In a shocking move that has angered anglers already beset with draconian fishing regulations, the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted unanimously to shut down rockfish season on October 1 along the California Coast from Pigeon Point to the Oregon border during their meeting in Portland on September 12.

Fishing for rockfish and lingcod will remain open along the coast in the Monterey South-Central management Area from Pigeon Point to Lopez Point from now through November 30, pending any further action by the PFMC. This area is fished by boats departing from Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, Capitola, Moss Landing and Monterey.

Fishing will also remain open in the Morro Bay South-Central Management Area from Point Lopez to Point Conception through November 30.

The decision was made on highly suspect data, provided by federal and state biologists to the Groundfish Advisory Panel and the PFMC, that anglers in this region had exceeded their allowable quota of yelloweye and canary rockfish, classified by NOAA Fisheries as an "overfished" species. However, the council has to make their decisions on the "best available data" - and this was the only data available.

"Recreational catch estimates through July and projected catches for the remainder of the year indicate that harvest guidelines will be exceeded for canary and yelloweye rockfish ("overfished" species) if these measures are not taken," a DFG press release claimed.

Factors that led to the increase in projected catches include redistribution of recreational fishing effort to the northern areas where canary and yelloweye rockfishes are more common, poor salmon catches resulting in salmon fishermen switching to groundfish, and an increase in the daily catch rate per angler for yelloweye and canary rockfish. "Exceeding California's recreational harvest guidelines for these species could jeopardize rebuilding of these species to healthy population levels," the DFG contended.

Marija Vojkovich, marine region manager, said the closure was precipitated by data indicating that 7 tons of yelloweye rockfish had been caught along the coast from Pigeon Point to thhe Oregon border. The allowable amount of take of this species is only 23 tons for all of the commercial and recreational fisheries in California, Oregon and Washington,   

"While we are aware that a shortened season will affect sport anglers, we are also concerned that failure to take action at this time would jeopardize the future rebuilding success for these important 'overfished' species," contended Vojkovich.

Jim Martin, West Coast Regional Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, reacted to the vote by saying the Council "didn't really have any choice" in making the decision based on the "best available data" before them, but questioned the validity of the data.

"In any case, nobody believes the numbers coming out of the north coast region," he said. "The number of anglers just is not there to land something over 6 metric tons, or 13,200 pounds of yelloweye, in Crescent City and Shelter Cove. It's more than the states of Oregon and Washington combined. It doesn't pass the smell test."

The vote occurred during the first meeting that Dan Wolford, Coastside Fishing Club science advisor, attended officially as a Council member.

"It was a tough decision to make, but the data supported the decision," said Wolford. "The PFMC went back to the GAP and asked a series of questions about the nature of the data. With everything that we looked at, we couldn't find a smoking gun that wouldn't allow us to accept the data as it was."

Unfortunately, the council process and the Magnuson-Stevens Act doesn't leave any leeway for making a decision other than closing a fishery when a quota for the allowable catch of an overfished species subject to a rebuilding plan is concerned.

Wolford said that the data provided to the council was exclusively recreational fishing data, with no spillover from the commercial fishery.

"In the rest of the state, both canary and near shore rockfish are not far behind the yelloweyes in terms of their quotas being met," said Wolford.

Retention of yelloweye and canary rockfish is currently prohibited by state and federal regulations. The data provided to the council is based both on fish illegally brought ashore as documented by DFG staff and the estimated number of yelloweye caught and released (with a certain amount of angling mortality) provided to fisheries staff in interviews with anglers.

"Wardens have written a number of citations to anglers who have taken yelloweye and canary rockfish, as well as issue warnings," said Wolford.

"The PFMC wasn't a happy place to be on the meeting where I was sworn in," he concluded. "Ironically, it was a similar data issue that got me involved in the council process several years ago. To face this vote on my first meeting was very unfortunate."

Jim Martin noted that the anglers in the zones set to close could still be over their limit on overfished species, in spite of the October 1 closure. This could trigger further restrictions in 2008-9 in the recreational fishery.    

He said that the current PFMC process has an ominous "Catch-22" called the "Rebuilding Paradox."

"Less fishing = more fish = higher contact rates = less fishing," said Martin.

In other words, if fish populations began recovering because of decreased fishing pressure, the numbers of fish begin rebuilding. When anglers are allowed more fishing access as populations rebound, they will encounter more overfished species. This triggers more fishing closures!

California will be looking at mandatory release devices in the future to decrease mortality of released overfished rockfish species, but the problem is writing the regulations in a way that is enforceable, and deciding what type of device, etc. "It sounds easier than it would be to implement," added Martin.

Unfortunately, the rockfish closure, like the imposition of MPAs, will play into Bush and Schwarzenegger administration plans to (1) increase water exports out of the Delta by building the peripheral canal; (2) institute massive corporate aquaculture facilities in our ocean waters; (3) construct extensive "wave energy" facilities along the coast.

In the big picture, could it be that the federal and state governments are trying to eliminate the "stakeholders," recreational and commercial fishermen, so they are able to push through these projects with little or no opposition?

Once the state and federal governments have effectively eliminated the fishermen, they will no longer have significant opposition to their plans since many of the corporate-funded "environmental" groups are expected to collaborate with the state and federal governments on these plans, as long as they get a few token "environmental crumbs." Once the fishing infrastructure is destroyed, it will be very hard to rebuild it.

I find it ironic how recreational anglers see increasing restrictions and closures every year, based on incomplete and suspect data, while corporate agribusiness and water developers are able to kill thousands and thousands of endangered Delta smelt, salmon and other species in complete violation of a host of environmental laws, and in spite of a plethora of real, scientific data documenting these violations and fishery declines.

The same federal and state governments that have driven the Delta smelt, longfin smelt and other species to the edge of extinction by exporting increasing amounts of Delta water have engaged in wholesale violations of CESA, ESA and other environmental laws with impunity. A federal judge and superior court judge finally agreed with what fishing groups, Indian Tribes and conservationists have been saying for years, but it may be too late.  

The bottom line "science" driving all of these decisions is political science, not natural science.  

I fear that by the time deep water rockfish populations recover (decades), there will could virtually no recreational or commercial fishing industry left and the Bay-Delta estuary will have been completely destroyed.

Unfortunately, deep-water sebastes (rockfish) species may recover in a big void left by the collapse of king salmon, halibut, striped bass, herring and other species that depend on the Bay-Delta Estuary for their survival. That is why it is so important to stop the Governor's plans to build the peripheral canal and more dams - a move that will drive the final nail into the coffin of the Bay-Delta ecosystem.