Divers are giving up on hunting for the tasty sea snail.....

that article is infuriating....bad laws make law abiding citizens want to become rule breakers.

The only people that have a hard time finding abalone are those too out of shape to hold their breath for 30 seconds and the legally blind. I dove up near Fort Bragg this past weekend and just like every other time I've dove for abalone I saw hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of legal abalone. Literally covering every favorable rock surface in areas. And yet, you see rhetoric regarding how rare and threatened abalone are whenever there is any sort of article in the press about abs. Its to the point that its polluting the public sentiment about abalone. I've had numerous coworkers and friends be just stunned when I describe (and show photos) of the true state of the abalone population. They always say things like "Oh! I thought they were almost extinct or something!" Ugh.

I don't have any problem with DFG implementing temporary closures for areas too heavily fished. In fact I support that approach. Its certainly preferable to reducing the overall bag limit across the board when really the species is insanely abundant everywhere other than a few select locations that get hit too hard.

The real problem is how gagged you guys are and how little your law makers care about your reports or about the facts.

Here is an interesting question. You cannot transport shelled abs or sell them right? You can give them away? Can you mail them? I have a cousin who I used to send lobster tails to and he'd send me chanterelles back. It was not a trade, he'd be generous and I'd be generous. Could you do that with abs?

Quote from LunkerBuster

The real problem is how gagged you guys are and how little your law makers care about your reports or about the facts.

Here is an interesting question. You cannot transport shelled abs or sell them right? You can give them away? Can you mail them? I have a cousin who I used to send lobster tails to and he'd send me chanterelles back. It was not a trade, he'd be generous and I'd be generous. Could you do that with abs?

the only thing that is legal by the book is "Gifting."

Just watch John Stossel's "illegal everything" which illistrates that the average American commits often more than 3 felonies a day.

~`~`~`~`in laws are BS!!!

Interesting program.

John Stossel's Illegal Everything - YouTube

go to 5:00... it talks about a lobster fisherman.

Quote from ladvr

Good point Josh. I would recommend that you get into the habit of invoking your constitutional rights when dealing with law enforcement. Nat Geo's Wild Justice is a good example of why people should STFU instead of hanging themselves.

So true, I have only seen a few episodes but in the one with old guy who as shooting hawks and vultures if he would have just said, "I have nothing to say and you can't come in" then his life would be much better. With that said I don't condone his actions.

true

Every time I read one of these articles I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

For those of you that have not been ab diving on the north coast- even in some of the most common ab dive spots like Fort Ross, Timber Cove, and Caspar Cove, I would guess that around 10% of the rock surface between 15ft and 25ft is covered by an abalone. Abundant doesn't seem like a strong enough word.

Lobster are hard to find, scallops are hard to find, lingcod, halibut, white seabass and yellowtail are hard to find. Abalone are not even remotely hard to find up here.

And yes, well-intentioned laws that are meant to prevent poaching are enforced to the letter against divers taking their 1-3 abalone per day. It's truly a puzzling situation in my opinion.

Sounds like the ars and gag groupers in the gulf over here. Insane