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Thursday, July 14, 2011 – Daily News 3B California Outdoors Q&As Can I Use a Camera on my Bow to Film my Hunts? Question: I have heard it is illegal in California to use a camera (such as the Roscoby Riser camera) that mounts onto your bow to film your hunts. Is this true? If so, why? (Shane S.) Answer: Mounting a camera (with no spot- light) onto your bow is legal. It would only be a problem if it was an elec- tronic device with lights to assist in the taking of game (California Fish and Game Code, section 2005). Abalone and SCUBA diving on the same trip Question: We want to go abalone diving and SCUBA diving on the same day. I know we have to free dive for abalone, but we also want to SCUBA dive on the same trip. We live away from the coast but can only do a one-day trip, so which one should we do first? How can we do this with- out getting in trouble with a game warden who might think that we used the SCUBA for the abalone? (Matthew P.) Answer: If you're planning to be out on a boat, just make sure that you don't have any SCUBA gear present on the boat while diving off of it. If you're entering and exiting from the shore, be sure to leave your SCUBA gear in your car or in your camp. You could probably do your dives in either order but just be sure that it’s obvi- ous your dives were done separately and that SCUBA assistance was not part of your abalone dive. The law prohibits having SCUBA gear on a boat or floating device when diving for abalone or when abalone are onboard. The law does not prohibit driving home from your dive site with both abalone and SCUBA gear in the same car. Why can’t fishing licenses extend for 12 months from purchase? Question: Has the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) ever consid- ered a 12 month fishing license - good for 12 months from the date pur- chased? If not, is there a reason? Also, has the number of resident fishing licenses grown, stayed the same or declined in the past five years here in California? (Paul R., San Diego) Answer: Sport fishing license sales fluctuate, but generally, have been declining gradually for many years. The DFG maintains a website of license sales statistics at: www.dfg.ca.gov/licens- ing/statistics/statistics.ht ml. According to DFG Sport Fishing Program Analyst Glenn Under- wood, we occasionally receive suggestions to change the sport fishing license structure to make licenses valid for one year from the date of purchase. Generally, they come from anglers who do not fish until the summer or fall each year and do not wish to purchase a sport fishing license for the remainder of the year. Making fishing licenses valid for one year from the date of purchase would not reduce the number of licenses an angler has to purchase. If an angler doesn’t fish until July each year, the angler would have to pur- chase a new license each July, it would expire in June of the following year and the angler would still have to purchase a new license each year in July. There is no real advantage to the angler. Several factors would have to be dealt with before sales of fishing licenses valid for one year from the purchase date could be implemented. For example, license years and expiration dates for fishing licenses and stamps are set in the Fish and Game Code and would have to be changed. Several of DFG’s licenses are issued in the form of report cards. Report cards grant the licensee the privilege to pursue a particular species, and help DFG gather valuable data regarding the time spent DFG to collect bear teeth Bear hunters taking to the field this season, if successful, will need to have their heads more closely examined. Department of Fish and Game (DFG) biologists and wardens will require a tooth to be pulled from the skull of each bear taken during the 2011 black bear hunting season that began July 9. This is a change from last year, when DFG only required that a tooth be pulled from every other bear harvested during the season. The change stems from a request by the California Fish and Game Commission, which wants to take a clos- er look at the management of black bear hunting in California. “We currently manage black bear hunting at a statewide level, but we want to be doubly sure that we’re not negative- ly impacting local bear populations,” said Marc Kenyon, DFG’s Bear Program Coordinator. The Commission is the deciding body for fishing and hunting regulations. In 2010, a proposal to modify the number of bears legally taken during the hunting season was closely scrutinized by Com- mission members as well as the public. During the regulation setting process, Commission members and the public voiced a desire to look at regional bear hunt management. Since 2005, a tooth has been pulled from half of the bears legally taken dur- ing each hunting season. Current hunting regulations state that the skull of any bear taken during the hunting season becomes the property of DFG. Those portions not needed for scientific purposes are returned to the hunter. The teeth provide key insight into the bear population. A premolar is pulled from the bear’s mandible and processed at a Montana laboratory specializing in aging animals. The teeth are cut in half, stained and examined under a micro- scope. Lab technicians can then count the rings, called cementum annuli, which are deposited annually like tree rings. The number of rings indicate the age of the bear. Reproductive events can also be detected in female teeth. DFG biologists use this information to monitor the bear population. The age and gender data can be combined to produce a conservative population estimate and establish other parameters. This informa- tion is then used to inform the Commis- sion when deciding new hunting regula- tions. More tooth data will ultimately allow DFG to monitor bear populations at the local level with better precision. California’s black bear population is estimated to be higher than 30,000. Cur- rent hunting regulations allow up to 1,700 bears to be taken during the hunt- ing season. More information about black bear management in California can be found at www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/bear/in dex.html. Tehama County’s Personal/Professional Service Directory AT YOUR SERVICE! $ 9900 3 month commitment Attorney Local Bankruptcy Attorney Jocelyn C. 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DFG offers several short-term fishing licens- es for anglers not wishing to purchase an annual Sport Fishing License. Anglers who choose to fish only occasionally may want to purchase a Two-Day Sport Fishing License for $21.86 or a One-Day Sport Fishing License for $14.04. DFG also provides two Free Fishing Days each year when anglers do not need licenses or stamps to fish, but appro- priate report cards are required (e.g. sturgeon, steelhead, abalone, etc) and all other regulations such as size and bag lim- its must be followed. For 2011, Free Fishing Days will be held on July 2 and Sept. 3. In addition, a fishing license is not required while fishing from a public pier in ocean or bay waters. Carrie Wilson is a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game. While she cannot personally answer everyone’s questions, she will select a few to answer each week. She can be contacted at CalOutdoors@dfg.ca.gov .