Ocean
Explorers Society
January 2003
Sponsored by Ocean Enterprises
Contents
Monthly
Meeting
No meeting this month!
Our usual meeting date is way too close to New Years. We will
be having our Holiday Party instead. OES Members and guests will
get notices with date, time, and location in a separate email.
Club
Diving
Shore dive --
Nothing formal this month. Send a message to the email list if
you want to go out.
Boat Dive -- Nothing planned for this month. Most of the dive boats are out of the water for maintenance anyway.
As always, if you want to go dive, send an email to the list.
Flotsam
Mailing List --
The mailing list change-over seems to have gone very smoothly.
I think I've been in the computer business too long. It scares
me when things go smoothly.
I want this to be a multipurpose list. Newsletters, announcements, events, "Anyone want to go diving?", and "Anyone want to go drinking/eating/surfing?" messages are all appropriate.
Poaching --
Just when we think the government doesn't listen any more, we
discover that it does. The recent lobster poaching cases all got
serious attention from prosecutors and the perpetrators recieved
major league fines and jail time for their crimes. None of this
would have happened without stacks of letters from divers telling
them these crimes are important.
Coastal Conservation -- Fish and Game has closed the coastal rock fishery due to declining populations. They've also declared protective areas around Catalina. I've seen indications that a lawsuit challenging this latest set of closures will be filed. Looks like we're in for a battle.
Remember what happened to our abalone fishery? It's happening again to the rockfish. The problems with the populations are obvious, but not definitive. The commercial interests line up in favor of continued fishing, use the lack of absolute proof as a wedge to delay protection, only to be put out of business when the populations collapse altogether. The abalone populations aren't coming back any time soon. Some scientists fear the same thing will be true with the rockfish.
Our current generation of rock fisherman are probably done with extensive fishing. It's now a question of whether our childeren will get to go fishing again, or whether we have to wait for our granchildren.
Just to add to the conservation woes is a fishing industry sponsored bill call the Freedom to Fish act. This bill should get introduced into the congress sometime next session. It would try to preempt most of the state-level fisheries management, and encase fishing policies in Federal law. Needless to say, those policies would favor "sport" fishing over conservation.
Sport fishing is a slippery concept. It generally refers to one person with a fishing pole and a license. They take fish for personal consumption. Individually, sport fisherman are have a low impact on the fish population. However, if you put 50 of them on a boat, they're indistinguishable from a commercial fisherman. California law doesn't care whether you have 3 people in a Bayliner, or 50 on a party boat. We need to change this.
The SDCD is having an open discussion regarding the MLPA boundaries at their next meeting. John Moore, one of the diving representatives, will be there to discuss their current status, and take away your ideas. The diving community has to support John in a big way if he's going to help us. Packing this meeting hall will show that support. Date, time, and venue are below
The Lost Bouys -- Bonnie Becker is a researcher
at SIO. The recent storms have washed several instrument packages
away from their appointed spots. If you happen to stumble upon
one of her lost buoys (description below), please grab it and
any gear attached to it.
Buoys (might not have all parts):
The ones that were lost were deployed:
Contact Bonnie at bjbecker@ucsd.edu if you find any of this stuff.
San Diego
Council of Divers
The next SDCD meeting will be
Tuesday, January 14th. The location hasn't been determined yet.
The main topic will be the Marine Life Protection Act. John Moore
(one of the recreational diving representatives to the MLPA Regional
Working Group for Los Angeles / San Diego) will explain the current
status of the MLPA and seek location-specific comments regarding
placement of marine protected areas.
You can check their events calendar, or subscribe to the SDCD mailing list.
The SDCD finds itself at another transition point. the Council nearly collapsed after the Yukon sank. A new group of people stepped up and kept the Council going. Now, those people are stepping down, and there don't seem to be enough volunteers to keep the SDCD running. They have enough people to cover the officers positions, but there are no board of directors candidates yet. The club representatives also voted to reduce the meetings to bimonthly. I think this is a step in the right direction, but needs to go further.
The SDCD officers plan to redraft their by-laws to better reflect their operating environment. Done properly, this will be a huge step in the right direction.
Editorial Time: We need the SDOF. 2003 is shaping up to be a year of coastal conservation battles. With all the politics surrounding commercial and sport fishing, coastal access, and conservation issues, divers need a unified voice or we're going to get left out of the political process. Quite frankly, we're a minority member of the ocean community and the only way we're going to make ourselves heard is to band together. The SDCD can, and should be a major part of that voice.
Unfortunately, the SDCD has a difficult time meeting this need. I think the problem is twofold. First the SDCD needs better support from the dive clubs. Clubs need to actively support the SDCD with both their time and money. Our newsletters need to should already news to the club memberships as the need arises. However, there doesn't seem to be any kind of directed effort in this area.
Second, the SDCD needs to quit being a dive club, and start being an umbrella organization. For the past several years, they put on a monthly dive club with speaker, raffle and all the other trappings. I, for one, would rather see the SDCD limit their meetings to community issues, skip the raffle, and stick to business. We can entertain ourselves over dinner.
We have the MLPA boundaries to draw this year. The sportfishing industry is lining up against anything that will limit their fishing activities. We need to hear from the Fish and Game Diving reps after every workshop and meeting. Dive-club type membership meetings divert resources the SDCD management could use for governmental matters. I've seen this concept work very well in the astronomical community. It should work well for us divers too.
I know I'm not the only person thinking along these lines. However, many of us are already oversubscribed in too many activities to give the SDCD the attention it needs. I hope we find enough volunteers to keep the organization going. If you would like to participate, the board is wide open. Volunteer, and you will make a difference.
Curaçao - You should already have your deposit in to Mark or Jon. We have 24 people signed up for this trip. Our dates in Curacao are May 4-11. This will be the same itinerary as the 2002 Curaçao trip. We'll stay at Captain Don's Habitat. They prvide lodging, unlimited diving and buffet breakfast. You can use the buffet breakfast to make a take-along lunch if you want.
Approximate prices:
$461 - return divers who were there in 2002
$449 - non-divers
$750 - new divers not there in 2002
Package Includes:
1) Garden view room, upstair units requested
2) Six 2-tank boat dives
3) Daily buffet breakfast
4) Airport transfers
5) Unlimited shore dives.
Last year people spent ~$100/person for the week's lunches and dinners. You should figure an additional $75 for communal van(s). Contact Mark Clausen if you want to sign up or get more information.
Judging by the photos and rave reviews, this was an awesome
trip. For those of us who missed it in 2002, we're making an encore
appearance in 2003. We'll probably get a boat to ourselves, and
red-carpet treatment from the crews. We also have enough people
to split up into special interest groups for on-island activities.
I'm trying to get the gear together for some astronomical activities.
Membership
Renewal rates are $20 single;
$30 for a family. If you can't make it to a meeting, send your
renewal to Mark Clausen; 1862 Willow Way; Vista, CA 92083.
OES
Info
OES members can receive $30 off
the regular OE price for specialty classes.
Subscriptions to Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine are available through the club for only $10. See Mark Clausen for details.
For more information: