Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Lobster season log, day 1

Likely to be good season

Laden with lobster traps off  Point Loma, ~6 a.m. on October 6, 2015
Laden with lobster traps off Point Loma, ~6 a.m. on October 6, 2015

The first Wednesday in October (October 7 this year) marks the opening day of the commercial lobster season in California. In the weeks and months prior, permit holders are busy building traps, mending lines, and getting their boats ship-shape.

As the season nears, activity builds to a crescendo, culminating on the Tuesday before the opener, Bait Day. This is the first day lobster traps may legally hold bait. A week prior to the opener, traps may be set but without bait and the doors must be wired open. According to the Fish and Wildlife website, the average permit-holder will work between 300 and 700 traps. Depending on the size of the boat, it takes many trips to set all the traps in place.

On bait day, every trap is hauled, filled with bait, and set. It makes for a long, hard day for captain and crew usually lasting between 12 to 14 hours. This year, off of San Diego, the ocean conditions were calm with a 1–2 foot south swell and westerly winds of 8 to 10 knots. Air temperatures were in the 70s and it was sunny. A pleasant day.

Sponsored
Sponsored

According to the Department of Fish and Wildlife website, there are currently 181 lobster operator permits in the state. 2014 saw 52 lobster permit holders make landings in San Diego County. Total landings for 2014 for the San Diego area were 272,683 pounds of lobster. In contrast, the Santa Barbara area saw 399,259 pounds landed.

State biologists are thinking that the warmer ocean temps we are experiencing statewide will increase this season’s catch because the lobsters will be more active. At least one local fisherman has seen an increase of nearly 80 pounds over last year’s first pull.

Last week, a sport diver in Long Beach reported catching a green spiny lobster, Panulirus gracilis, which are usually found in the warmer waters of southern Baja and southward to Peru. One was also taken last year in San Diego.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Trump names local supporter new Border Czar

Another Brick (Suit) in the Wall
Next Article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?
Laden with lobster traps off  Point Loma, ~6 a.m. on October 6, 2015
Laden with lobster traps off Point Loma, ~6 a.m. on October 6, 2015

The first Wednesday in October (October 7 this year) marks the opening day of the commercial lobster season in California. In the weeks and months prior, permit holders are busy building traps, mending lines, and getting their boats ship-shape.

As the season nears, activity builds to a crescendo, culminating on the Tuesday before the opener, Bait Day. This is the first day lobster traps may legally hold bait. A week prior to the opener, traps may be set but without bait and the doors must be wired open. According to the Fish and Wildlife website, the average permit-holder will work between 300 and 700 traps. Depending on the size of the boat, it takes many trips to set all the traps in place.

On bait day, every trap is hauled, filled with bait, and set. It makes for a long, hard day for captain and crew usually lasting between 12 to 14 hours. This year, off of San Diego, the ocean conditions were calm with a 1–2 foot south swell and westerly winds of 8 to 10 knots. Air temperatures were in the 70s and it was sunny. A pleasant day.

Sponsored
Sponsored

According to the Department of Fish and Wildlife website, there are currently 181 lobster operator permits in the state. 2014 saw 52 lobster permit holders make landings in San Diego County. Total landings for 2014 for the San Diego area were 272,683 pounds of lobster. In contrast, the Santa Barbara area saw 399,259 pounds landed.

State biologists are thinking that the warmer ocean temps we are experiencing statewide will increase this season’s catch because the lobsters will be more active. At least one local fisherman has seen an increase of nearly 80 pounds over last year’s first pull.

Last week, a sport diver in Long Beach reported catching a green spiny lobster, Panulirus gracilis, which are usually found in the warmer waters of southern Baja and southward to Peru. One was also taken last year in San Diego.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tigers In Cairo owes its existence to Craigslist

But it owes its name to a Cure tune and a tattoo
Next Article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader