I’m never using a BC again!

[Boarderguy]

Rentals are $10 for residents, I think fills are a couple bucks less. I get free tanks pretty often too as I work with a local shop occasionally. I actually do own a tank but rentals are very convenient and not that much more $$.

Then the convenience of renting def a win. I like to have my fleet of 12 ready to go so I can drop tanks off and still dive while only going to the lds when I have time. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Rick Brant]

Then the convenience of renting def a win. I like to have my fleet of 12 ready to go so I can drop tanks off and still dive while only going to the lds when I have time. Different strokes for different folks.

I'm also pretty short on space. No garage and only one small closet for any kind of toy storage. So my gear resides in my living room mostly. Twelve tanks or even four tanks would mean no couch.

 

[johndiver999]

We are only allowed to cull (smash) urchins at two locations in California, one in Mendocino County and one in Monterey County. NOAA, CBMS, and UC Davis marine lab (kelp restoration office) closely monitor the actions of culling as far as keeping track of possible forced spawns and adding to the problem instead of helping at these two control sites. They have a team of scientific divers that do counts and monitor the activity.
Until they know for sure that culling is safe DFW will not authorize culling at any other locations.
I’m not going to violate that rule, not only because it’s illegal, but also because it’s disrespectful, selfish, and ignorant.
So, for now we are doing removal under recreational DFW laws which allows 40 gallons per person per day of whole purple urchins only, no other species of urchin does this apply to.
Yeah it’s a pain to drag bags of urchins up the beach and having to deal with them, but the reward will pay ten fold in returns when we see kelp actually come back and be restored. But then our work will have only begun, we will need to protect that kelp and keep the urchins away from it so it will have a chance to spawn itself and spread spores all around to other coves and to rocks down as far as 80’ where it can form a hold fast and grow.

I understand and respect your intent to follow the rules, particularly since you seem to be saying that you assume the governmental regulators are being conservative in their imposition of regulations and that you are unaware if smashing urchins could have unintended consequences with respect to reproductive success.

Obviously your ability to remove urchins (i.e., your efficiency) is hindered by the requirement to land them.

So I am curious, how do you defend their imposition of an individual bag limit for your culling operation(s)? That limit seems less defensible to me, but I don't really know anything about the situation.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I understand and respect your intent to follow the rules, particularly since you seem to be saying that you assume the governmental regulators are being conservative in their imposition of regulations and that you are unaware if smashing urchins could have unintended consequences with respect to reproductive success.

Obviously your ability to remove urchins (i.e., your efficiency) is hindered by the requirement to land them.

So I am curious, how do you defend their imposition of an individual bag limit for your culling operation(s)? That limit seems less defensible to me, but I don't really know anything about the situation.

I have written a letter to the guy in charge of urchin operations at the DFW. I’ve actually had email conversations with him in the past, he seems like reasonable guy.
There were two points I wanted to bring up.
One was the wanton waste clause in the regulations and what exactly constituted wanton waste when it came to dealing with purple urchins.
The second point I wanted to discuss was how to go about lobbying for the limit to become unlimited take. The limit went from 35 individual animals to 20 gallons and now to 40 gallons, which is upward of 1200 individual animals. I do not know why they have a 40 gallon limit other than maybe nobody thought about raising it because nobody brought it up. So now I’m bringing it up. And if they have reasons for not increasing the take I would like to know what they are.
We could easily double or triple the take compared to what the limit is now. We could really get some work done if it was unlimited take. At least there is no possession limit, so that makes it nice when two guys load their trucks with 4 or 5 limits.
What we want to know is where and when we can go to a public meeting session that has an open mic so we can bring up these points.
I have not heard back yet.
BTW, all these rule changes up to this point were initially lobbied for by citizens, ab divers, the Waterman’s Alliance and other organizations showing up and pushing for them just like I’m planning on doing. You just have to go there and talk to them. We need more people to get involved rather than everyone sitting around pretending they’re too busy and just letting someone else do it.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Also, at the two sites where culling is allowed, it’s also unlimited take. So that means along with smashing you can take as many as you want and not get in trouble. Why is it allowed at Caspar and Tankers Reef but not anywhere else? I can see smashing only at those two sites for a control study, but why unlimited take there and not anywhere else?
These are the holes in the plan that I want to address.

 

[James79]

Is that the one I sent you?

That one still needs hydro... Local shop is less than friendly/knowledgeable of old gear.

 

[tarponchik]

I found more interesting reading:

What about urchins spawning while we are culling them?​

We were initially concerned that culling urchins could trigger a spontaneous spawning event among the surrounding unculled urchins. There is no scientific study showing this occurs in the ocean and we have not seen it happen.

Our advisory team, which includes marine biologists with NOAA, Ocean Protection Council, California Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, and Reef Check have advised us that incidental spawning during urchin culling would be insignificant. They suggested that we continue culling urchins year round, even during the winter spawning season, to allow kelp forests to reestablish.

Can I cull urchins in Monterey when I dive?​

No, it is illegal to cull urchins in Marine Protected Areas. Monterey dive sites with the most extensive urchin barrens, such as Lovers Point, Coral Street, and Point Lobos, are all within Marine Protected Areas. Our project at Tanker's Reef is not in a Marine Protected Area and we have been given permission to cull an unlimited number urchins there.
With a fishing license, divers can take 35 urchins per day outside of the Marine Protected Areas—at Del Monte Beach, for example.

So what I get from this is (1) marine biologists advise that spawning of urchins during culling is considered to be insignificant, and (2) urchin culling in protected areas is illegal because it is illegal.

 

[NorCalDM]

Urchin Matters | Bohemian | Sonoma & Napa Counties This is the full article that your clips are coming from it's a bigger issue than you think. I applaud Eric for what he is doing to fight this and with the DFW laws we have in place now it makes it difficult.

 

[tarponchik]

Urchin Matters | Bohemian | Sonoma & Napa Counties This is the full article that your clips are coming from it's a bigger issue than you think. I applaud Eric for what he is doing to fight this and with the DFW laws we have in place now it makes it difficult.

Are you talking to me or to yourself? In the former case, (1) No, my clips did not come from this article; I gave a link to where I copied them from (2) The article you gave a link to states "Smashing urchins is also controversial because the process can allegedly release eggs and sperm into the water, where the gametes might meet and produce larvae, and eventually more urchins. Russo says so few urchins in the overpopulated areas currently contain viable gonads that the concern is not legitimate." Have you read this? Of course, you did, but...and (3) this article does not address the question why culling is allowed only in some places.

 

[NorCalDM]

Are you talking to me or to yourself? In the former case, (1) No, my clips did not come from this article; I gave a link to where I copied them from (2) The article you gave a link to states "Smashing urchins is also controversial because the process can allegedly release eggs and sperm into the water, where the gametes might meet and produce larvae, and eventually more urchins. Russo says so few urchins in the overpopulated areas currently contain viable gonads that the concern is not legitimate." Have you read this? Of course, you did, but...and (3) this article does not address the question why culling is allowed only in some places.

I'm not arguing just giving information and the clips you quoted are from the FAQ's that came from this and other articles. What you don't seem to understand even though Eric said it, I now have said it and even the FAQ's you quoted states it is illegal in this state to cull other than the two areas mentioned. These are test sites along with testing being done at the Bodega Marine Lab. The coastal waters are regulated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife if you don't understand our laws maybe you should ask them. Eric is working within the laws and actually doing something about it.