Robert Treanor, Executive Director California F&G Game Commission 1416 9th Street--Room 1320, Sacramento, CA. 95814 Fax: (916) 653- 5040 E: rtreanor@dfg.ca.gov
Re: Request for additional interim nearshore fisheries management regulations.
The Marin County nearshore fishery was mainly recreational prior to the late 1980¹s, when a commercial market for live fish developed. The effect of its rapid growth and the efficiency of the new live fishery have seriously depleted the recently abundant nearshore bottom fish stocks, including shallow water rockfish, cabezon, lingcod, greenling and sculpin.
Many of the fish species that live on the nearshore bottom are solitary, territorial, long lived, reproduce irregularly, and are residential to specific reefs. In short, removed fish are replaced slowly. For many species, the larvae and juveniles are pelagic, free swimming, and will migrate back to the nearshore to become permanent bottom residents there. If successful, they will occupy a place in the limited coastal habitat of kelp beds and rocky reefs. This residential characteristic and the limited available habitat make these species especially vulnerable to certain commercial fishing gear.
Live fish traps, hook studded "sticks", and set lines are three very efficient methods of taking reef fish, and are usually the equipment of choice in the live fish industry. Until the advent of stick fishing and the increased use of traps in the nearshore, kelp beds were de facto refugia because of the difficulty inherent to fishing these areas. Numbers of traps or sticks fishing a kelp bed or reef can rapidly deplete these areas of their resident fish.
Until just recently, Marin County¹s nearshore has been long-burdened with a hook exemption that had caused severe overfishing. However, the removal of the hook exemption has prompted commercial fishers to respond by using greater numbers of legal fifteen hook setlines. This response has created little improvement in local fishing pressure.
Because of the known overfishing existing in the nearshore fishery along the coast of Marin County, we recommend that fish traps, sticks, setlines, and any other set gear be prohibited in order to reduce the catch of nearshore reef fish and reestablish de facto refugia in heavy kelp and rock areas. Limiting the commercial use of geographically intensive fishing gears should improve the condition of the fishery to the point that sustainable harvesting may again be permitted using cautious, measurable harvesting methods.
On behalf of our 7,000 Marin County members (some of whom are avid fishers),
Gordon Bennett, Conservation Co-Chair