Fish and Wildlife Closes Nearshore Groundfish Fishery in Mendocino, San Francisco and Central Management Areas

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced that as of 12:01 a.m. Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, the 50-fathom Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA) boundary line for the Mendocino Groundfish Management Area (GMA) (Cape Mendocino to Point Arena), San Francisco GMA (Point Arena to Pigeon Point) and Central GMA (Pigeon Point to Point Conception), will take effect.

In these GMAs, recreational boat-based groundfish fishing will be ‘offshore only’ and allowed only seaward (away from land) of the 50-fathom boundary line, defined by straight lines connecting waypoints (50 CFR Part 660, Subpart G). Shelf rockfish, slope rockfish and lingcod may be taken seaward of the 50-fathom boundary line, while it will be unlawful to take or possess nearshore rockfish as defined in Title 14, Section 1.91(a)(1), cabezon or greenlings at any depth. In the Southern GMA from Pt. Conception to the U.S.-Mexico border, these same ‘offshore only’ rules will take effect as originally planned on Sept. 16.

During the ‘offshore only’ fishery, fishing gear shall not be deployed shoreward of the 50-fathom RCA boundary line when shelf rockfish, slope rockfish or lingcod are possessed onboard the vessel, however vessels may transit shoreward of the 50-fathom RCA boundary line with these species in possession if no gear is deployed. Additionally, vessels fishing in the adjacent Southern GMA and transiting back to the Central GMA must adhere to the ‘offshore only’ provisions effective in the Central GMA and shall not return with nearshore species aboard. These changes do not apply to shore-based anglers or divers.

CDFW is carefully monitoring the harvest of quillback rockfish from both the recreational and commercial fisheries throughout the state and has taken a series of steps in an effort to reduce quillback rockfish mortality. On Aug. 7, retention of quillback rockfish was prohibited statewide, followed by closure of the recreational nearshore fishery in the Northern GMA, on Aug. 21. Newly available recreational data from the Mendocino, San Francisco and Central GMAs for the second week of August showed double the estimated recreational take and indicated the 2023 quillback rockfish harvest limit specified in federal regulations has been exceeded. This additional in-season action authorized by Title 14, Section 27.20 (e) to adjust the fishing depth is necessary to prevent further overage.

CDFW urges anglers to use best fishing practices to reduce impacts to quillback rockfish and other prohibited groundfish species. These include reducing mortality when releasing fish by utilizing a descending device (PDF) and relocating to different fishing grounds or switching targets if quillback rockfish or other prohibited species are encountered. CDFW recommends reviewing the Summary of Recreational Groundfish Fishing Regulations page before each trip to ensure anglers are up to date on the most recent groundfish regulations, including a complete list of authorized species.

For details regarding the quillback population estimates and how these changes were developed, please see CDFW’s Quillback Rockfish In-Season Informational Briefing (PDF). For information on all groundfish regulations visit CDFW’s Marine Region Groundfish page.

Pursuant to California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 27.20(e), when federal harvest limits are exceeded or projected to be exceeded, CDFW has authority to make in-season changes, including adjustments to bag and sub-bag limits, seasons and depths.

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Media contacts:
James Phillips, CDFW Marine Region, (707) 576-2893
Jordan Traverso, CDFW Communications, (916) 212-7352

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Gas prices at Schlafer’s Auto Body & Repair in the tiny town of Mendocino in Mendocino County on March 8. [Photo from Galen Bach cropped and contrasted]

The seaside town of Mendocino has a single gas station called Schlafer’s Auto Body & Repair. Yesterday, coastal resident Galen Bach took a picture of the gas pump and thought it worthy of posting on social media. For a regular price of gasoline, a customer of Schlafer’s would pay $8.45, which is just shy of double the national average of $4.25, and 42% more expensive than the average gallon of gas in California.

Patrick De Haan, the Head of GasBuddy.com’s Petroleum analysis team, told us that the price per gallon at Schlafer’s has “a very strong likelihood that this is the most expensive station in America.” De Haan reviewed GasBuddy’s records of current gas prices across the United States, and he told us, “I can’t find any more expensive at the present moment.”

Last summer Schlafer’s made national news for officially being considered the most expensive fuel in the country, at that point charging $6.73 for a gallon of gas. Owner Judith Schlafer told SF Gate’s Freda Moon after she learned their station was currently the most expensive in the country, “It has to be that way, or I’d be out of business.”

Galen Bach, according to him the “best chimney sweep ever”, told us he had to raise his service prices across the board on the coast. He is paying more for parts, gas, and the general cost of living. He remembered buying six bags of groceries recently at Mendocino’s Harvest Market and paying $455.

Currently, the North Coast of California has one of the most expensive gasoline markets, as per AAA’s County Gas Prices map.

The map provides a county-by-county breakdown of the average cost of a gallon of gas. Coming in the first place on the North Coast is Humboldt County at $5.70, second Del Norte at $5.64, third is Sonoma at $5.57, fourth is Trinity at $5.41, the fifth is Lake at $5.43, and coming in sixth for the cheapest gas currently on the North Coast is Mendocino County at $5.35. Worth noting, it looks like Mono County, east of the Sierra Nevada mountains has the state’s highest gas prices at $6.02.

It was just yesterday that California’s average gas price crept above $5 per gallon for the first time in history. DeHaan told the SFGATE yesterday that he could see California’s average gallon of gas costing $6 and a growing number of gas stations charging $8 or more.

This dramatic rise in gas prices is the result of a multitude of forces converging including the deliberate dialing back of domestic oil production in 2019, sanctions against Iran and Venezuela decreasing worldwide supply, the pandemic’s heightened demand for petroleum-based products such as medical plastics, the recent sanctions levied against Russia, and finally a number of taxes specific to the state of California.

Bach told us that when he posted the photograph of gas prices in Mendocino, a heated political debate erupted on his Facebook profile with many Trump voters blaming Biden for the gas prices.

Putting aside politics, the dramatic rise in gas prices has got this father of three thinking about money in a completely different light. With these prices, Bach said, “I have three kids I’m raising. It’s not easy at all.”

UPDATE: And today the price went up at Schlafer’s Auto Body & Repair…

The post Mendocino Coast Gasoline Station Is the ‘Most Costly in America’ Charging $8.45 Per Gallon appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Gas prices at Schlafer’s Auto Body & Repair in the tiny town of Mendocino in Mendocino County on March 8. [Photo from Galen Bach cropped and contrasted]

The seaside town of Mendocino has a single gas station called Schlafer’s Auto Body & Repair. Yesterday, coastal resident Galen Bach took a picture of the gas pump and thought it worthy of posting on social media. For a regular price of gasoline, a customer of Schlafer’s would pay $8.45, which is just shy of double the national average of $4.25, and 42% more expensive than the average gallon of gas in California.

Patrick De Haan, the Head of GasBuddy.com’s Petroleum analysis team, told us that the price per gallon at Schlafer’s has “a very strong likelihood that this is the most expensive station in America.” De Haan reviewed GasBuddy’s records of current gas prices across the United States, and he told us, “I can’t find any more expensive at the present moment.”

Last summer Schlafer’s made national news for officially being considered the most expensive fuel in the country, at that point charging $6.73 for a gallon of gas. Owner Judith Schlafer told SF Gate’s Freda Moon after she learned their station was currently the most expensive in the country, “It has to be that way, or I’d be out of business.”

Galen Bach, according to him the “best chimney sweep ever”, told us he had to raise his service prices across the board on the coast. He is paying more for parts, gas, and the general cost of living. He remembered buying six bags of groceries recently at Mendocino’s Harvest Market and paying $455.

Currently, the North Coast of California has one of the most expensive gasoline markets, as per AAA’s County Gas Prices map.

The map provides a county-by-county breakdown of the average cost of a gallon of gas. Coming in the first place on the North Coast is Humboldt County at $5.70, second Del Norte at $5.64, third is Sonoma at $5.57, fourth is Trinity at $5.41, the fifth is Lake at $5.43, and coming in sixth for the cheapest gas currently on the North Coast is Mendocino County at $5.35. Worth noting, it looks like Mono County, east of the Sierra Nevada mountains has the state’s highest gas prices at $6.02.

It was just yesterday that California’s average gas price crept above $5 per gallon for the first time in history. DeHaan told the SFGATE yesterday that he could see California’s average gallon of gas costing $6 and a growing number of gas stations charging $8 or more.

This dramatic rise in gas prices is the result of a multitude of forces converging including the deliberate dialing back of domestic oil production in 2019, sanctions against Iran and Venezuela decreasing worldwide supply, the pandemic’s heightened demand for petroleum-based products such as medical plastics, the recent sanctions levied against Russia, and finally a number of taxes specific to the state of California.

Bach told us that when he posted the photograph of gas prices in Mendocino, a heated political debate erupted on his Facebook profile with many Trump voters blaming Biden for the gas prices.

Putting aside politics, the dramatic rise in gas prices has got this father of three thinking about money in a completely different light. With these prices, Bach said, “I have three kids I’m raising. It’s not easy at all.”

The post Mendocino Coast Fuel Station Is the ‘Most Costly in America’ Charging $8.45 Per Gallon – Redheaded Blackbelt appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

MENDOCINO (AP) – Tourists flock to the seaside town of Mendocino by the thousands for its Victorian homes and cliff walkways, but visitors this summer will also find public portable toilets and signs on picket fences asking, “Severe drought. Please save water. “

Hotels closed their lobby toilets and residents stopped watering their gardens in the misty outpost about 150 miles north of San Francisco after two years of little rain drained many of the wells Mendocino depends on for drinking water.

Mendocino’s water problems were exacerbated in recent weeks when the town of Fort Bragg a few miles further north – its main reserve water supplier – notified officials that its drinking water reserves had also plummeted after the Noyo River reached its lowest flow in decades.

“This is a real emergency,” said Ryan Rhoades, superintendent of the Mendocino City Community Services District, who helps manage the water in the city’s aquifer.

Eric Hillesland and his wife would normally not have to buy water until the end of July or August to supply the Alegria Inn, their 10-room bed and breakfast right on the ocean. But the estate’s well began pumping little water earlier in the year, and by February they were ordering 3,500 gallons (13,250 liters) a week.

Then the couple stopped watering the gardens and switched from glass to paper plates to serve welcome cookies. You plan to use microfiber sheets that use less water to wash.

“We also ask our guests to be aware of the severity of our water shortage and not to take the long showers they are used to at home,” said Hillesland.

Mendocino relies on groundwater, accessible through a network of around 400 private wells, many of which were hand dug when the former mill town was founded in the 1850s. Local residents and business owners keep their water in storage tanks, including some on historic redwood water towers.

Signs warn visitors of the severe drought in Mendocino on Wednesday 4th August 2021. Tourists flock to the quaint seaside town of Mendocino for its Victorian homes and cliff walkways, but visitors will also find portable public toilets and dozens of picket fences this summer announcing the quaint Northern California hamlet: “Severe drought, please save water.” (AP Photo / Haven Daley)

The city has about 1,000 residents, but its economy depends on about 2,000 people visiting daily during the high season from May to October, Rhoades said.

Traditionally, companies had to fetch water in autumn. But after a second dry winter, many had to order much earlier than before.

Due to the pandemic and stay-at-home orders, there were few visitors last year when townspeople noticed their fountains were producing less. The Bay Area and Sacramento weekend getaway is now teeming with guests.

This has forced local residents and business owners to find sources of drinking water further away, which has doubled the price of water. Some restaurants are reducing their opening hours to save costs.

In February, Hillesland paid $ 300 for a delivery of 3,500 gallons (13,250 liters). Now it costs $ 600.

If things get worse and they need to start closing rooms, “then we are in a situation like the beginning of the pandemic – no income but still plenty of mortgages and insurance,” he said.

Many longer-term solutions are being considered, including providing water by barge, plane, and train, and adding community storage tanks up to 500,000 gallons (1.9 million liters), with the U.S. National Guard or Army Corps of engineers are being asked to set up a mobile desalination plant and even mist detection. But all of them are expensive, and the city needs state and federal government support, Rhoades said.

A company that had developed a new technology to detect moisture in fog suggested setting up a free test site in Mendocino and selling the water to the community. However, Rhoades said the infrastructure would detract from the city’s scenic views and getting a permit would be a challenge. A desalination plant would face similar licensing and environmental hurdles.

“Transporting treated water from an inland source could be a faster solution, even if it is expensive,” he said.

Robert Pinoli, president of the Mendocino Railway, which operates the historic Skunk Train, said he was ready to help. The Willits train has been traveling through redwood forests and river canyons to Fort Bragg since 1885.

Pinoli said he could quickly find tank cars, attach them to the locomotive, and deliver up to 200,000 gallons (757,000 liters) per trip. He identified a source for tank trucks in 2015 when Fort Bragg was experiencing a water shortage and was considering buying inland water to transport it to the coast. Officials scratched these plans after it rained.

He said that if Willits decides to sell his water and Fort Bragg chooses to buy it, “we will become a logical vehicle for moving water on a fairly large scale.”

Willits officials recently decided against selling their water to the parched city.

Right now, Mendocino residents rely on people like Brian Clark, who sells water from his well outside of town and transports it by truck. Clark said he couldn’t keep up with demand.

“I really hide from the phone because I get a lot more calls than I have water and I hear from people I have never met, never heard from, and who I cannot help,” he said.

Clark, a longtime resident, said Mendocino hadn’t had such water retention issues since the 1970s, when California experienced the worst drought ever.

District officials’ short-term solutions include waiving the permit requirements for storage tanks that can hold up to 5,000 gallons (18,900 liters) and identifying wells with excess water near Mendocino. Officials are also asking the state to help fund the larger private tanks, Rhoades said.

“Now, while their wells are reasonably productive, I want residents to be able to store more water to survive the next four months. And when you have to buy water, you get the best bang for your buck, ”he said.

© Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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