April 2, 2002

By MICHAEL COIT THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

FORT ROSS

Glassy waters greeted divers going out on opening day of abalone season around the reef south of Fort Ross State Historic Park, where swirling swells often make for treacherous conditions.

Also benefiting from Monday's very low tide, divers swept in for the prized mollusks, needing just minutes in some instances to pry legal catches from underwater rocks.

"There's practically no swell. Those were just little ripples coming in there," said Chris McIlroy, a Santa Rosa diver who walked out of the reef's waters with two abalone. "On a day like this, when it's flat, you can really get in there."

While conditions were ideal, divers faced new limits on how many abalone they could take.

Yet several divers said they supported lowering the daily abalone limit from four to three and the seasonal limit from 100 to 24.

"I think that's a good idea to protect the resource. If you don't, you won't have any soon," said Don Popp of Petaluma.

The 77-year-old diver took two abalone and would have had a third if he hadn't tired. "That other big one got away. I fought with that guy for half and hour."

Enthusiasm for opening day was evident as cars and trucks brimming with divers packed parking lots and other areas along the coast north of Jenner, a prime abalone region on the North Coast.

Watching over opening day were about 10 California Department of Fish and Game wardens. The contingent was double the number of wardens who typically patrol the coast of Marin, Sonoma and southern Mendocino counties.

"Obviously there's a lot more people than we can watch. That's why we move around to different areas and try to hit as many as we can," said Fish and Game Lt. Steve Riske.

Wardens wrote citations for undersized abalone, divers exceeding limits by taking abalone for others, and not completing abalone report cards.

"That's why we're out here," Riske said.

The state Department of Fish and Game lowered the abalone limit beginning this season to prevent overfishing. The move follows a 1997 state law that prohibits sport fishing south of the Golden Gate.

The sport fishing season runs through November, with a July closure during abalone breeding season.

Commercial fishing for abalone has long been banned.

The sport in abalone fishing comes from swimming and searching through churning, murky waters to spot and snag mollusks that cling to rocks, often in hard to reach crevices.

"It's alien and cold," said Curtis Degler, a Santa Rosa diver and also a director for the Sonoma County Abalone Network, which supports efforts to regulate the resource.

"Visibility in the water may be two feet to five feet. It's like a fog and then suddenly you're at the bottom. Suddenly it lightens up a bit," Degler explained.

"Then you have to rapidly identify your prey and hope you can get it off," added Bill Levine, a Sacramento diver who joined Degler on Monday.

The pair of diving buddies went into 20 and 30 feet of water for abalone, considerably deeper than most divers, because they enjoy a challenging dive as much as a search for abalone.

Many divers, none of whom are allowed to be aided by air tanks, have years and sometimes decades of experience fishing for abalone.

John Klemenok, of Petaluma, has been fishing for abalone on the North Coast for more than 40 years. Now 64, he needed only a half hour or so Monday to come away with two.

"You just kind of take your time and we enjoyed beautiful conditions. This time of year you never know," he said.

Despite the relatively calm conditions, there were enough divers in the water to bring out six state park lifeguards, triple the normal amount for the region from Jenner north to Sea Ranch.

There have been 16 drownings of abalone divers the past six years, including two last year, in that region. In many instances, divers never released their weighted belts that help them maneuver in the water, according to state park lifeguards.

"It happens all too frequently," said Mark James, one of the lifeguards looking over divers Monday.

No drownings or major rescues were reported Monday.

"We don't want busy days. We want to stay dry," James said.

You can reach Staff Writer Michael Coit at 521-5470 or mcoit@pressdemocrat.com.