To help give a boost to the struggling abalone population on California’s north coast, divers are preparing to harvest purple sea urchins this Saturday near Mendocino.
Organized by the Waterman’s Alliance, all volunteers interested in helping out are welcome to attend. The Urchin Removal Event is slated for Saturday, March 9.
Here’s the event update from the Waterman’s Alliance Facebook page:
“Conditions for Saturday look decent with 4-6 foot NW swell and light wind, no rain. Sunday, on the other hand, is 12 foot swells and windy. Van Damme State park is closed at this time, the campground and the parking lot. They expect to open the parking lot Thursday and the campground when the flooding stops and trees stop falling so I’ve added Caspar Beach as an alternate to our permit for that weekend. I’ve also called ahead and let them know that some people may be changing their camping arrangements from Van Damme to Caspar. Caspar is open and running with no issues.”
“At this time we will have to plan to have the urchin removal on Saturday only. If the parking lot at Van Damme is open we will meet there at 8am Saturday morning. If the parking lot at Van Damme is closed we will meet at 8am at Caspar for the dive briefing. Remember that if you didn’t give us your CADFW GO ID number at the January event you will need to bring your fishing license.”
The Watermen’s Alliance represents over 1,000 individual divers through their member clubs. They advocate for clean, productive and sustainable fisheries and foster communication within their membership for the betterment of the sport of spearfishing.
For more information, visit the Waterman’s Alliance Facebook Group page here.