What does a poacher look like?

This family of poachers was found at Abalone Cove on Sunday February 8, 2009. They are dressed as fishermen with high boots, fatigue pants, and hats to cover their faces. They were well prepared with equipment to scour the rocks and had several coolers to carry out the sea life that they captured. What they are doing here is trying to pry an octopus out from under his rock. They used a metal rake-like tool to do this and as you can see from the photo below, there were not being very careful about handling the animal.

They knew we were taking pictures of them and kept their faces turned away. We saw them put at least one octopus and one brittlestar into their cooler before leaving the cove. We called the guard at the gate, who called the California Fish and Game, but we suspect these poachers got away. They were followed out of the preserve, but were lost on the path up the cliff.

The sad thing is that they are teaching their young son criminal behavior, too.

Sanctuaries

Citizens Against Poachers have created this site to help deter the selfish and unthinking people who abuse the animals in the tidal pools. The tidal pools should be a sanctuary for all the life forms that live there. It is hard enough for these other life forms to put up with the rough ocean, the high and low tide which exposes them to the hot sun, and people walking over their homes. The tide pools in these preserves are a classroom for thousands of children and adults who come to these areas to learn about what wonderful things that live in our area’s tide pools.

Yet some unthinking people and fishermen come there illegally and take and kill the octopus, sponges, limpets, shells, sea stars and anything that they can find. Do you know that an octopus is a very intelligent animal? Octopuses are highly intelligent, probably the most intelligent of any of the invertebrates, with their intelligence supposedly comparable to that of the average housecat.

This blog site is a place where law-abiding citizens can display the pictures they take of the lawbreakers. We want to educate people to leave the tide pools as they are and teach people to love the other life forms that share our planet. If we work together we can stop these law breakers. Your help is needed. If you see someone taking plants or animals from the tide pools, don't confront them. But do take their picture! We won't publish the photos on this blog without blocking out the faces, but we can send them to the authorities as is, which will greatly help them in their efforts.

Please send photos, reports, and your ideas to:

e-mail address:
stoppoachers@gmail.com

Besides the tidepools we all need to protect the native plants, birds, insects, reptiles, and native animals—all life forms in our area. So on this blog, we will include information about the rules and regulations for our area parks and preserves and tell you where to go if you find an injured bird or animal, etc.

Let's preserve our beautiful tide pools, coastline, and nature reserves for our children's children to enjoy.

Introduction

The purpose of this site is to educate the public about our open spaces and to work together to protect the plants, animals, birds, insects, sea life and all the other life forms that share this world with us. We all need to work together to stop poachers and other unthinking people who do not respect this wonderful area and to teach them to change their habits and to appreciate what we are so privileged to have near us.

Tide Pools:
Abalone Cove and Pt. Fermin State Marine Parks are two of the teaching area tide pools that have Special Protection and are a preserve. These are NO TAKE ZONES. Even if you take an empty sea shell you are taking away a potential home of a hermit crab. Housing is in short supply. Many children and adults come to these areas to learn about the inhabitants of the tide pools. It is essential to protect everything in these areas so that it can be seen as it supposed to be.

If you see anyone not abiding by the rules take their picture and send it to this site and we will forward them to the authorities. Additionally, call BOTH the LA County Sheriff's Department at 310-539-1661 and California Fish and Game 1-888-DFG-CALTIP (1-888-334-2258). Response times vary from day to day and calling both increases the chances that someone will respond it time to make an arrest.

To view Existing Marine Protected Areas in California:

Regulations:
See: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/mpa_regs.asp

The areas listed below are marine protected areas that currently exist in California State waters. This list includes the Central Coast Marine Protected Areas, which went into effect on September 21, 2007.

• Abalone Cove State Marine Park
• Point Fermin State Marine Park
  

Species Prohibited for Recreational Take:
All marine aquatic plants; All invertebrates. They are working on including no fishing in these two areas.

(Invertebrate is a kind of animal that does not have a spinal column or backbone.
Includes worms, squids, octopuses, snails, sea shells and slugs, most shellfish; clams, oysters, scallops, mussels,
Echinoderms — starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, crabs
Porifera — sponges
Cnidarians — jellyfish
Platyhelminthes — flatworms
Nematoda — roundworms
Annelida — segmented worms
Bryozoa — sea mats or moss animals)

Palos Verdes Land Conservancy

Land and all the wildlife in the Palos Verdes Land Conservancy is protected along with the native plants. It is open to hikers, bikers who must use the designated paths.