tommyk
Registered
The report you mention has a date of 1999 on it. All the data referenced dates are from 1985 through 1998, giving the most recent data in that report eight years old. Pete Kalvass, one of the co-authors, declared the urchin fishery in imminent danger of collapse back in 1985 (I happened to have been at that meeting), and called for an immediate five year moratorium on urchin harvesting.
Urchins are an incredibly resilient animal, and were able to withstand the unregulated harvest of nearly a thousand divers (no size limits, no closed seasons, zero regulations.) Moreover, the urchin divers of the new millennium, I believe, have a different mindset of the 70’s & 80’s divers (remember, divers were once paid, under the auspices of CDFG, to kill urchins with hammers). Today’s diver’s, for the most part, realize what a precious resource urchins are, and work hard to keep the fishery sustainable and dynamic.
The poor little sea urchin of 2006 is currently being pulled in many directions: processors want more divers (which CDFG is considering), sushi bars want more uni, and most divers want to keep the permit level at 300 (the target number when regulations were established back in 1986).
In 1978, when my urchin diving career began, we took 90 of 100 urchins in a bed - today’s diver takes 1 in 50! It’s a great fishery, and divers work hard to protect it. By the way, Dr. Chris Dewees (marine fisheries specialist), calls the California urchin fishery, a “model fishery”, due to the volunteer work and involvement of fishermen.
I realize that in many instances, sport & commercial interests clash, and we all have our own agendas, but I firmly believe there are ways for us to “share the ocean”
TK
Urchins are an incredibly resilient animal, and were able to withstand the unregulated harvest of nearly a thousand divers (no size limits, no closed seasons, zero regulations.) Moreover, the urchin divers of the new millennium, I believe, have a different mindset of the 70’s & 80’s divers (remember, divers were once paid, under the auspices of CDFG, to kill urchins with hammers). Today’s diver’s, for the most part, realize what a precious resource urchins are, and work hard to keep the fishery sustainable and dynamic.
The poor little sea urchin of 2006 is currently being pulled in many directions: processors want more divers (which CDFG is considering), sushi bars want more uni, and most divers want to keep the permit level at 300 (the target number when regulations were established back in 1986).
In 1978, when my urchin diving career began, we took 90 of 100 urchins in a bed - today’s diver takes 1 in 50! It’s a great fishery, and divers work hard to protect it. By the way, Dr. Chris Dewees (marine fisheries specialist), calls the California urchin fishery, a “model fishery”, due to the volunteer work and involvement of fishermen.
I realize that in many instances, sport & commercial interests clash, and we all have our own agendas, but I firmly believe there are ways for us to “share the ocean”
TK