The subject has come up several times in conversations about the benefits and possible down side of the MPA's, that with no pressure these areas might just be over run by urchin.  I'm wondering if there are a few divers that would be interested in diving in the MPA's with cameras to monitor the process.  The benefit of having these closed areas full of abalone is that when we work on the FMP in the coming months we can count those abs as protected and secure.  The downfall would be if the areas become urchin farms the remaining abalone may be seen as needing more protection.

Another opportunity to get involved is by volunteering to help the department with monitoring.  The issue of manpower and a lack of volunteers is coming up more and more often with the discussions of more and more monitoring.  You probably wouldn't start out as a diver but as you get more familiar with the process and the people, the opportunities and the jobs should get more interesting.