Ed Zieralski: Conservation, not preservation, should be priority for new commission
Those familiar with the Blue Ribbon Task Force and its roll in the controversial Marine Life Protection Act know how that group’s actions are being challenged in court by fishing groups.That’s why the announcement of the California Fish and Wildlife Strategic Vision Blue Ribbon Citizen Commission sets off alarms for most everyone who hunts and fishes.The group is a result of legislation calling for the formation of the commission that will take a look at the state Department of Fish and Game and the Fish and Game Commission.There’s an executive committee that includes heads of departments, like the DFG, and that group will make final decisions. Under them is the Blue Ribbon Citizen Commission that includes some former state legislators and representatives who are “strategic problem solvers with expertise in policy, management and fiscal issues.”Under them is the Stakeholder Advisory Group, and those members, 52 in all from 130 applicants, must be approved by the executive committee.The first meeting of the Blue Ribbon Citizen Commission is Aug. 18. The stakeholders — fishing and hunting representatives among them — meet Aug. 19. Both meetings are in Sacramento but will be available on theInternet.Read the rest from the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Surprising squid encounter in La Jolla delights photographer
By Steven MihailovichJon Schwartz has been photographing marine life for the past four years and he’s good at it. Good enough for 15 magazines such as Field & Stream, Sport Fishing and Marlin to grace their covers with his photos. Schwartz said he travels far and wide to get his shots of exotic fish, such as marlin in pristine tropical waters, to destinations like Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean islands among others, where he has landed in pursuit of his prized subjects.However, when Schwartz and fishing buddy Josh Pruitt launched their kayaks in the predawn hours of June 20, none of his many expeditions across the globe prepared him for what he found just one mile off the coast of La Jolla: a large shoal of squid swimming near the surface by his kayak.“The squid encounter was super special,” Schwartz said of the experience. “It’s expensive to go to the places I go to get the pictures I get. With this, I didn’t have to get on a plane and bring my gear. It was completely unexpected and I was back at my house in half an hour.”That day, the pair had kayaked for hours and Pruitt hooked a 40-pound white sea bass while Schwartz snapped photos of it. At about noon, they chanced upon the shoal of red squid just underneath them, which Schwartz estimates to have been about 20 feet by 30 feet, or the size of two SUVs.Read the rest of the story here.
Long-time local fishing family hopes to memorialize those lost at sea
By Joel EdeHaving stuffed the hold of his 50-foot trawler, Relentless, with Dover sole, David “Rowdy” Pennisi, 43, and crew member Michael Odom headed to San Francisco in the early hours of June 21, 2004 to offload their catch. But, like hundreds of other Central Coast fishermen, they never made it back to port.The Pennisi family has been a cornerstone of the Monterey fishing industry since the early 1900s, and the tragic story of Captain Rowdy and the Relentless has since become local lore. Rowdy’s sister, Elizabeth Pennisi-Nozicka, says since her brother’s accident, memorializing the lost fishermen of the Central Coast has weighed heavily on her heart. Monterey is one of the only major fishing ports on the West Coast without a dedicated memorial to commercial fishermen.Heading up People United for American Commercial Fisheries, Pennisi-Nozicka and her husband, Jiri Nozicka, are reaching out to the community with high hopes that this year’s Third Annual Fisherman’s Days will raise enough money to construct a permanent memorial.Technological advances like the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon and on-the-hour transponder transmissions, which relay ship speeds and locations to the National Marine Fisheries Service, are designed to make life safer for fishermen.But navigating the Central Coast is just as dangerous today as it was 100 years ago – maybe even more so, says Nozicka, a fisherman on the Pennisi family’s wooden trawler, San Giovanni.Read the rest here.
San Diego Union Tribune-Letter: Foraging for responsible bills
San Diego Union-TribuneLetters to the EditorJuly 29, 2011If you didn’t know, you might think that forage fish like sardines and squid are on the brink of destruction in California. That’s what some activists and the Union-Tribune story on Assembly Bill 1299 imply (“Thinking small for a sea change,” July 18). However, these claims are incorrect.California’s forage fisheries are among the best protected in the world, with one of the lowest harvest rates. Yet this state would squander millions of tax dollars – and thousands of jobs – to duplicate existing laws. Why?To initiate new legislation like AB 1299 as if no current regulation exists is fiscally irresponsible and disrespectful of California’s management history.Moreover, virtually all of these species range far beyond California state waters and wouldn’t be helped by this bill.The anti-fishing activists pushing this legislation misrepresented the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s research. For example, they cited an incomplete ecosystem assessment to prove their overfishing hype, but failed to say it excluded Southern California waters, where 80 percent of California’s squid harvest occurs. AB 1299 is simply a disingenuous attempt to curtail sustainable fisheries. -- Diane Pleschner-Steele, California Wetfish Producers Association
FORUM: Anti-fishing proposal would shipwreck balanced marine management
By D.B. PleschnerNorth County TimesIf you didn't know better, you might think that forage fish like sardines and squid are on the brink of destruction in California.That's what some activists imply. However, nothing could be further from the truth.California's coastal pelagic "forage" fisheries are the most protected in the world, with one of the lowest harvest rates.In addition to strict fishing quotas, the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), has implemented no-take reserves, including many near bird rookeries and haul-out sites to protect forage for marine life.But activists are pushing even more restrictions in the form of Assembly Bill 1299.California already provides a science-based process to manage forage species. The federal Pacific Fishery Management Council is also developing a California Current Ecosystem Management Plan, covering the entire West Coast, not just California state waters. Further, the federal Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan that governs these fish adopted an ecosystem-based management policy more than a decade ago.To initiate new legislation like AB 1299 as if no regulation exists is fiscally irresponsible and disrespectful of California's management history.The National Marine Fisheries Service voiced concern about the bill's redundancy and overlap with federal management, pointing out that it could actually impede ecosystem-based management.AB 1299 won't protect forage species because virtually all range far beyond California state waters, which only extend three miles from shore.But the bill does jeopardize the future of California's historic wetfish fisheries, the backbone of California's fishing economy. AB 1299 restricts California fishermen unfairly, because virtually all the forage species listed are actively managed or monitored by the federal government and most species are harvested along the entire West Coast.In this economic crisis, why would California squander millions of dollars ---- and sacrifice thousands of jobs ---- on an unfunded mandate that duplicates existing laws?Apparently this doesn't matter to activists, whose rhetoric claims that overfishing is occurring in California now and a change is needed.AB 1299 proponents have made many false claims about forage species. For example, they referenced a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration evaluation of the California Current Ecosystem, predicting a downward trend for some marine life, including squid, but failed to explain that this report was simply a draft. The evaluation excluded southern Californiawaters, where 80 percent of the squid harvest occurs. A record spawning event also occurred in 2010.And consider sardines. After their decline in the 1940s, fishery managers instituted an ecosystem-based management plan that accounts for forage needs before setting harvest quotas, and reduces quotas in concert with natural declines in the resource. The harvest quota for the West Coast plummeted 74 percent from 2007 to 2011.But activists embellished a NOAA graph to "prove" their claim that the current sardine population decline was due to overfishing. The marine scientist who developed the graph pointed out their error, stating, "You can rest assured that the U.S. has not exceeded the overfishing limit based on the rules in place today."In fact, the majority of California's fishing community ---- municipalities, harbor districts, recreational and commercial fishing groups, seafood companies and knowledgeable fishery scientists ---- oppose AB 1299, seeing it as a disingenuous attempt to curtail sustainable fisheries unnecessarily.D.B. Pleschner is executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association, a nonprofit designed to promote sustainable wetfish resources.
Why Sardines Should Be at the Top of Your Grocery List
Note - California's sardine fishery reopens September 15.
By Owen Burke
The truth about sardines is that they are probably one of the healthiest finfish you can eat from the sea. They are hardly ever farm-raised, which means that they swim and eat as they please and are rich in vitamin D3, your Omega-3′s and purines. Large apex predators like tuna and swordfish and salmon are known to accumulate excessive levels of heavy metals, while sardines may contain up to 8 million times less mercury than even salmon. Do you ever wonder why it is that, especially in the United States, many people avoid eating sardines? Aside from the fact that they are usually associated with a tin can on a grocery shelf, sardines, or pilchards, are quite oily and bony. The sardine is, however, a very healthy option. Sardines feed on photosynthetic plankton, so as lighter consumers, they acquire very minuscule concentrations of heavy metals than most larger, more commercially sought predators do. Because of their diet, sardines are rich in omega-3 oils, protein, good cholesterol, selenium, and calcium and fluoride if you eat the soft bones.Often sold at around $2.00 USD a pound, they are certainly cheap enough for most of us, too.There are about 21 different species of sardines, all belonging to the Clupeidae family, but they can all be prepared the same way. The best way to have sardines is fresh, of course, and this will thoroughly reduce the “fishy” smell left behind. If your fish aren’t scaled, do so carefully with a knife, removing the entrails afterwards. As with most fish, the best marinade is simply olive oil, lemon and parsley. If you toss them on the grill afterwards, you’ll add a nice charred flavor to the fish, while also keeping the smell out of the house.Read the rest of the story here.
State's no-fishing rule stinks
By David Hansen
When fishing as a boy, I used to stare at my jar of salmon eggs and marvel. I wondered how they could arrive so perfectly formed and opaque and inherently controversial — stripped from their host like corn off a cob.
Years later as a reporter covering tribal fishing rights in the Pacific Northwest, I learned a lot more about salmon eggs, types of salmon, salmon hatcheries, salmon fillets, Copper River salmon (yes, they are worth the price) and how to properly paint a salmon-colored wall.
So it is with great interest I read about how the state of California basically will ban fishing off Laguna Beach starting Oct. 1 (Coastline Pilot, "State's 'no fishing' rule starts in fall," July 8).
There are some activities in life — fishing, hunting, reading a paper, purchasing certain goods and services — that are closely tied to "inalienable rights." People get emotional when you take them away.
There are also times when those activities become at risk due to overuse.
The truth is often somewhere in the middle.
Unfortunately, in our day, it takes lawsuits to figure it all out, and that's what will happen here.
Read the rest of the column in the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot here.
Sacramento Bee: Fishery legislation is redundant, wasteful - and harmful
By D.B. PleschnerAs an ocean scientist, actor Ted Danson needs to go back to school.In his recent commentary he distorts the health of California fisheries and the precautionary management that already protects marine resources, including his "little fish" known as forage species.California has done an excellent job managing forage species. Besides strict fishing quotas and other restrictions, the state implemented no-take reserves, including many adjacent to bird rookeries and haul-out sites, to protect forage. Danson does not tell readers this.To propose legislation like Assembly Bill 1299, as if no regulation exists, is redundant, fiscally wasteful and disrespectful of California's management history.Read more at:http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/17/3773246/fishery-legislation-is-redundant.html