Notice Hearing To Amend Regulations for Basses in Southern California Fish and Game Commission Meeting Monterey, California May 23, 2012

Overview Oct 18, 2010 MRC Meeting: Bass fishery concerns discussed Jan 18, 2012 MRC Meeting: DFG presents fishery analysis Feb 2, 2012 FGC Meeting: DFG directed to develop a regulatory package Concern for California bass fisheries was brought to the attention of the MRC at their October 2010 meeting. The Department initiated a thorough fishery analysis using the best available science and input from discussions with our constituents. The results were presented to the MRC at the January meeting this year. At the February FGC meeting, the Department was directed by the Commission to develop a regulatory package. The Department’s goal is to maintain a sufficient resource to support sport fishing and to rebuild depressed stocks.

Data Show Declines Percent Decline Fishery-Independent Dataset   SCUBA Surveys Palos Verdes (1974-2009) 78 -- King Harbor (1974-2009) 90 71 Anacapa Island (1985-2010) 87 Santa Cruz Island (1985-2010) 84 Gillnet Surveys North SCB (1995-2008) 75 77 South SCB (1988-2008) 83 Entrapment Surveys Abundance (1975-2009) 89 Biomass (1980-2009) 91 Multiple fishery dependent and independent data sources indicate that bass populations have steadily declined over the last 8 to 14 years. Abundances of kelp bass and barred sand bass, as measured by a variety of different surveys, show declines from 71-91 %. These declines are seen in surveys of all life stages from larvae to adults. There is strong evidence suggesting that fishing pressure and cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures over the last 14 years have contributed to these declines. Given that the fishery may not be sustainable at current levels of take, the Department feels regulation change is needed to offset impacts from fishing and to conserve populations while environmental conditions remain less than optimal.

Existing Bass Regulations Section 28.30, Title 14, CCR: (a) Minimum size: 12 inches total length (b) Bag limit: 10 in any combination Currently, the bass regulations include a 12-inch minimum size limit and a 10 fish bag limit. The bag limit also provides for no more than 10 fish in any combination. Kelp Bass Barred Sand Bass Spotted Sand Bass

Regulatory Package Options Increase size limit Modify bag limit Spawning season closure, barred sand bass After consultation with LED and if appropriate: Slot limits Area closure, barred sand bass Catch-and-release, spotted sand bass In your briefing notes, we have provided you with the Initial Statement of Reasons document, which includes three regulatory options. Each option has a range of sub-options. The options were designed to work together to enhance the bass populations and include: an increase in the size limit to allow for at least one additional year of spawning before recruiting into the fishery; a modification to the bag limit that would reduce catch by having a reduction in the individual species bag limit while retaining the in-combination upper limit not to exceed 10 fish; and a spawning season closure for barred sand bass to provide for a period of time during spawning season with uninterrupted spawning activity. At the FGC February meeting, the Department was also directed to consult with law enforcement and consider other alternatives, including slot limits, area closures, and a catch-and-release only fishery. After discussion with law enforcement and a couple of our constituent groups, none of the alternatives were considered feasible at this time.

Sub-option Ranges Increase size limit: 13, 14, or 15 inches Modify bag limit: 9 - 0 fish per species, and retain upper limit in combination Barred sand bass spawning season closure: 1 week - 3 months

Timeline June – November 2012: Public comment August 8, 2012 FGC Meeting: Discussion Hearing, Ventura November 7, 2012 FGC Meeting: Adoption Hearing, Los Angeles If the Commission chooses to go to notice to amend the bass regulations, public comment period will be from June through November. The discussion hearing will be held on August 8th at the Ventura FGC meeting, and the adoption hearing will be held on November 7th at the Los Angeles FGC meeting. The expected implementation date of the regulations would be March 1st, 2013 which corresponds with the publication of the regulations booklet.

Thank you

% of appropriate habitat w/in MPAs MPA Coverage Species % of appropriate habitat w/in MPAs Kelp bass 6 - 9 Barred sand bass 1 - 4 Spotted sand bass <1 The placement of the new South Coast MPAs is not expected to provide equal benefits for the basses. Of the three species, kelp bass will likely benefit the most from these areas. Approximately 6-9% of hard habitat from 0 to 100 feet is within MPAs. Benefits to the kelp bass fishery are expected to be realized five to seven years from now, the necessary time to recruit into the fishery. The three largest areas where spotted sand bass are caught in southern California include Los Alamitos Bay, Newport Bay, or San Diego Bay, but no-take MPA regulations are not in place for spotted sand bass in these locations.

Relative Importance of barred sand bass CPFV fishing areas Ventura Los Angeles These next slides, based on input from the CPFV fleet, show the relative importance of areas for barred sand bass fishing. Areas from light yellow to red indicate lower to higher importance. Barred sand bass spawning grounds include the Ventura Flats, inner Santa Monica Bay, Huntington Flats, San Onofre, Pt. Loma, and Imperial Beach Flats, a total of approximately 600 square nautical miles. As you can see, most of the important areas for barred sand bass fishing in red are not covered by the current MPA network; only a small proportion of this spawning habitat, less than four percent, is estimated to be included within the current MPA array. Data source: Ecotrust low high

Relative Importance of barred sand bass CPFV fishing areas Laguna Beach La Jolla Data source: Ecotrust low high

Relative Importance of barred sand bass CPFV fishing areas San Clemente Island Imperial Beach Data source: Ecotrust low high

Catch Declines 83% decrease 67% decrease Barred sand bass Fish kept Kelp bass These data are commercial passenger fishing vessel landings from 1980 to 2011. Catch declines have been 83% for barred sand bass and 67% for kelp bass. 67% decrease

Constituents Consulted Sportfishing Association of California Sportfishing Conservancy United Anglers Recreational Fishing Alliance Heal the Bay Natural Resources Defense Council Ocean Conservancy Various Universities The Department has solicited input from a variety of organizations and individuals. We have presented our fishery analyses to several of these entities and had several discussions with them, resulting in the options and range of options within the Initial Statement of Reasons for the basses.

Constituent Input Bag limit reduction Slot limits Minimum size limit increase Catch-and-release only (spotted sand bass) Partial season closure (barred sand bass) Area closures (barred sand bass) Gear restrictions No changes Constituent input during our outreach efforts varied widely regarding regulatory options.

Fishery-Independent Datasets DATA TYPE ORGANIZATION LIFE STAGE Larval Abundance CalCOFI Recruitment PISCO Fish Entrapment Edison Gill Net Bycatch CSUN Hubbs Sea World SCUBA Surveys Reef Check CINMS Occidental College SF State Univ. Larvae/recruits Sub-adults The Department also solicited and received many different fishery-independent datasets from several organizations. Several different kinds of surveys looked at abundances of kelp bass and barred sand bass, from larvae to adults. Adults