CalCoast News

Fishermen, researchers still clashing over catch

By Zeke Barlow
Ventura County Star
February 9, 2008

Biologists initially thought that it would take as long as a decade to notice any changes to the marine environment around the Channel Islands after vast swaths of the ocean were closed to fishing five years ago.

But already there are signs of change.

Species that fishermen favor are bigger inside the marine reserves than outside. There are more of the targeted fish. And there are more kinds of fish swimming in these safe havens.

While biologists say the Channel Islands make up a diverse, complex area where many factors come into play, they think that the marine protected areas — or MPAs — may be helping to build a richer, healthier fish population.

"The surprise is how quickly we are seeing the response," said Gary Davis, a retired National Park Service scientist who helped establish the protected areas. "We are seeing those things happening faster than I thought we would. We are very hopeful that it is headed in the right direction."

Scientists who have been examining everything from lobster size, fish movement, ocean topography and the effects of the reserves on the fishing community gathered Thursday and Friday to discuss what they've noticed since the reserves were established in 2003.

Ten patches of ocean around the islands — which represent about 20 percent of the area — have been closed to fishing with the aim of protecting key species and creating a sustainable fishery.

Doubts from fishermen

And while many of the scientists on Friday said that preliminary results show that many species seem to be doing well inside the reserves, fishermen were not so enthusiastic.

Chris Hoeflinger, spokesman for the Ventura County Commercial Fishermen's Association, said that much more time has been spent looking at how fish are responding than how fishermen are dealing with losing 20 percent of their fishing grounds.

He said since the areas were closed, more fishermen are having to compete for fewer places to fish, which, he said he thinks, not only puts more pressure on the fishermen, but on the fishery as well.

He said he stopped fishing at the Channel Islands after his favorite spots were closed.

Also, the ban on fishing at certain parts of the island is not being incorporated into fishery regulations, he said.

"The goal wasn't to make marine reserves the fix-all, it was to integrate them into management," he said.

Four fisheries off the islands — spiny lobster, squid, rockfish and sheephead — saw a declining commercial market value compared to the rest of Southern California after the MPAs were established. However, because of fishing regulations, seasonal changes and adjusted fishing patterns, the reserves are not solely responsible for this, said Mary Bergen, who conducted the study. The sheephead fishery, for example, has been declining since 1997.

"The bottom line is that there are a lot of big things going on in these fisheries, so the impact is mixed in with that," she said.

Joel Greenberg, the Southern California chairman of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, said he's not sold on the idea that the reserves are working.

"The reality is that there is no good scientific proof that the reserves are doing what they said they would accomplish," he said. "It's a double-edge sword to say if we wait 20 years to see if there is a change, and in the meantime fishermen were promised short-term impacts."

One of the studies shows that the amount of recreational fishing at the islands has slightly increased since the reserves were established. A problem many scientists acknowledge in assessing the reserves is the lack of historical data with which to compare the current data. There is no baseline to make comparisons.

'Significant differences'

Biologists on Friday said the changes in fish populations would come slowly but were still enthusiastic about some of the initial findings. A full, more critical analysis of the data is expected later this year.

"We are really starting to see significant differences," said Chris Mobley, the manager of the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary.

One of the most striking findings, he said, is that fish that fishermen target — such as lingcod, sheephead and kelp bass — are larger and more plentiful inside the reserves. Bigger fish produce exponentially more eggs. Spiny lobsters were also found to be larger and of more different sizes inside the reserves.

The studies were done using a variety of methods, ranging from counting fish during scuba dives, tracking fish with radio sensors and trapping lobsters inside the reserves.

One of the theories behind protected areas is that as populations inside the reserves become more hearty and healthy, the populations will "spill over" into the areas open to fishing. However, it hasn't happened here yet. It could take many years, Davis said.

But Stan Davis, who has been fishing for lobster and rock crab at the islands for 38 years, said he doesn't buy into the spillover theory. He said finding more big lobsters in an area closed to fishing is obvious. Still, even though he said he's lost income with the closures and competes in the smaller fishing grounds, he supports the reserves.

"I'm used to it, I can work around it," said the Ventura fisherman. "Just so we can say we are protecting our future and so there is a catch out there."

How successful the island reserves are has a much broader impact than just on local fish populations or fishermen.

California has begun to establish marine life protected areas, or MLPAs, along the 1,100 miles of the coastline that will closely resemble the plan at the Channel Islands. MLPAs have been implemented in Central California, and Southern California is the next area scheduled to install one.

"It's going to influence the (California Department of Fish and Game) Commission and their stance of how MLPAs are going," DFG biologist John Ugoretz said of the Channel Islands reserves results. "From the preliminary assessment of things, we are headed in the right direction."

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