver will show over one hundred never before seen photos showing all aspects of the abalone industry. With photos ranging from 1898 to recent history, he will speak of how the industry became popular in California and the rest of the world and possible causes of the industry’s demise and future. In the early days from 1853 to 1880’s the industry was made up entirely of Chinese immigrants. They founded the commercial California abalone industry and made it into a very successful venture. In the early 1880’s the Chinese were excluded from the business by a prejudicial act of Congress. The industry lay dormant until about 1898 when the Japanese fisherman of Monterey rediscovered the abalone resource and started diving as a means to harvest the product. In 1929, Caucasian divers in Morro Bay copied the Japanese methods and created an industry in Morro Bay. That industry eventually spread to include all of southern California. Lundy’s lecture will discuss the hardships and daily life patterns of the abalone diver’s life on the boats, issues white sharks, giant octopi, having their air hoses cut by boat propellers and many other hazards of the life of the early abalone diver. The lecture is free to members and $5 to non members. To RSVP and purchase tickets call 805-962-8404 x 115.

About the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum

The 7,825 square-foot Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, located at the Santa Barbara Harbor, opened to the public in July 2000. Today, the museum is a vital part of the community, offering educational programs, interactive displays, and both temporary and permanent exhibits, attracting thousands of visitors each year. To date, more than 62,500 schoolchildren from 140 area schools have participated in the Maritime Museum’s educational programs.

Museum & Store Dates and Hours: Open Daily 10am-5pm, Closed Wednesdays.

Museum Admission Information: $7 for Adults; $4 for seniors, students, and youth; $2 for children aged 1-5. The Museum is free the 3rd Thursday of every month.

Regrets: Harry Liquornik

1. SB Maritime Museum Fundraiser, Sat February 25, 2012 (evening)

- Wine and appetizer fundraiser event
- CFSB is providing a seafood dish for this event
- It will be judged by two celebrity chefs
- CFSB participated in this event last year, and we got 2nd place…we are determined to win first prize
- CFSB participation was really appreciated by the guests and it was a great opportunity to outreach our efforts to the community and supply local seafood to our community
- Steve Escobar is the head fisherman chef for this event
- We need fishermen to help cook/prepare seafood (probably seafood pizza)
- We need fishermen to donate seafood for this event
- A separate email will go out to SB fishermen on the details and needs for this event

2. Fisheries Forum in Sacramento Wednesday February 22, 2012

- This is a yearly forum for fishermen to address fisheries issues to the CA State Legislature
- If you have any fisheries issues you would like addressed to the CA State Legislature please contact Stephanie ASAP so it can be put on the agenda
- After the Fisheries Forum there is a Seafood Feast where fishermen serve their catch to government agencies and other fisheries organizations – best outreach opportunity for us
- We need fishermen to donate seafood for the Seafood Feast – in recent years the seafood supply has been lacking due to little participation with fishermen – we do not want to give the perception that our CA fishing industry and resources are in decline
- We also need fishermen to attend this event to outreach to the community all over the State. If there is enough interest, CFSB will rent a car/van to drive fishermen to Sacramento for the day.
- More details of this event coming soon

3. ‘Bouillabaisse Bill’

- A draft of the provisions of the Fish & Game Code we voted to seek changes with a “bouillabaisse bill can be found here: www.cfsb.info/meetingmaterials/Draft_Boulibaisse_Bill_23Jan12.pdf
- Those changes have to do with:

1) allowing for a transfer of a permit on the death of a permit holder – as opposed to current law that limits the transfer only in cases of accidental death;
2) restricting Dungeness crab permit transfers, where a vessel is damaged, destroyed or inoperable, to vessels of the same size or capacity;
3) authorizing the Fish & Game Commission to allow “light touch” trawling in state waters (e.g., Monterey Bay) where certain conditions are met; and
4) allowing any commercial fisherman to retrieve crab traps, that are not their own, 96 hours and after following the close of the Dungeness crab season.

- This bill is being reviewed in legislature now, and has a long way to go with reviews and revisions
- CFSB Executive Board and members would like to add to the ‘Bouillabaisse Bill’ and change/verify the language of DFG code Sect. 9011(a4): A person shall not possess any lobster aboard a vessel while the vessel is being used pursuant to this subdivision to take rock crab. (DFG code Sect. 1.86.1: “Take” means hunt, pursue, catch, capture, or kill, or attempt to hunt, pursue, catch, capture, or kill.)

DFG enforcers interpret this as not being able to fish lobster and crab on the same trip. The law was made so a fisherman cannot trap lobster in crab traps. The argument that the fishermen have are that it is not ideal (or very likely) to catch lobster in crab traps. Energy consumption is extremely inefficient if one has to make separate trips to catch lobster and crab. An ideal solution would be to catch crab on the first leg of the trip, and to catch lobster on the way back, and CFSB would like to see if that language can be incorporated in the code, and added to this bill.
- Other suggestions of changes/additions to the ‘Bouillabaisse Bill’ include in RED:

1. Under Sect 8103(3)(b): …the department shall transfer a permit for a limited entry fishery, upon application, to a parent, spouse, child, sibling, domestic partner or the estate of the deceased….
2. Under Sect 8103(3)(d): language added: the new permittee must be onboard while the permit is leased
3. Some things that need to be clarified by DFG….does this pertain to non-transferable permits?

4. Project on legal framework for Community Fisheries Associations (CFA’s)

- PCFFA submitted a proposal to the Fisheries Innovation Fund to fund the creation of a legal framework for CFA’s:
(www.cfsb.info/meetingmaterials/preproposal_for_SBCFA.pdf)
- The purpose of the project is to develop a template that communities can use to implement their own CFA’s
- PCFFA wants a commitment from CFSB to provide input to the project adding ideas, concerns and objections to the creation
- CFSB has not committed at this time, and it will be discussed at the next CFSB meeting
- This project give fishermen the opportunity to develop at CFA model properly
- This needs careful design so that big corporations do not take over the model and influence any regulations
- This project will look at catch shares on all sides, and get feedback from fishermen on all of the issues at hand
- Congress has given fishermen catch shares as a management tool for some fisheries…this is an opportunity to look to see if it will work for certain communities and/or fisheries or hurt them
- Overview, press release and background can be found here: www.cfsb.info/meetingmaterials/GroundfishPressRelease28Oct10.pdf

5. Executive Board Elections

- CFSB will adopt a more formal election process to better create equal and fair nomination process
- SB Fishermen whose mailing addresses CFSB has will receive in the mail a 2012 membership application and a 2012 Executive Board Nomination Form

- These forms are to be post-marked no later than the date indicated on the Form
- Only 2012 CFSB members can nominate and vote for CFSB Executive Board members
- Full instructions will be provided and the nomination forms will be mailed early next week. Please keep an eye out for the mail.
- Please send Stephanie your mailing address if you want to make sure she has your mailing address (stephanie@cfsb.info)
- Elections will be held mid April at the CFSB annual meeting – members will be able to vote in person or possibly by internet vote (we are still exploring this option).

6. Annual contribution to PCFFA from CFSB of $1000.00 was mailed to Zeke Grader
7. MPA’s and Naples Reef

- After the MPA’s were implemented on January 1, 2012, Mike McCorkle noticed that DFG took a little more than a half mile off of Naples Reef than what was agreed upon on the final proposal
- CFSB will send a letter to Fish and Game Commission to request action on this issue
- Will keep all updated on the progress of that issue

Meeting adjourned at 7:30pm

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Click here to be directed to the Wild Seafood Exchange website for full details.

The event is produced by Fishermen’s News in partnership with the Port of Bellingham.