Officials spark backlash over possible extension of controversial US fishing ban: 'Kicking the can down the road'

As officials in California consider extending the closure of a once-flourishing fishery, many experts are debating if the move goes too far. 

The Press Democrat reported the California Fish and Game Commission is weighing its options regarding a 10-year extension of the closure of the recreational red abalone fishery in Northern California. 

The commission shut down the fishery in December 2017 following a steep decline of the red abalone population. It is slated to reopen in April. 

While the goal of the closure was to implement a recovery plan to restore populations to sustainable levels, some people now believe that not enough has been done to warrant a reopening. 

Brian Owens, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, explained that reopening the fishery before it has properly healed could "lead to further collapse of the resource."

During an Aug. 14 Fish and Game Commission meeting, many concerns were raised over the fishery that once brought close to $30 million into the nearby economy. 

Commissioner Jacque Hostler-Carmesin noted the challenges that the region has faced while attempting to navigate the fishing ban. 

"I think we all feel it. As we've been trying to manage this resource, it just feels like the rug gets pulled out from underneath us," Hostler-Carmesin said. 

Red abalone populations took a massive hit following a marine heat wave from 2014 to 2017. The event decimated kelp forests, the red abalone's main food source. 

According to a study by University of California, Davis researchers published in the journal Scientific Reports, the kelp forests were reduced by nearly 90% along the coastline. 

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The rapid decline of the red abalone population was also triggered by a sunflower sea star mass mortality event. This paved the way for the rapid and sudden expansion of the purple sea urchin, which consumed large swaths of the remaining kelp forests, further jeopardizing the red abalone's food source. 

Owen Mitchell, an abalone diver, noted that the purple sea urchin appears to be running wild around the fishery. 

"I feel like nothing has been done by the state to combat this invasion. It has been left unchecked," Mitchell explained.

Mitchell isn't alone in feeling that the impact of the fishing ban is not worth the trouble of extending it for another decade. Jack Likins, an advocate for the red abalone fishery, acknowledged the benefit of the closure, but he argued against the commission's line of thinking. 

"That seems like they're kicking the can down the road," Likins said. 

A thriving red abalone population would contribute to both a surging local economy and a healthy oceanic ecosystem, something everyone wants. 

"I'd love to see the fishery come back," Mitchell told The Press Democrat. "It's about the experience and what it brings to the community. This was probably the result of climate change, so I feel like it's our duty to do something to fix it."

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