Posted by BayAreaAbdiver on September 18, 2001 at 01:37:50:
Been busy and still in shock with the attack in NY & DC but I want to pass on an experience. Went diving the weekend before last (Sept. 8th & 9th) in Mendocino with my little brother. Also took my sister up and my little boy (3 years old)--both nondivers but they like to shop & dine in Mendocino the town. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Ft. Bragg (good hot tub & free breakfast).
Anyway, my little brother being rather inexperienced, I took him to Van Damme to dive. No big abs but it's hard to get into trouble there with the area being so protected. I've been to Mendocino many times over the past dozen years, both to dive and just to hang out, and I always make a point to say hi to other folks on the beach, talk about the weather, just so they can look out for us and vice versa. We kayaked out, the dive was great, and we limited out easily, punched our cards, and got back to the hotel around 11AM.
I just got out of the shower and dressed when I heard this knock on the hotel door. Opened it and there was a DFG officer, explaining that he got a report that someone saw a poacher driving a car that matches the description of our car, with a yellow kayak on top. That's our car--with our kayak.
To say that I was surprised would be a little of an understatement. But I respect these guys and having worked at the SF District Atty's office myself (an internship in college), I respect how hard these LE's work, even though they sometimes go overboard. How the hell can anyone mistake a freediver, carrying a small mesh bag with the abs out for everyone to see, and talking to everyone on the beach a poacher, I never know.
Now, at this point, I've got to explain. I'm of Asian descent so my first thought is someone fingered me based on that. A little peeved since I've been to Mendocino many times and am known/greeted in the area by many business owners as a regular so this is definitely uncool. But like I said, I know how hard these guys work so I said no problem. Invited him into the room to look around, which he quickly declined. We went downstair to the car in the parking lot.
I don't know if it's the way I came across but I've got to say that the guy was awfully apologetic, kept saying over and over that he hopes the call wasn't based on the fact that I'm Asian, hope I don't feel that way, and it would bother him if that's what happened. Well, I just popped open my SUV and basically said go to it. He looked over my stuff (no scuba so at least that wasn't a factor), pulled out the abs and put them on the ground, checked our abs, license, cards, etc.
I learned a few things chatting with the guy when he was checking my stuff. According to the guy who checked me, most of the tickets they hand out are to non-Asians, but it's the Asian divers who got the most publicity as they tend to operate in rings. No shit--I hate them too since I'm no friends with gangs and rings and coming from California, I regard gang members, whether poaching abalone or robbing homes, a little below cockroaches.
But I do think it sucks that the publicity got someone thinking that I may be a poacher just because I'm of Asian descent. Another thing I learned is that if one marks the card with the (") mark instead of writing in the date, time, and county out in long hand, that's often the modus operandi of poachers, who can then overwrite the (") mark with the date when they move to another spot and get 4 more. I wrote mine out, and punched my cards with a Leatherman, so everything passes with flying colors.
Everything was cool so we joked, shook hands and parted. The guy must have felt bad so as I was walking back to my room, he looped the truck around and called my name and handed me some gifts. Three laminated 8 1/2 X 11 fish ID cards in color (even though I didn't have any fish). Best I've seen--better than what the dive shops sell.
All in all, I felt a little sad that that somebody probably fingered me just because I look Asian. One more reason why I hate this poaching business since it hurts the law-abiding divers of Asian descent TWICE--once as a public member and once more by the suspicion of other public members. It's bad since, like I said, my family have been going to the wine country and the town of Mendocino for years, even before I started gettting certified for diving. But the DFG guy handled the whole situation with grace and it's true I could have asked for probable cause, etc.... but he was just doing his job and I didn't feel like I wanted to hassle him.
Plus, I think poaching is a big problem and in a way, I'm glad that these guys are active about this problem. This is my second time in 4 years that I've been checked (the first was on the beach as I landed my kayak some years ago--in that incident, the DFG guy was less subtle, just ignored my dive buddies who are non-Asian and made a bee-line for me). Now, if it happens again next month, I'll be real peeved.
A question: How often do you guys get checked?