Barbary Coast Dive Club Newsletter

News and Events

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Next Dive Club Outing is the Elephant Seal Walk at Ana Nuevo March 6th

then ...

Opening Of Abalone Season at the Mendocino Cabin

April 8th and 9th

Call Carol for Reservations

Elliot Bay and Shilshole Get Cleaned Up
People for Puget Sound and the Northwest Strait Commission have begun a major effort to clean up the waters around Seattle. Derelict fishing gear is lethal to fish, shellfish, birds and marine mammals; these nets, lines and crab traps have littered the floor of the Puget Sound since the 1970s. The most recent project has removed 36 derelict gillnets and 58 derelict crab traps from the waters surrounding Shilshole Bay, including Jefferson Head and Elliot Bay, and radar revealed 187 more crab traps in Shilshole Bay and Port Madison. To report derelict fishing gear, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has a hotline at 800-477-6224. Divers are warned to not try removing derelict gear due to the risk of entanglement.

Recall: Cressi-sub Buoyancy Compensators
Cressi-sub, in cooperation with the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, is advising Consumers to stop using Cressi-sub Buoyancy Compensators with model numbers J107, J113, J115, J119 (the numbers appear on the top right hand corner of the unit on the shoulder), immediately unless otherwise instructed. Slow leakage from the shoulder exhaust caused by expansion of an internal cable housing may result in slow deflation. This could result in unexpected buoyancy problems posing a potential risk to the safety of the diver. Although no incidents have been reported the company is nonetheless issuing a product recall for the above model numbers.

Cayman Resort Fighting To Preserve Endangered Groupers
Little Cayman Beach Resort is doing everything in its power to help the government and conservation scientists save the seriously endangered Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) and like species...From volunteering divemasters, to donating enriched air (Nitrox) to the research divers and removing grouper from their menu, the Gold Palm PADI resort wants the public to be aware of the grouper's plight. Even their guests will get into the act during the Grouper spawning season this winter, by recording species seen on the reef during their dives.

Grouper aggregations and spawning events are a magical experience. Each winter, for a few days each month, the fish gather an hour before sunset and take advantage of the full moon's effects. Crystalline eggs glitter as they rain down from the surface through clouds of sperm, and the cycle is begun once again. It is a unique display of beauty that leaves a permanent mark on those who are lucky enough to witness it.

Groupers will migrate over huge distances to join these aggregations. One Nassau grouper traveled 240 km. to spawn. Sadly, the clock-like timing of spawning activities makes groupers susceptible to over fishing. The largest, most mature fish are often caught. This further limits potential population growth through the removal of mature females, leaving behind the young females that release fewer eggs for fertilization.

Divers and other concerned citizens have lobbied for increased protection of groupers. As a result, in December 2003, legislation was passed to help protect grouper spawning aggregations throughout the Cayman Islands. This summer the American fisheries officials placed a ban on all commercial fishing of a number of grouper species, including the Nassau grouper.