Even stricter limits on red abalone under consideration
More bad news for Northern California’s red abalones — and the many Bay Area divers who love to catch them:
The struggling population of invertebrates is showing more signs of distress due to a massive kelp die-off, which may lead to further limits on the recreational abalone season in 2018 and perhaps even a complete closure, according to scientists at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
In December, the California Fish and Game Commission decided to reduce this year’s individual limit to 12 abalones per diver, down from 18, and to reduce the season from seven months to five. In a meeting on Thursday, Sonke Mastrup, environmental program manager at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Invertebrate Program, told the commission that further limits might have to be considered for 2018.
“We’re recommending trying to put the limit of nine back on the table and additional restrictive measures up to, and including, closures,” said Mastrup by phone on Friday.
The commission will have to make a decision on those recommendations after more surveys are done in August.
“Back in December, we were all crossing our fingers that we would see improving conditions. While we’re seeing a little bit, it’s still essentially the same as last year, which was a disaster,” said Mastrup. “There’s essentially no food.”
Warm ocean temperatures over several years, mostly because of a powerful El Niño in 2015, were the main cause of the kelp die-off that has severely impacted the red abalone population that depends on it. The invertebrates also compete for kelp with purple sea urchins, a species that isn’t usually harvested for the seafood trade but is currently thriving because of another dieoff — that of their usual predator, the sea star.
Mastrup said that there are some signs that the purple sea urchin population has dwindled, possibly because of winter storms, and also a few reports that sea stars are coming back. The problem is that there are no signs that kelp is growing back. What kelp is left is mostly close to shore, he said, which is making the abalones congregate in shallow water.
Red abalones are less able to reproduce under starvation conditions. Because they take 10 to 12 years to reach the proper size for harvest, which is a minimum of 7 inches across the widest part of their mother-of-pearl shell, there is concern is for future populations.
Joshua Russo, a diving instructor and president of the diving and spearfishing group Watermen’s Alliance, said he’s glad the department is bringing up the issue now, so divers have a chance to come up with a few potential solutions if the Fish and Game Commission finds it necessary to limit the season even more.
“If it does happen again, we’re going to be hit hard,” Russo said, acknowledging that conditions don’t look good in certain diving locations.
“I talk to a lot of divers that are scared they’re not doing enough. Others are scared they’re doing too much,” he added, referring to the restrictions.
Red abalone is the only species of abalone that can be collected by recreational divers in California, and only north of the Golden Gate. Sonoma and Mendocino counties are the site of 95 percent of the usual harvest, and those areas bring in $44 million a year in tourism revenue, according to an analysis done by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Previously, the season lasted from April through June and August to November — but this year it started in May and will close in October.