Sept 2013 Coastal Update, part IV

(Sept 2013 Coastal Update continued)

Martin's was closed in 2008 when this dude bought the property:

(Vinod Khosla (left) venture capitalist and beach closer-downer.  Satanic make-over courtesy of Sea Forager).

Evidently the closure pissed off the people at The Surf Rider's Foundation.

They brought the issue of coastal access to a San Mateo county court and stopped a temporary restraining order that would have shut down access to Martin's Beach. The case is still pending so, contrary to popular belief, until a decision is made one way or the other you can visit Martin's Beach  So far it's been mostly surfers.  Whassup fishermen?  Time to represent!  Just park up by the entrance on Hwy 1 and walk down.

Oh and if you're wondering... I walked the surf line for 4 hours and never saw a bird, or a seal... much less a smelt!  Nevertheless it was awesomely cool to look at the old murals!

  
            Martin's Beach mural.  Smelter blind tossing for H. pretiosus

 
Further Reflections On The Osmerid Family

I wish there was some way to fund a study of the beach spawning osmerids: surf and night smelt. I find it curious that their populations have remained relatively stable while the other osmerids have languished. Delta smelt, long fin smelt and eulachon have all gone (or are heading) the way of the dodo bird. Of course all three of those species require fresh or brackish water at some point in their life cycles. And we all know how delicate the estuarine ecosystem is. Still, it would seem to me that surf smelt and night smelt populations might be vulnerable due to the fact that they spawn on highly frequented beaches. Though Mikey reminds me that there's a lot of coastline within the surf smelt/night smelt range that isn't accessible by land. And in the case of night smelt, there's late night spawns that see no fishing pressure at all. Just thinkin' out loud here... maybe some day when i'm rich and famous, I can fund a private study on this... one can dream no?

Surf Perch

 
                       
                                Redtail (above), Calico (bottom)                                                                     

I'm told the surf perch numbers have been epic just south and north of the city. With large numbers of calico perch, barreds and walleyes reported by my operatives between Pacifica and HMB. For those who are uninspired by the culinary properties of the surf perch clan, calico perch make for a very decent ceviche. Though I can't speak for walleyes or barreds. Evidently the bait of choice is the lowly ghost shrimp but pieces of store-bought shrimp will work fine as will grass shrimp and pile/blood worms. By the way, be sure you can distinguish between a red tail and a calico since there is a size limit on red tails (10.5 in).  The main difference is in the dorsal fin--long spines in the first dorsal hard rays of the red tail, not so long in the calico.  For a complete chart of the surf perch family go here:  Kirk's perch guide.  It makes me happy to think people still use it.  Poseidon only knows how many hours, days, weeks, months it took me to make.

Salt Marsh Plants

From a foraging standpoint I haven't been doing much, and in fact, I won't be doing much till the big minus tides return in November. In the mean time I'm finding it difficult to go forward with my plans to build a tule canoe. What with child-rearing, a new business in the works, and everything else... unfortunately it's the tule canoe that gets the cut, feel me?  Thing is, if i'm going to build a tule canoe it has to be right now.  As I am given to understand, August and September are the months when tules leach sap.  This is why the Ohlone Indians built their tule canoes in Aug-September... anyone want to spearhead this thing?  Maybe for a school project?

Pickleweed (AKA: Sea Beans)

                                    
                                        Sea Beans

On another note I recently had some pickled sea beans given to me by a tour goer (thanks Cindy). Awesome stuff.  Sea beans are otherwise known as pickleweed or glasswort (salicornia).  Hank Shaw has a lot of stuff on his site about them. Click here for details. They make for an excellent salad, and like i said earlier they're awesome pickled (hence the name).  This is a plant of the salty coast.  There are miles and miles of pickleweed inside SF Bay (Pickleweed Park anyone?).  Remember you need written permission from a private landholder to pick native plants.  And also, no picking on a state beach!  Pickleweed can be tough and woody around the base of the stalks, so pick the fresh shoots at the top.

And One More Thing

Several months ago, in the June or July update, I wrote a plea for a vacuum sealer recommendation.  A couple of people e-mailed me with suggestions.  Both of these were Food Savers.  I bought one, it was a large and cumbersome affair, but still had the same problem with a lack of suction that the others had.  So I returned it after a week and started researching other choices.

Then out of the blue I was contacted by a rep from Oliso.  What can I say? I'm partial to vacuum sealer reps who also happen to read The Monkeyface News.  In any event he sent me the "Oliso Pro" and here is the happy result (see vacuum-sealed eel fillets above).

Honestly, if you live in an apartment like I do, you will appreciate the small size of this little sucker (and I mean sucker... the thing is the Marilyn Chambers of vacuum sealers).

So support your local vacuum sealer company (whose employees support the Monkeyface News).  Huzzah!

Ok.  That's going to do it for September 2013.  Don't forget I'm looking for East Bay drop off locations!

Anyhoo... Until October... see ya at, on, or in the H2O!

KIrk-out