California Fish and Game Commission Extends Red Abalone Recreational Fishery Closure
Red abalone [Image from CDFW]
In a move to protect red abalone populations that have suffered drastic population decline, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) at its Dec. 10-11 meeting extended the red abalone recreational fishery closure 10 years. The Commission also approved listing Bear Lake buckwheat as an endangered species under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) and received the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) status review report for mountain lion in the central coast and southern parts of California.
The Commission unanimously voted to adopt regulatory amendments to extend the red abalone recreational fishery closure in Northern California until April 1, 2036. The Commission determined that continuing the closure is necessary to protect red abalone and help facilitate its restoration.
California’s red abalone population suffered a drastic decline, approximately 85%, following the 2014 kelp forest collapse triggered by a marine heatwave. The loss of kelp greatly contributed to this decline and the increase in purple sea urchin densities prevent kelp recovery, abalone’s primary food source. CDFW will be supporting abalone restoration through the development of a statewide red abalone restoration plan that will include robust and adaptive strategies to support abalone populations.
The Commission determined that listing Bear Lake buckwheat as an endangered species under CESA is warranted and will adopt its findings at a future meeting. CDFW’s Native Plant Program reported that a September 2025 survey counted as few as 744 Bear Lake buckwheat plants over 1.5 acres of land not far from the shores of human-made Big Bear Lake in Southern California. That 1.5 acres is the only location in the world where this rare, small shrub is known to grow. Bear Lake buckwheat faces threats including habitat destruction and human disturbances.
The Commission received CDFW’s status review report for mountain lion in the central coast and southern parts of California. The status review report follows the Commission’s April 16, 2020, decision that a petition may be warranted to list mountain lion species in those portions of California as threatened or endangered under CESA. CDFW found that these mountain lion populations are discrete, significant and imperiled, and recommended the Commission identify a distinct population segment of mountain lions to be listed as threatened. The report contains the most current information available on mountain lion in in the central coast and southern parts of California and serves as the basis for CDFW’s recommendation to the Commission. The Commission is expected to consider the recommendation and petitioned action at an upcoming meeting. For additional information on the listing process and CDFW’s prepared status review, please see Petitions to List Species Under the California Endangered Species Act.
Meeting Participation and Next Meeting
Commission President Erika Zavaleta, Vice President Samantha Murray and Commissioner Eric Sklar were in attendance for both days of the December Commission meeting held in Sacramento; Commissioner Hostler-Carmesin was absent for a portion of the Dec. 10 meeting and Commissioner Darius Anderson was absent both meeting dates.
The complete agenda for the meeting, along with supporting information, is available on the Commission website. Archived video of past Commission meetings is available online. The next meeting of the Commission is scheduled for Feb. 11-12, 2026, in Sacramento. Participants are encouraged to attend in person, with options available for Zoom or phone; for more information visit the Commission website.
The Commission authorized public notice of upcoming potential regulation changes related to:
Waterfowl hunting: A discussion hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11-12 and an adoption hearing April 15-16 on proposed amendments to waterfowl hunting regulations to comply with proposed frameworks for 2026-27 hunting seasons approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Bighorn sheep hunting: A discussion hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11-12 and an adoption hearing April 15-16 on proposed regulation changes for the 2026-27 bighorn sheep hunting season.
Pronghorn antelope hunting: A discussion hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11-12 and an adoption hearing April 15-16 on recommended regulation changes for the 2026-27 pronghorn antelope hunting season.
Elk hunting: A discussion hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11-12 and an adoption hearing April 15-16 on recommended regulation changes for 2026-27 elk hunting seasons.
Black bear hunting: A discussion hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11-12 and an adoption hearing April 15-16 on proposed amendments to black bear hunting regulations.
Commercial coonstripe shrimp fishery: A discussion and adoption hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11-12 on proposed amendments to regulations governing the commercial coonstripe shrimp trap fishery.
Processing and donating sport-caught fish: A discussion and adoption hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11-12 on proposed amendments to regulations regarding processing and donating sport-caught fish.
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/
How come nobody cares to make the connection yet between the 2011 Fukushima disaster and the radioactive water reaching our shores by 2012, causing ionization damage to all of the kelp by 2014?
Why do you guys have to call a heatwave when it’s clearly radioactive water?
Is it just more climate change nonsense? Seems that way.
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/science-data/fukushima-radiation-us-west-coast-tuna
The tuna from Japan reached our shores in 2012, how could that not effect our ecosystem?
Sounds like some Trump logic, for millions of years endless water has flowed from Canada to Northern California.
TDS🤣
For Fukushima radiation to be the cause, tens of thousands of independent people would have to be complicit or silent. That includes oceanographers, marine biologists, university labs, state and federal agencies, international monitoring programs, commercial fisheries scientists, and environmental NGOs across multiple countries. They all sample seawater, kelp, fish, and sediments. Their data are public, cross checked, and routinely replicated.
Radiation from Fukushima was measured crossing the Pacific, but at trace levels far below biological harm. Kelp is a known bioaccumulator. If radiation were killing kelp, it would be obvious in tissue samples. It was not.
The kelp collapse timeline matches heatwaves, sea star wasting disease, and uncontrolled purple urchin grazing. Those mechanisms are directly observed in the field. Radiation damage is not.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. This one has none, and it requires a global scientific cover up to even be plausible.
That is by far the dumbest fucking thing I’ve read all week. Totally fucking demented.
In 2012 I actually carried out a project checking the Klamath River fall run Chinook Salmon for any radio isotopes specific to the Fukushima Daichi accident. Cesium 134 and Strontium 90. I sampled 50 fish over four weeks time and the testing was carried out by Stony Brook University. There was no radiation discovered other than background radiation, which is now found in everything in the Pacific from nuclear weapons testing back in the 50s.
There is nothing so common as a “rare buckwheat”. California has over 120 species. It is a well known tool for stopping development.
Northern Mendocino has its own “rare buckwheat”, Red Mountain Buckwheat. It is located on Red mountain, a very rich deposit of Nickel, copper silver and gold.
And SoHum, not to be out-done, has its own “Rare Buckwheat”, discovered by our beloved Man Who Walks in the Woods, a much admired local environmentalist. It may have had something to do with logging. (Woods is now deceased)
AI
“The buckwheat species linked to “Bear Butte” and Southern Humboldt is likely Bear Valley Buckwheat (Eriogonum ursinum)”
AI Overview:
“There isn’t a single number for rare US buckwheat species, but out of about 250-255 wild buckwheat species (genus Eriogonum) in North America, roughly one-third are considered uncommon or rare, with 14 taxa listed as endangered, threatened, or candidates for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Many of these are endemic to specific soils (edaphic endemics) or highly restricted habitats, especially in the American West, with California alone having over 120 species.”
In most places buckwheat is considered to be a weed. It is prolific and invasive.
“Invasive” is not a word used for a plant natively growing in its native range. Bad AI
in·va·sive
/inˈvāsiv/
adjective
(especially of plants or a disease) Tending to spread prolifically and undesirably or harmfully.
So they look for was to halt or stop development of any kind anyway they can. Right?
I am pleased that the fish and game commission has extended the red abalone closure for another ten years. The red abalone is almost gone and no collecting at this point is good. I, for one don’t want to see these abalone completely wiped out. Hopefully someday down the road they will have made a good come back and we will be able to collect again. To collect them now would surely wipe them completely out.
Red abalone is thriving. The numbers are huge. Two weeks ago, a poacher was rock picking red abalone. He had 15 in his cache. When ab fishing was allowed, there were none to rock pick, because numbers were falling.
Link to the study that shows their numbers are thriving?
I’ve seen them with my own eyes. I haven’t been to the Mendocino Coast for fishing or diving since 2016 and that is because abalone diving was closed. I have still been in the water from shelter Cove north to Crescent city fishing from boats and spearfishing, and in the last Several years I have seen as many or more abalone as there were before the fishery was closed. feel free to link my comment as a study.
The link to the study is get off your ass and in the water to see for yourself