Coast Guard, CHP chasing guy in boat near Golden Gate Bridge

Fox News Channel | 021103 | FNC

[dep]

FNC reports Coast Guard and California Highway Patrol are trying to apprehend a guy in a small boat operating without running lights near the Golden Gate Bridge. The man is said to have snorkeling equipment. That is all they have at the moment.

[need_a_screen_name]

dumb question here from someone who has never yet fished in the ocean.... why is it illegal to fish for lobsters and abalone around the bridge?

[piasa]

Sort of like when the police talk you out of salvaging the deer that just smashed your car... then sneak it off later.

[Fighting Irish]

"...a hookah rig...."

I caught a buzz from one of these (back in the 70s) but never Abalone.

[JohnnyZ]

why is it illegal to fish for lobsters and abalone around the bridge?

Who fishes for lobsters? That does not make sense. Trap lobsters.

[dogbyte12]

I wouldn't mind having some abalone in custody.

Did anybody say they wanted a bologna?

[Chemist_Geek]

Set Condition One for anti-surface warfare...

[HairOfTheDog]

Chad, I was in the shower! - Did I miss it?

Ramius - what's going on down there?

[John H K]

dumb question here from someone who has never yet fished in the ocean.... why is it illegal to fish for lobsters and abalone around the bridge?

Seafood can be a big money proposition. On thing about seafood is that (the growth of "farming" notwithstanding, there are many fish, crabs, shellfish that CAN'T be farmed) is that when a given species is overfished, they become rarer, but demand stays the same, so the price per unit goes up, meaning people are even MORE motivated to go after it, even though it may take longer to find the few that are left.

So, on pretty much every coast, to legally harvest a lot of things in ANY quantity at all, you need a "commercial license." And to prevent overfishing, these licenses are often now either 1) very expensive, or 2) limited in overall number so that it's next to impossible for someone new to get one, or both.

So you'll see poaching develop.

And it's not really "fishing" in the case of lobsters and abalone, it's going down and physically picking them up.

[John H K]

Who fishes for lobsters? That does not make sense. Trap lobsters.

Most of the west coast fishing seems to be diving.

One thing about trapping is that it's harder to do illegaly.

To have a lobster pot, you have to bait it and leave it on the bottom for a day. The pot then has to have a visible buoy attached to it floating on the surface so you can find it in your boat and pick up the pot. The buoy is going to be sitting around out there all day. Also, somebody ELSE who is also illegal can simply come by and steal the lobsters from the pot themselves. And since YOU'RE using a pot illegally, you can't exactly contact the game warden to complain about someone stealing lobsters from your illegal lobster pot.

[HairOfTheDog]

This is all very interesting, but we don't have lobsters in the Pacific!

[John H K]

Quick google search turned up this:

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/news/news99/99083.html

September 10, 1999

DFG Busts North Coast Abalone Poaching Network

ALAMEDA — A six-month, 4,000-hour surveillance investigation by the Department of Fish and Game's (DFG) enforcement branch into an organized network of North Coast abalone poachers has culminated with more than a dozen arrests Friday from the San Francisco Bay area to Ft. Bragg, DFG has announced.

Those arrested in Friday's Haliotis II Operation along the 120-mile stretch of coastline included a sophisticated, interlinked group of divers, wholesalers, buyers and deliverymen, said Fred Cole, deputy chief of DFG's Enforcement Branch. The suspects were arrested in Alameda, San Francisco, Mendocino and Sonoma counties, Cole said, and several are facing felony conspiracy charges for the unlawful take and commercialization of sport taken abalone. Several vehicles used in the illegal poaching were also confiscated Friday by DFG officials.

"Operations like this one today are needed to help protect what has become a very limited resource," said Cole, who added that approximately 80 personnel from DFG were involved in the operation. "The largest concentration of abalone left in the world is located on California's North Coast, and it is a big priority of ours to save this resource. We are very appreciative of the help we've received during this investigation from the Sonoma County District Attorneys office and Sheriff's Department."

Charges filed by the Sonoma County District Attorneys office ranged from felony conspiracy, to illegal take, sale and purchase of abalone, and the illegal commercialization of abalone from a closed district. Felony conspiracy may be charged whenever a group conspires to violate Fish and Game laws, which are normally misdemeanors.

A suspect convicted of a felony conspiracy charge to sell abalone is subject to a maximum of three years in state prison, and a minimum $20,000 to $40,000 fine.

The information leading to each arrest was originally generated by concerned citizens via DFG's CalTIP program, Cole said. By contacting the 1-888-334-2258 to report poachers and polluters, callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.

North Coast red abalone can only be taken by sport divers for personal consumption, with a limit of four per day, at a minimum length of seven inches in the shell. The commercial take of abalone, which has always been prohibited in the North Coast, has been closed statewide the past two years because of a severe decline in the abalone population. Additionally, it is unlawful to take abalone by divers using scuba gear. Abalone can only be taken by sport divers collecting from exposed rocks or by free diving without scuba gear.

The abalone sport season runs from April 1 to June 30, and then from Aug. 1 to Nov. 30, only in ocean waters north of the San Francisco Bay.

The suspects were allegedly involved in an intricate network of procuring abalone, selling it to willing individuals, who would then re-sell the abalone to a mostly pre-determined list of buyers. Abalone are in very high demand, and are easily over harvested because of slow growth and variable reproductive success. During this operation, DFG officers working undercover purchased abalone for $60 to $80 each.

"This network is very efficient, and very effective," Cole said. "Some of those arrested are taking about 1,000 abalone a season, valued in the market place at over $1 million, and they are making anywhere from $80,000 to $100,000 each during the season, tax free."

The monies available for this operation was made possible because of a $1.2 million appropriation by the California Legislature for the 1998-99 fiscal year that funded 10 DFG warden positions.

[HankReardon]

I tell you, it's no wet suit, it's that Darth Vader guy from the Raiders' games!

[Jeff Chandler]

It's Jack La Lanne!

[Chad Fairbanks]

Not all limpets are shellfish.

Correct...

[homeschool mama]

Actually, there are lobster in the Southern Pacific...but that's a long way from the San Francisco Bay, huh? :o)

[JohnnyZ]

Most of the west coast fishing seems to be diving.

That's ghetto. Maine lobsters are the only way to go.

To have a lobster pot, you have to bait it and leave it on the bottom for a day.

Trap. Lobster trap. Pot is what ya cook 'em in. If you're diving for the damn things you might as well put traps at the bottom, let lobstahs mosey on in, and you don't have to chase 'em around the gosh darned ocean floor all day. You could float your lobstah buoy underwater so it's visible when you're diving.

But the whole idea is just ghetto, illegally trapping lobsters under a bridge; who DOES that?

In the real world (the east coast) illegal trapping is easier, since you can do things like moderately exceeding the trap limit, etc., and it's pretty dang hard for anyone to tell what you're doing unless it's egregious. Still, folks get hauled into court every week for trapping violations, whether for size, number, improper license, whatever.

[John H K]

Trap. Lobster trap. Pot is what ya cook 'em in.

Forgive me, I'm a Marylander. And we have Crab POTS, and don't do any lobstering :-)

Well, there is actually one guy in Delaware that runs way the hell out on the Continental shelf and does OK with lobster pots...er, traps :-)

[theFIRMbss]

>THIS VIOLATION HAS BEEN LOGGED.

"NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise.... "

[snippy_about_it]

Ping a ling.