BASS SURVEY

200 Nieto Avenue Suite 207 Long Beach, CA 90803 (805) 895-3000 or www.sportcon.org  In order for us to continue to make informed decisions, please take a minute to answer the survey questions at the end of this message. We at The Sportfishing Conservancy have been deeply concerned about the health of Southern California's nearshore fisheries, in particular Sand Bass and Kelp Bass populations. Our staff members have made recommendations to lower bag limits in these troubled fisheries to the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) in 2006 and 2009 on previous triennial sport fish regulation reviews. This past month we attended the Marine Resource Committee (MRC) meeting in Santa Barbara. One of the items on the agenda was the much-anticipated discussion of the fishery analysis of Southern California basses. The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) biologists presented an informative power point presentation that showed the decline of our calico, sand bass and spotted bass population over the past 60+ years, confirming our past actions. The DFG work was precipitated by a Scripps study*confirming many of our initial fears.  While in the past, the DFG has been slow to respond, today The Sportfishing Conservancy is happy to announce that our requests have been heard and DFG is looking at an array of better management practices.  After viewing the Department's presentation and discussion, The Marine Resource Committee will forward a range of options to the full Fish and Game Commission that include: an increase in the minimum size for bass, possibly 13-14". This alone will allow for at least one additional year for these fish to spawn. A second recommendation is to decrease the bag limit. This decrease ranges from a 3-7 fish bag limit. A third recommendation is for a seasonal closure specifically for spawning sand bass that spawn in areas such as the Ventura and Huntington Flats. Our comments went further and included instituting a progressive program of slot limits as an additional management tool. In order for us to continue to make informed decisions, please take a minute to answer the following survey questions: 1) Do you support different regulations for the basses to maximize recreational fishing opportunities? Yes No 2) Do you support a spawning season closure for basses? Yes No 3) Would you support a reduced bag limit for Kelp (Calico) or any of the Sand Basses? Yes No 4) Would you support an increase in the minimum size limit for bass? Yes No 5) Do you support a slot limit on Kelp Bass or any of the Sand Basses? Yes No 6) Do you support identical management for the basses and whitefish, no combined bag limit larger than the specie bag, and disallow slot limits in order to maintain filleting basses at sea instead of dockside? Yes No Your answers to these questions are important to us and as always will help us determine the best solutions for a conservation-based approach to sportfishing. There is still a lot of work to be done before any of this is final. The Sportfishing Conservancy is very involved and based on our past research will continue to support a reduced bag limit, potentially a larger minimum size as well as a slot limits for at-risk species. We will be speaking at the next several Commission meetings and updating all of you to our progress. Any changes made to this fishery would be implemented in the 2013 DFG regulations. Thank you for all of your support thus far and we look forward to an exciting year ahead! Sincerely, The SportCon Team  * The illusion of plenty: hyperstability masks collapses in two recreational fisheries that target fish spawning aggregations   Brad E. Erisman, Larry G. Allen, Jeremy T. Claisse, Daniel J. Pondella II, Eric F. Miller, Jason H. Murray