I finally had some time at home to sit down and look over the proposals. From what I understand, they are proposing a SMR (State Marine Reserve) from Coal Oil Point, east, to the Goleta Pier. At the boundary of the SMR, at Coal Oil Point, they are proposing a SMCA (State Marine Conservation Area) west, up to Naples. The conservation areas are kind of iffy. I'll need to talk to some people, but it sounds to me like catch and release might be allowed in those areas. The definition on the DFG website said certain recreational and commercial use is allowed, so we might have a good chance of convincing the committee to allow catch and release, if it comes down to that. Or we could probably push for tighter slot limts in that area. I think the most feasible approach would be to move the boundary of the SMR west, to campus point. And then either extend the SMCA west 1/2 mile, or extend the SMR west 1/4 mile past Coal Oil Point (this might get confusing for enforcement, however). There is also a SMP (state marine park) being proposed in the Rincon/Carp area. We don't need to worry about that too much because it will basically only effect the commercials.

So, IMO the most desirable outcome (taking feasibility into consideration...) would be a SMR from Campus Point, west, to the already designated boundary at Coal Oil Point. Then, a SMCA from Campus Point, west to 1/2 mile west of the currently designated boundary. In the SMCA, the halibut limit would be 3, wsb 2 and bass 5. I personally don't care about rockfish in any of these areas. As far as I'm concerned, you can have no take on rockfish in those areas, but Jason might not be too happy with that...

Obviously, the most ideal concept would be to abolish the whole MLPA deal, but that's not going to happen unless this "freedom to fish" Bill passes, and it rules out this piece of legislature. But, that's out of my control, so I'm not going to take that into consideration.

Again taking feasibility into account, but this time stretching it a little, I'd like to see no take on bass, 4 fish limit on halibut, and 3 fish limit on wsb within the SMCA. You can still fish for bass, but catch and release is mandatory (man, wouldn't that be sweet...).

I'm still kicking around a few ideas, and I've got a ton of other scenarios lined up in my head, but it's too much to type. Let me give a quick tip for you guys just getting into this type of process. Don't be drastic. If you walk into a meeting, pushing for no reserves at all, and no conservation areas, yada yada, it's not gonna fly. You have to work with the folks. I agree, it's BS, but it's too late to change now. What I would suggest is to make it so that it has the least amount of impact as possible. IMO, the SMR on Goleta Beach is out of line. West of campus point, I can deal with. I don't know how this committee is going to handle moving boundaries and such, and I also don't know if our input will even be considered, or if we'll have a voice on the DFG committee through which we can express our thoughts. I haven't heard anything along those lines, so again I'll have to talk to some people about that. If there is no way we have a direct voice being expressed to the committee, by a representative, I would expect RFA or UA to take some type of legal action. This is a big deal, it's effecting the whole state, and if no fisherman can be represented besides public comment periods (which some believe have no real effect on the outcome, and are only required in the process), the $hit's gonna hit the fan.
-Brian