Calling all San Francisco Area freedivers and ab divers

[kelp princess]

hello everyone - I am looking for freedivers, and ab divers (and for that matter even scuba divers) who have first-hand coastal knowledge of the north central coast of california (basically the golden gate bay area and north). if anybody frequently dives salt point, gerstle cove or any of the coastline between pescadero point in san mateo county, all the way up thru point arena in mendocino county or places in-btwn (including the farallons) can you pls send me a note?

i am trying to help inform some public policy on marine protected areas along the coast and i want to make sure i have good input from the freediving community.

i am especially interested in where people free dive, how easy the shore access is for them, what are the most accessed or visited sites and what types of sealife/ecosystems they encounter and what seems prevalent in these areas - that is what type of fish or invertabrates from a freediving perspective.

thanks in advance for any help!

 

[kale]

Gerstle Cove is the model mpa for the north coast. It it holds a dense population of breeding fish and invertabrates. It is accessible to the public and enjoyed by student divers and tourists. It may even be an economic asset to the area. Yet it is small enough that it doesn't create a large hurdle for those who wish to legally and responsibly recreationally harvest seafood in the area. I thank the authorities for doing the great job they have done on the north coast at managing our resources so that they can be enjoyed by future generations.I dive the north coast and love it.

I also love diving the central coast (SLO)where I live. Unfortunately, in contrast, the mpa's soon to go into effect here will have taken some of our best and only places to freedive spearfish, strecthing for many miles along the most productive rocky areas of our coastline. As an avid freedive spearfisherman I can only tell you how dissappointed I am.
From a hook & line perspective it's not so bad because there are many offshore deeper pinnacles and structure outside the mpa's, where the beaches are silty/sandy and unproductive for spearfishing. The mpa's also have small effect on commercial fishing. Unfortunately we were under-represented in the process down here. But I have faith that the divers of nor-cal will have a louder voice than we did and fight for their rights. When this process finally makes it to so-cal, I have no doubt that what happened here won't be repeated.
Let's face it, these mpa's are out of control and there are more effective tools for managing our resources. Thanks for reading
Kale

 

[kelp princess]

hi kale - yes from what i understand the monterey process was more than a bit messy and the outcomes were not good.

i have done many dives myself at gerstle cove, and was wondering about other sites or access points that are favorites of yours and frequented by locals in addition to gerstle, so that i might be able to voice and underscore the need to keep them available for access.
as well as understand areas that are not as important. any additional thoughts you have are much appreciated.

(you have no idea how beauraucratic this process is - i thought i was going to tear my hair out! and apparently i have a full year to go, it will be a true test of my patience....which is already short!)

thanks!

francesca

 

[deckhand mike]

Before people share information with you I am curious on your stance about the mlpa's. Please clarify why you need this info and for who are you collecting it. Not all who post here have good intentions.

 

[kelp princess]

my stance is that i am a diver who loves being able to dive in the sea-life rich & prolific waters off of our coast any time i want, and i want to be able to keep doing that. i'm not so sure if regulations like mpa's are the best way to manage our ocean resources but that freight train is moving on with or w/o us and if i can help make sure it stays on a good track then i am going to do that. i think it is critical that divers, free/skin and scuba alike, share their POVs and take part in a dialogue that needs our unique perspective. there are plenty of concerned fishermen on the panel, plenty of wonky gov't agency types, plenty of doomsday enviros and then there's me the lone dive instructor/dive operator who is trying to keep an open mind.

i run shark dives to the farallons on the tamalpais in the fall so i understand that area very well, and i usually spend a few wknds on the north coast throughout the year - but i end up teaching alot more down south, so i really need people who spend more time from duxbury reef on up to pt arena to help inform what i know and provide their experiences. i've been a scuba editor for this rag for over 5 years and have been sr crew on the monterey express for about 6. i'm not sure what else you'd like to know but i would really appreciate any relevant info you'd be willing to share, since we may not like this beauro process but it is going to impact us so i'm trying to be as informed and prepared as i can.

francesca

 

[ocean_314]

I am an avid freediver in the FT Bragg area. Because of the usually rough ocean conditions diving is restricted to those few days that are calm enough to get into the water. Up here the commercial fisherman and the commercial live fish fisherman who supplied the Asian markets in San Francisco have done tremendous damage to the ocean environment.
Now that they have been restricted the fish are making a big comeback. Huge schools of blues and olives are now back to the point of being a pain in the ass for fisherman. Lings are everywhere. Even the pacific octopus are making a big comeback.
Our only problem is that all the abalone take is restricted to our coasts so the plentiful 81/2 to 83/4" abs are all now 71/2".
The ocean conditions are what restricts everyone for the sea for most of the year. We also dont have the population of people like th bay area and southern california.

 

[deckhand mike]

I often dive and fish north of duxburry up to about South gerstle cove and see large amounts of olives, greenlings, blacks, smaller cabezon and lings of all sizes. South Gerstle would be my favorite known spot. Tons and tons of rockfish. Not as many big reds as down south. As far as abs I have no trouble getting limits of 8" in usually under a half an hour. Got a limit of abs easily at Ft. Ross last week all easily over 8 closer to 9 and that is probaly the most hammered spot there is.

 

[kelp princess]

thanks ocean_314

i do appreciate your response.

is there any freediving or spearing out of Noyo Harbor? or is there a beach/shore access that people like most?

and is there a better time of year? is it seasonal?
for example, do you find that there more calm ocean condition days in the fall vs the spring?

and do you know if people collect more red or black abs?


francesca

 

[kelp princess]

As far as abs I have no trouble getting limits of 8" in usually under a half an hour. Got a limit of abs easily at Ft. Ross last week all easily over 8 closer to 9 and that is probaly the most hammered spot there is.

hi - most hammered by people? and what kinds of abs out of curiosity?

francesca

 

[kale]

By hammered he means heavily dove, and yes I'd say Fort Ross is one of the most hammered spots and yes again to 8-9" red abalone in abundance and a limit in less than a half hour, and thats being picky. Since access is so limited up there, it would be nice to at least try to keep the access points open to ab diving/spearfishing. Unlike Monterey or So Cal the overwhelming majority of divers using those access points are getting something to munch from the sea, and I already mentioned Gerstle. By access points I don't just mean state parks and official coastal access points but also the dirt paths that lead down from every other turnout that are well worn by generations of ab divers. When you drive up HWY 1 you will notice some areas where private land with tons of no tresspassing signs and barbed wire fence is between the road and the water. This equals no access. Sometimes it goes for many miles.
I think the state should be spending my taxes to do something about THAT. But yeah, like you said the train is rollin and we need to get involved. Also like you said, fishermen (probably 99% h&l or commercial) and environmental extremists will no doubt be heavily represented. So what is your official title for this process ,do you have one?....who do you represent?...what are your duties?......... Thanks,
Kale

 

[calicojack]

While I haven't been an active diver over the last couple of years, I've been diving for abalone and rock fish on the Sonoma coast since the late 1970's. I've never seen any species of abalone up here other thatn Red Abalone. I seen pinks, greens and blacks only on the Channel Islands.

I have definately seen a decline in the populations at some locations, but the overall population seems to be in good health. I have attributed the "spot" declines on poachers - especially poachers equiped as urchin divers. I have seen reefs where I would dive on a Tuesday and see abalone under, over, and around every rock only to return on Wednesday to find that there were no abalone in sight. Since they just don't move that fast, I can only sirmise that someone who had a lot of bottom time and a big float, scoured the area.

 

[kelp princess]

CalicoJack it's too bad that what you surmise may be sad but true.

 

[kelp princess]

When you drive up HWY 1 you will notice some areas where private land with tons of no tresspassing signs and barbed wire fence is between the road and the water. This equals no access. Sometimes it goes for many miles.

actually the people from the DFG told me that some homeowners and HOA's actually have erroneously posted no fishing and no taking signs by themselves that are not ordained from DFG, and that they do this to keep house values high and visitors out!

I think the state should be spending my taxes to do something about THAT. But yeah, like you said the train is rollin and we need to get involved. Also like you said, fishermen (probably 99% h&l or commercial) and environmental extremists will no doubt be heavily represented. So what is your official title for this process ,do you have one?....who do you represent?...what are your duties?......... Thanks,
Kale

the official title the MLPA has come up with is RSG regional stakeholder group member - which means i will be one voice of a collective of many.

i'd consider myself first and foremost a diver who enjoys our rich coastline
and therefore want to represent people who enjoy it too.

my longterm duties as they've been described to me are to evaluate fishereis data and local knowledge to propose MPA's where they make sense, or propose removing them where they don't make sense. the unfortunate side of my duties is monthly mtgs ( long boring and tedious mtgs) with the whole group. but the flip side of that is getting to hear all the perspectives and learn some new stuff from the commercial fisherman who seem to have extensive knowledge in my opinion.

you can read more info about the whole deal here:

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/MRD/mlpa/northcentralcoast.html

i will be making a few personal field trips over the next few weeks (not a duty but something i think will be useful for my context) to fort bragg and other locations with some freediving pals so i will let you know when and where we are going to be if you are intersted in joning us.

i'd like to be able to make sure that things like the much needed paths or trails to the ocean are highlighted and mentioned in these proceedings.

thanks for asking!
kelp princess

 

[ocean_314]

Kelp princess, you can dive right in Noyo harbour or go around the corner in a zodiac. There are quite a few places that are good shore access. Now if you want me to tell you of my paradise spearfishing spots, which are shore access then you will have to come up here and swear on a stack of bibles korans and a torah that you wont tell anyone and then be blindfolded on the way to the spots.
Only Red abs up here the other species like warmer water.
Before the southern state was closed i could pic a limit of 4 8 3/4 abs wihtout having to look for them. I would look for the 9+ only. Now i have to look for 8+abs. I spend my time hunting fish and take my abs only after i am tired and getting ready to head in.
As far as fish goes i can shoot all the blues i want there are huge schools up here to the point where when fishing they get in the way of trying to drop to the botom and get bigger fish. Its cool to see a couple of football fields of blues and olives boiling on the surface. Lots of fun on light spinning gear, you can catch them until your arms fall off on most days.
Lots of lings now and the inshore black and yellows have also made a big comback.
The damage up here was done by the commercial inshore live fish fisherman, that has been stopped and the fish are back in a big way.

 

[kale]

Good to hear that the restrictions on commercial have improved the fishery up there. An older buddy of mine said when they use to do a lot of long lining down here he could go on a scuba dive and suck down a whole tank of air and not see a single fish . That's in places that are now full of all kinds of fish:friday .Kelp princess, keep up the good work and thank you for giving divers a voice in the mpa process.

 

[glen]

Hi im glen, i dive the rort ross area and north, aproximatley 8 or more times a year for abs.Ufortionatley i often see people who are taking more than there daily limit.most of the time it is durring the extreem low tide.
That is the worst thing to see especially when you are showing someone what and what not to do.

Only twice did i see a game warden, under standibley "very upset"
heading tward them with plastic bags.I want to thank the wardens!:inlove
for doing the deed
thak you verry much!