The eagerly anticipated season for northern California's famous red abalone sport fishery will open April 1 in waters north of San Francisco Bay. The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) announced to the delight of thousands of free divers and shore pickers that the season will run from April 1 through June 30 and from Aug. 1 through Nov. 30. The fishery will close in July, as it does every year, to allow abalone a break during a traditionally high-take period.

"Currently the north coast abalone resource appears healthy with densities well above the criteria for maintaining the current level of take," said Ian Taniguchi, DFG marine biologist. "But in order to manage this resource at its current sustainable level we need divers to accurately record the number of abalone harvested, as well as the time, date, and location after each dive."

Divers play an important role in managing California's abalone fishery, says Taniguchi. Information processed from Abalone Permit Report Cards provides data that, combined with a variety of other surveys (creel surveys and fishery independent scuba surveys), helps the DFG and the Fish and Game Commission to set bag limits and seasons. "The entire management strategy, surveys and punch card information allows us to keep tabs on the health of abalone populations so that we can provide this resource to Californians well into the future," Taniguchi said.

?Į?ĮCalifornia 2006 Sport Fishing Regulations for abalone are as follows:?Į?Ģ Free divers and shore pickers (16 years or older) must possess a valid sport fishing license as well as an Abalone Permit Report Card (also known as punch cards). The use of scuba is prohibited.?Į?Ģ Red abalone may be taken from April 1 through June 30; and from Aug. 1 through Nov. 30 in California's waters north of San Francisco. The sport fishery is closed in July to allow abalone a break during a traditionally high-take period. ?Į?Ģ Abalone taken must exceed a size limit of 7 inches or greater in diameter. Divers are encouraged to measure their abalone before removal to ensure the survival of undersized abalone. Any time an undersized abalone is removed from a rock and replaced, there is a chance it may be injured or fail to reattach soon enough to protect itself from predators. Since abalone has no blood clotting mechanism, they are vulnerable to cuts and other injuries produced when they are removed. ?Į?Ģ The daily bag limit is three per day, with a maximum of 24 abalone per year. ?Į?Ģ Abalone report cards must be returned to DFG within 30 days of the close of the season (due Dec. 30, 2006). Punch cards should be mailed to DFG's Fort Bragg field office and laboratory, 19160 South Harbor Drive, Fort Bragg, CA 95437; these cards can be submitted early. Regulations also require that abalone cards be returned even if no abalone were taken.

Abalone cling to rocks, from wave-swept intertidal ledges to deep ocean reefs where they feed on kelp and other algae. Similar to rockfish, they are a long-lived species but are rather slow to reproduce.

"It can take nine years or more for abalone on the north coast to grow to legal size for harvest, and those animals must supply the fishery for several years to come," Taniguchi said. For northern California's red abalone fishery, concentrated fishery effort, increased take, poor reproduction, and a decline in deep water stocks led the Commission to reduce the daily and annual limits for sport abalone in 2002.

?Į?ĮIn addition to fishing regulations, the Commission recently adopted the state's Abalone Recovery and Management Plan (ARMP), the result of a five-year comprehensive public process. The ARMP includes a host of recovery guidelines particularly for endangered white and depleted pink, green, and black abalone whose fisheries closed in the mid-1990s. The ARMP also provides management guidelines for the northern fishery and any future fisheries.

?Į?ĮThe plan adopted by the Commission includes recommendations for a limited abalone fishery in southern California where a concentrated population of red abalone exists around San Miguel Island. The Commission has discussed the possibility of opening these fisheries as soon as April 2008.

?Į?ĮCurrently, the only sustained abalone fishery in California is in the northern region of the state, which has remained productive for nearly 60 years. For both the 2002 and 2003 seasons, the estimated annual catch was 264,000 abalone. "This estimate is much lower than in previous years, primarily as a result of recent changes in bag limits and annual limits," said Jerry Kashiwada, DFG marine biologist who oversees abalone survey research. "However, data from the abalone permit report cards and targeted surveys such as telephone surveys have improved both the amount and the accuracy of data available to DFG biologists, which translates into more accurate annual estimates. The ARMP also provides a plan to further improve accuracy of catch estimates as well as additional data to be able to more efficiently manage the fishery," he said.

While the main purpose of the telephone survey was to gather fishing information, the interviewers also asked questions concerning basic socio-economic characteristics of the fishery users. An estimated 32,500 fishermen tried to catch abalone in 2003, spending an estimated $8.5 million in northern California communities.

However, each dollar directly spent on abalone fishing stimulates a trickle-down effect of additional spending as it enters local economies. When these additional expenditures are taken into account, the total economic impact of the abalone fishery for 2003 is estimated at more than $12 million.

For additional information on California's abalone resource and abalone fishery management, log on to DFG's Marine Region Website at www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/abalone.html and www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/armp/index.html.