Ken, it was a complete cluster. The call was quickly filled, and three of the commissioners could not even get in to get a quorum. It quickly devolved to some real idiots refusing to mute their microphones for snotty one-liners, that then further unraveled into racial epithets and spouting polarized political nonsense and hate speech. Disgusting representation of humanity, and I weep for our species. Thus, the meeting was "postponed."
In brief response to Rusty, I agree that closing a place like a pier, despite the impact on subsistence anglers, may be necessary to maintain social distancing. I further agree with the notion that postponing the Eastern Sierra Trout opener, for example, is a prudent decision considering the number of people who travel from afar and could presumably bring disease with them, quickly over-burdening the limited health care facilities in the greater Owens Valley (Mammoth hospital, for example, only has four ventilators.)
However, closing all angling opportunities, even those that are implicitly self-distancing: kayak fishing, boat fishing, some surf fishing and rock hopping, quiet rural streams or lakes-- these are, in my opinion, matters of enforcement ease, not safety. Passing someone on a launch ramp for a few seconds does not align with current understanding of exposure risk (close proximity for a sustained period of time.)
Probably pointless for us to debate the matter, as the writing is on the wall. Don't mind me Rusty, I'm just cranky
... a middle school principal technically on Spring Break during Emergency Distance Learning. Concomitantly, there are, unfortunately, plenty of brave macho outdoorsmen who laugh in the face of this, use heading to the outdoords as an excuse to get drunk and run amok, and effectively ruin it for anyone with the synaptic ability to self-regulate his behavior. Oh well.
In any event, I encourage everyone to read through this document from the meeting:
http://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=178208&inline
It is a 73 page document, so let me give you some TL;DR highlights:
* (from the document... unfortunately, this is a government agency, so even something as basic as page numbering seems to have eluded them)
The proposed regulations could result in a spectrum of potential fiscal impacts resulting from actions taken by the director, in consultation with the Commission president, to delay, suspend, or otherwise restrict inland and marine sport fisheries in response to the threat to public health posed by the COVID-19 virus. Given the multiple possible combinations of delays by location and duration of emergency actions that could be taken, the anticipated impacts are difficult to quantify. In order to illustrate the relative magnitude of the attendant impacts, three potential scenarios are presented:
A) Restrictions or suspended opportunities over limited areas resulting in an approximately 25 percent reduction in fishing opportunities;
B) More extensive restrictions or suspended opportunities over longer periods of time resulting in an approximately 50 percent reduction in fishing opportunities; and
C) Most restrictive scenario of statewide restrictions or suspended opportunities through the entire emergency period from April to May 31, 2020 or a 100 percent reduction in fishing opportunity.
* This seems largely focused on delaying/postponing Eastern Sierra trout fishing in small communities with limited health care resources
* CDFW recognizes the economic impact of this, including the complementary revenue streams like food, hotels, fuel, tourism, entertainment, etc.
* The proposals are grounded in Governor Newsom's emergency declaration; proposals to "close fishing" through May 31, 2020 (and cancel/postpone seasons such as salmon and groundfish) are designed to support #SaferAtHome.
* I found no mention of pier anglers: recreational, subsistence, or otherwise... proving again that one of the largest angler groups in California has ZERO representation in these proceedings. Their piers are already closed-- so they can go line up outside a food bank and breathe each other's vapors, but they are, per state, county, and local officials, incapable of social distancing on piers. Again, oh well, right?
Anyway, there you go.
