Harvest Refugia Supported

Dale,

Just wanted you to know that I was really pleased to see your call for divers to support the concept of harvest refugia in the recent issue of CDN.
As you may know, some of my diving and scientific research over my 33 years on Catalina has been focused on kelp forest ecosystems and appropriate criteria for designating marine reserves based on ecosystem dynamics, rather than just access for recreational or educational use as has been done here in the past.

I just returned from 10+ weeks backpacking and diving SE Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific. It was my first time in coral reef ecosystems, but it won’t be my last, as I get older and less tolerant of the winter waters here!

I recently read some research by Stephen Palumbi of Harvard. His findings with respect to the molecular genetics of coral reef shrimp in Indonesia suggest that, despite having planktonic larvae, the offspring tend to settle closer to the parent stock than would be assumed based on planktonic larval duration and current speeds. He pointed out the relevance of this genetic research in designing marine reserves. So many issues to consider.

I, for one, would fully support the CINMS proposal for closing off 50 percent of the northern islands and have written scientific papers suggesting closures around Catalina which could amount to 20-30+ percent based on ecosystem dynamics. Of course, these are not popular positions given multi-use considerations, but when viewed within the context of the entire statement, I think they make sense... at least until the Resources Agency redefines the overall state reserve network.

Also wanted to say how much I enjoy reading CDN. Catalina is somewhat socially isolating and it keeps me up-to-date on regional events in the dive community.

Sincerely,
Bill Bushing
formerly V.P., Catalina Conservancy

Soupfin Sharks Back in San Diego

California Diving News:

I’m a very avid San Diego diver and we had large numbers of female soupfins in the kelp down here last year. In fact, on June 24th and 25th last year, a buddy and I got literally about 200 soupfin instances (don’t know how many unique individuals) on video. They were some of the best dives I’ve ever had in Southern California. Each day we spent about an hour surrounded by soupfins. The most we counted at any one time was 9. While my buddy was getting 1 or 2 or 3 of them on film, I’d be looking at the four others in view that he wasn’t getting!

They’re back again this year. People have been seeing them for about a month now. I myself saw them last Sunday - maybe 40 or 50 instances, with the most seen at one time being 7. It’s a real pleasure and I’m glad that they’ve decided to start visiting Southern California.

John H. Moore
via email

Jim Church Praises SCUBA Show

To all:

Kim and Dale Sheckler did it again!!!

Their organization and management of the SCUBA Show 2001, at the Long Beach Convention Center, was fantastic. The Shecklers and their many volunteers did a fantastic job of juggling and assembling thousands of details to produce a fantastic show. My hat is off to them.

Jim Church
www.jimchurchphoto.com
Live-aboard Underwater Photo Courses

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