Channel Island fishing restrictions

[smotrs]

Not sure how many people are aware, but recently , Wednesday Oct. 23 the California Fish and Game Commision permanently banned fishing across 175sq miles of ocean around the Channel Islands which will go into effect on Jan. 1. There's a bit of a story on Yahoo regarding it and the full story can be found on the LA Times website regarding it.

Any thoughts?

 

[Scubaroo]

A free version of the article is also available at the San Francisco Chronicle:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/10/24/MN222562.DTL&type=science

The LA Times link is for subscribers only.

I think it's a great idea - there's incidental evidence of fishing catches around (not in) marine reserves increasing, which keeps fishermen happy, plus it provides, well, a marine reserve. Think of it as a national park for the fish.

According to the Chronicle article, only 0.02% of Californian waters are protected, versus an international average of 1% (still a pitifully small amount). The ocean may be considered a renewable resource, but mankind is stripping it far faster than it can replenish itself. Here's a useful link to a page that lists good, ok, and bad seafood to eat, in environmental terms:

http://www.calacademy.org/calwild/winter2002/stories/fish2_table.html

 

[smotrs]

Good catch on the Chronicle story, I'm down in the LA area which is why I didn't catch the run in the SF Chronicle. Thanks for adding that link. As for the content, sounds pretty much the same as what was in the LA Times article.

 

[socaldiver]

I attended a couple of meetings in the Long Beach area the DFG was holding. The commercial fishermen outnumbered the pro-reserves almost 2 to 1 I would say.

I like the idea of the marine reserves for a number of reasons but my 2 biggest reasons were the depletion of some species to almost extinction and the thrill one gets when they dive in a marine reserve/preserve and see the abundance of different marine life.

My hats off to DFG and glad to see Davis did at least one thing right by signing it into law.