chvyhs
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Can anyone tell me why Abolone harvesting is closed in So. California?
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The numbers of abs have declined so much that they can't sustain themselves. Octopii don't measure them, nor do other predators. Now throw in man, and they just got decimated.chvyhs:Can anyone tell me why Abolone harvesting is closed in So. California?
froop:Taking abs is also severly limited here in Melbourne, Aus. When I started diving in the late eighties, right up to only very recently, the catch limit was 10 per diver, with a max of 2 greenlips.
Now there are certain regions where taking abs is closed all year round, and others where it is limited to a 60 day period each year as dictated by the fisheries department. I am not aware of any disease affecting them here, so I assume it is mainly due to over-harvesting.
Again, my knowledge/memory may be dated, but I also seem to recall that back in the eighties, any new commercial abalone license could only be issued upon buying out two existing ones.
BrianM:Reminds me of the Mediteranian Fruit Fly here in Norcal back in the early 80's where they decided to release sterile fruit flies out into the wild so they would prevent the spread of the pests... then they realized the thousands of flies they released weren't actually sterile!!!! WHOOOPS