Hey Urmaddad,
I am not a DFG spokesperson or a lawyer, but I do keep up on the latest rules and I belong to SCAN. Here is my take on it:
What I don't understand is what is the purpose of the tags?
The tags are to allow law enforcement to verify that an ab was taken lawfully. Prior to the tags, if they stopped someone on hwy 1 with 3 abs, for example, the person could say they were a gift and there was no way the DFG could verify what license or ab card, if any, was used to take this catch. Now they know IMMEDIATELY if they find abs with no tags they have caught someone breaking the law.
What do we do with the tags once we get home?
You don't need to do anything with them, just leave them on the shell. After you consume the ab, if you wish you can take the tag off but you had better destroy the used tag somehow. If you are caught with loose tags in your possession it is a violation, because it would be possible for you to take them back to the dive spot and use them again, so it is against the rules to have tags which are loose from the report card and not attached to a shell.
Are the tags only for transporting the abalone?
That's where the poachers are most vulnerable, but it's really for anywhere that they find abs. You really need to look at it this way: the tags are for us law abiding citizens to prove we are not breaking the law. It sucks that it has to be that way, but the poachers outsmarted the report cards. The DFG is not worried about people they find with tagged abs.... they are going to be looking for untagged abs... THOSE ARE THE POACHERS!!
How does tagging cut down on poaching?
Now that they made the tags a requirement, it's not about you and me who are law abiding citizens. It is about all of the poachers who will not be using tags... that's what the tags are for. The poachers will not have them, and the DFG can arrest or cite them with no further evidence needed. Now they changed it for kids under 16 too, they have to have tags, so the poachers can't bring their kids up there 7 days a week and have 6 kids all supposedly getting 3 abs a day and no way to keep track of the annual 24 per person limit.
I just hope it works!!!!