The Red Tide Is So Bad...

[Spike]

Abalone are falling off the rocks dead on the Sonoma Coast! 
No kidding, it happens on the natural cycle and it has happened before.  We'll see any impact on harvest numbers before the season closes.  On a positive note, a lot of effort is going into abalone research in California and something will be learned this time.

[spotfin]

Well, some sources say red tides are not so natural after all. Seems to be connected to the generally higher acidity of our oceans. Another result is the increase of creatures like jellyfish and squid. I think everything is a bit out of balance due to overfishing, pollution, global warming etc..

[Spike]

I'd buy into that line of thought easy enough.  I believe it was both overfishing and toxic coasts that wiped our abs out the first time.  There has been an incredible amount of jellies in the current the past few years off Sonoma.  A big increase in my experience.  In the Sea of Cortez, I thought all the jellies were associated with high planktin and a good thing so who knows yet?

DF&G has a dedicated scientist at Bodega Head and several years of study into California's abalone.   Hopefully, those funds will stay intact.  I'll bet she's at the forefront of this red tide episode and will follow-up with a press call in several weeks.  September surveys should determine if abs were lost from only certain levels aalong the coast or if big areas got nuked. I'm hoping clean water currents ran below shallow red tides, sparing those big deep abalones at 30+ feet.

I haven't read anything on this beyond what's been reported and science-wise, I'm a expert guesser.  I was wondering before this happened though....what does nature do when big areas are blanketed with abalone?  Do the animals move and spread out?  Die off?  Man's gotta be near as good a balancer as the otters were.  Even at 3 a day.  Then again, it's gotta be harder to nurture a sustainable balance of the ab fishery when we've already cut a vital element out of the natural cycle, the principal predator.  Is there really a "natural cycle" for an animal that lost its predator or is the "management" part of sustainability really just aquaculture in the case of abalone?

[Spike]

California Department of Fish and Game News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 15, 2011

Fish and Game Commission Votes to Close Abalone Fishery in Sonoma
County

The California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) today took
emergency action to close the abalone fishery along part of the northern
California coast. Specifically, the Commission voted 3-0 to close the
fishery in the entirety of Sonoma County. Commissioners Daniel Richards
and Richard Rogers were not in attendance.

This action was taken in the wake of confirmed reports of dead red
abalone and other invertebrates on beaches and inside coves along the
Sonoma County coastline.

Data continue to be collected that shows an abalone die-off along the
Sonoma coast beginning Aug. 27. According to Department of Fish and Game
(DFG) biologists, these abalone deaths coincided with a local red tide
bloom and calm ocean conditions. Although the exact reasons for the
abalone deaths are not known, invertebrate die-offs have occurred in the
past along the northern California coast due to lack of oxygen and/or
poisoning when similar weather and bloom conditions existed, but not at
the magnitude of this event.

DFG is assessing the impact of the situation and provided the
Commission with information at today’s meeting.

Reports of dead abalone and a variety of invertebrates have come from
Bodega Bay, Russian Gulch, Fort Ross, Timber Cove and Salt Point State
Park in Sonoma County and as far north as Anchor Bay in Mendocino
County. DFG biologists and game wardens have collected abalone, mussels
and water samples since the beginning and are continuing to document
reports from the public. The public is encouraged to report the
location, number and date of dead or dying abalone to Ian Taniguchi at
(562) 342-7182 or by e-mail at itaniguchi@dfg.ca.gov.

Divers are encouraged to avoid diving in the affected areas. The exact
implementation date of the emergency closure will be determined by the
regulatory process and is expected soon. Please continue to check the
Commission’s website at www.fgc.ca.gov.

Abalone fishermen are advised to contact a physician immediately if
they feel sick, and to report symptoms to the local county health
department (www.sonoma-county.org/health/about/publichealth.asp). The
latest red tide updates from the California Department of Public Health
are also posted online at www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/Pages/DDWEM.aspx.

For more information, please refer to DFG’s Sept. 2 press release,
available at
http://cdfgnews.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/abalone-die-off-observed-in-sonoma-county/.