To all the lobster hunters:

[DwayneJ]

My two buddy's and I were on my boat out at Santa Barbara Island when the call went out regarding the unresponsive diver at Catalina on the vessel Bottom Scratcher.

The Long Beach Coast Guard has a blog which pretty much details all the incidents as they occur -

Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles - Long Beach

We were not where the lobsters were which was a little disappointing.

Regards Dwayne

 

[Pacific Taco]

My buddy and I TRIED to dive at midnight but he had a primary light failure as we dropped (it flooded) so we called the dive and rescheduled for 7 am. Met up with a group of others and had a good dive. I found 4 legals, Nate had 3 and the other guys learned a lot and got a good long shallow dive for their logs.

The plan was to go again Sunday AM but a nasty wind blew up with some bigger swell so I called it off after looking longingly at my spot for about 30 seconds. Lobster are great but not worth any risk or worse conditions than I would cancel any dive over. If I died in some stupid accident because I wasn't being the most cautious diver in the world my wife would never forgive me and my son would never really know me - that's a terrifying thought.

I was severely tempted to dive dive dive this weekend because I just had my wisdom teeth pulled this morning and Dr says no diving for 10 days... Bummer for me but the lobsters will still be there!

It's important to feel good about the dives you cancel as much as the dives you complete.

 

[drbill]

Went down to the Casino Point dive park last night to film (not take) bugs and other critters. I was a bit early and had to wait 30 minutes until the sky darkened. As I waited, I noticed an inflatable with two occupants going up and down the boundary line with no running lights. One was in a wetsuit, the other wasn't. They seemed to be trying to remain secretive, but I continued to watch them until it was dark enough to descend. If they were diving in the park for lobster, I hope they were very inexperienced.

 

[DwayneJ]

I noticed an inflatable with two occupants going up and down the boundary line with no running lights. One was in a wetsuit, the other wasn't. They seemed to be trying to remain secretive, but I continued to watch them until it was dark enough to descend.

Small boats only need a flashlight for night time running lights and in my experience, most of the small boats that I have come across will pull out the flashlight only when they think they have not been seen.

If in doubt, need to call Harbor Patrol when you see this type of activity.

 

[HondaMan]

It's illegal around here for us to dive for lobsters, which is very disappointing because they are EVERYWHERE!!! You can;t even bring one to the surface. If you're caught, they will confiscate all your gear, your vehicle, your catch, and you get a big ol' hefty fine... But if you're not... you can't beat the taste of fresh lobsters!

 

[drbill]

Small boats only need a flashlight for night time running lights and in my experience, most of the small boats that I have come across will pull out the flashlight only when they think they have not been seen.

If in doubt, need to call Harbor Patrol when you see this type of activity.

With no cell phone at the park, this could not be done.

 

[DwayneJ]

I see from your later post that fishing (lobsters) in the park is not illegal. The two individuals in the inflatable sound like they were doing nothing wrong?

 

[Teamcasa]

I see from your later post that fishing (lobsters) in the park is not illegal. The two individuals in the inflatable sound like they were doing nothing wrong?

To me, there is a difference between wrong and illegal. While taking lobsters from the dive park may no be strictly illegal it is still wrong.

 

[DwayneJ]

Wrong in who's eyes? If you are not a "scuba" diver, the parks status as a scuba diving mecca would likely to be unknown to you. If you walk around the Casino on Saturday or Sunday, it looks and feels like a scuba diving education site with "students" everywhere.

Freedivers (the man in the wetsuit described by DrBill) are highly likely to be hunters first and this is just another hunting site.

 

[Teamcasa]

To me,

Wrong in who's eyes? If you are not a "scuba" diver, the parks status as a scuba diving mecca would likely to be unknown to you. If you walk around the Casino on Saturday or Sunday, it looks and feels like a scuba diving education site with "students" everywhere.

Freedivers (the man in the wetsuit described by DrBill) are highly likely to be hunters first and this is just another hunting site.

In mine, like I said.