7/23/03

Rockfish! The recreational season opens for the first time in eight months on July 1st. During all that time, commercial trawlers were fishing, while a kid couldn't even cast a line from the rocks. It's a low point in California fishery management history.

Rockfish are easy to catch for most people, and are the most likely type of fish you'd catch from our rocky coastline. A reader asked about good public access points along the Mendocino Coast. There have been a number of good diving guides with information but as far as shore based angling guides, not much is out there. One spot is near Brewery Gulch where a turnout off Highway One leads to a trail head down to the rocks south of Mendocino Bay. I've seen shore anglers trudging up the hill with nice gunny sacks of fish there. My favorite spot is the large turnout area south of Westport, where a large set of table rocks are swept by the incoming tides, washing feed back into deep pockets. As always, never turn your back on the sea.

As a special gift this season, the DFG has cut back your bag limit of shallow nearshore fish, including cabezon, rock and kelp greenling, gopher rockfish, black-and-yellow rockfish, and china cod. You can only keep 3 cabezon and only 2 greenling, gopher cod, china cod, and black-and-yellows, which is a sub limit included in your ten rockfish bag limit. Lingcod: 2 fish over 24 inches total length, additional to the 10 rockfish bag limit. No rockfish may be taken in water deeper than 120 feet. Remember that if you troll for rockfish in the morning and fish for salmon later in the day, you can get a ticket if you have rockfish on board when you are trolling for salmon deeper than 120. Conversely, if you fish for salmon in the morning and rockfish later, you have to use barbless hooks for rockfishing with any salmon on board. Yelloweye, bocaccio, canary and cowcod rockfish - no retention. Got that?

The PFMC met last week in Foster City, and the Groundfish Management Team hammered out a list of options for 2004 rockfish and flatfish regulations. The limiting factor has been the overfished shelf species of rockfish. In this area, canary rockfish are the main problem with an Optimal Yield of 44 metric tons. The low allowable catch leaves various sectors of the fishery fighting over bycatch allowances. When 44 MT of canary rockfish are landed on the entire West Coast, the whole thing will shut down again. The nearshore rockfishing regulations have been introduced because of the limited interaction with shelf rockfish and the increased survival rate of rockfish landed and released by rod and reel in shallower water.

A great way to cook rockfish filets outdoors: wrap the fish chunks in tin foil with seasonings, garlic, a dollop of salsa, whatever is handy - seal tightly and grill the packets on the campfire until they sizzle - open the fish and serve out onto corn tortillas for simple fish tacos.

"The Biggest Salmon BBQ in the World" happens down in Noyo Harbor on Saturday, July 5th, from 11 am until 6pm. Brad Clark, President of the Salmon Restoration Association, expects about 4,000 hungry diners this year. Parking shuttles are available from the College of the Redwoods parking lot during the event. The dinner costs $15 for adults, $9 for kids 12 and under. Contact Wendy at 964-1228 for more info. All proceeds benefit the Hollow Tree hatchery.

I was disappointed to hear that the commercial salmon trollers aren't contributing any of the salmon to the Noyo BBQ this year. It has been up to the sportfishermen of the community, along with local service organizations, to carry the entire burden of running the 32nd annual salmon feed. Recreational anglers contributed about 500 pounds so far but recently the weather has been bad, the wind blowing, so there hasn't been much opportunity for the mosquito fleet to get out there. The salmon BBQ funds the operating expenses of the Hollow Creek Salmon hatchery. Caito's Fish Processors are selling the filleted salmon to the Salmon Restoration Association for about $3.00 per pound. Sportfishermen put in hundreds of hours on the BBQ and the operation of the hatchery, and release thousands of salmon smolts each year. The commercial fishermen catch almost 70% of the salmon landed in California. Maybe the commercial guy could pick up an oar and row along with everyone else in the community?

Pacific Marine Farms and the Fort Bragg City Council took a body blow from the California Coastal Commission last week. PMF has leased 33 acres of the former Georgia Pacific Mill property to construct an aquaculture facility to farm red abalone, Donaldson's Sea Trout, and shrimp. The Commission voted 5-5 on a PMF proposal to allow the company to have intake and exit pipes built above ground, which was not enough votes to pass. The approved facility will cost $8.8 million more, requiring the pipes to be built underground and underwater.

PMF spokespeople had said in previous press reports that the ruling would probably end their bid to build the abalone farm. The Ft. Bragg City Council will probably come back in three months with a compromise proposal; they love things like chinchilla farms and aquaculture. Pass the emu.

The Pelagic Shark Research Foundation was fined $21,000 by NOAA for teasing great white sharks in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary without a permit. The Foundation was filming the sharks for a commercial production company after baiting them with a "mock-up of a South African fur sea'" according to a Don Thompson's 6/21/03 AP report. Luring sharks was prohibited in the Sanctuary in 1997. Foundation Executive Director Sean Van Sommeran alleged that the foundation is being tarred by "a very aggressive smear campaign" by opponents of strict marine reserve regulations that the foundation itself helped to write.