SF Bay Herring Harvest Collapsing - Fishermen Blame Govt. Regulations

[hatrack]

SAN FRANCISCO - Each winter, schools of silvery herring pass beneath the Golden Gate Bridge on the way to drop their eggs in the lushly vegetated corners of San Francisco Bay. In recent years, however, scientists have worried about the health of the bay's herring population. Fishermen also have found it increasingly difficult to earn a living in the bay's last significant commercial fishery, but argue the herring population is healthy and state restrictions are the cause of their woes.

"Many fishermen have already quit," said Ernie Koepf, 53, a commercial fishermen who heads the California Herring Association. "They've gone home to other fisheries. ... Many are saying, 'I just don't think we're going to get our quota.'" Herring spend most of the year in the Pacific Ocean but schools of the fish visit the bay for up to four weeks each in winter months to spawn in underwater areas rich in vegetation such as eel grass and graciliaria.

Fishermen scoop the fish up in nets and sell them to buyers in Japan, where their prized eggs, or roe, are served at sushi bars. The fish themselves are processed into animal feed. The situation for fishermen has not improved so far this season, which began Dec. 1 and ends March 11. Only 65 tons of a 3,440-ton quota have been caught with about 40 boat crews casting their nets. State biologists cite a number of reasons for so few herring being landed this season, including fewer boats, smaller spawnings and undersized fish that are off limits. They say they are hopeful more schools will come to the bay during the remainder of the season.

"It's too soon to sound the alarm bells," said Becky Ota, senior biologist for the state Department of Fish and Game. "It's too soon to tell what's going on this year with this population." But fishermen contend the herring population remains healthy, and they want the state wildlife officials to let them use gill nets with narrower meshes, allowing them to catch smaller fish. Currently, smaller fish can pass through the 2 1/8-inch mesh required by the state. The fishermen want to reduce the allowable mesh size to 2 inches, a move opposed by state scientists."

EDIT

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050207/ap_on_sc/san_francisco_herring_1

[HawkerHurricane]

1. OH, it couldn't be overfishing, or pollution, or habitat loss...

it has to be the goverment regulations keeping us from making quota!

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. Half through the season and the catch is about 2% of the quota,

and the fishermen say the fishery is healthy.

Denial is a powerful force. The fishery is not collapsing, it has collapsed. It's very possible it is beyond recovery.

I've always wondered how people who depend upon a natural resource can destroy that resource, then wonder what happened to it.

on edit;

OTOH, the fishermen could be right - it could be evolution at work. As the larger fish are fished out, natural selection would give an advantage to the smaller ones, the ones that can slip through the nets. It would be interesting to know if the actual numbers of fish have not declined, but only their average size.

There's something to make fundies' heads explode.

[alarimer]

4. Like the Sardine fishery in the 40s

Overfished to collapse. They never did come back.

[Verve]

3. Did you know pickled herring can give you Gout?

It's a very painful disorder usually in your big toe. An uncle just had it over the Christmas season after eating a whole jar of pickled herring in one sitting!

O.k, I know I'm off the subject but it's a funny story. Just not for my uncle.