Hope you had a pleasant Easter . . .

I'M STUFFED - Big fantastic meal at my sister's place today and I ate too much. But while we're on the subject of good food . . .

CHAMBER EVE DINNER IS ALSO FANTASTIC - Would you like to join us for dinner at Chamber Eve at the Aquarium of the Pacific on May 7 staring at 7PM? We've still got 78 seats left available at a number of different clubs and stores. In fact, we've even got an UNAFFILIATED table for those of you who don't have a fav club/store. It's only $175/ticket and that gets you in at 7PM, access to the full Aquarium, five raffle tix, a Grand Prize raffle ticket, a fantastic sit-down served dinner of either beef short ribs or a stuffed mushroom, as well as a lot of fun during the program that will start a bit after 9PM. It's really the social event of the diving season. But best of all, you're helping to keep our Chamber financially solvent. Our Chamber relies on public funding for over 50% of the annual budget so your presence at Chamber Eve helps us keep our Chamber healthy. Chamber Day/Eve is the largest single-day scuba charity event in the U.S. and we'd love to have you join us. To sign up before the seats sell out, go to this link, enter your info, page through the various options, pay for it, and then we'll see you on May 7: https://usc.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_88ko1OUej3lAYbI

HAWAIIAN MPA OPENED TO CMMERCIAL FISHING - In a mover that is both stunning but also not surprising, president Trump over the weekend signed a proclamation approving of "appropriately managed commercial fishing" within the boundaries of the Pacific Remote Islands marine National Monument. It was established in 2009 by George W. Bush and expanded in 2014 by Barack Obama. Of course "appropriately managed" becomes the key phrase as many people believe it's being appropriately managed now. Here's some of the rationale behind establishing this remote MPA - it's south of Hawaii - in the first place: "The low coral islands and atolls of the Monument are the crests of ancient coral reef caps and massive underlying volcanoes. Coral cover and biodiversity is much higher than in Hawai’i and Florida. From these protected waters, we can gain knowledge that can be applied elsewhere to improve coral reef management in more populated areas. Beyond the shallow fringing reefs and terraces, the slopes of the extinct volcanoes drop off sharply to the deep floor of the equatorial Pacific Ocean. The Monument protects near-pristine deep sea areas and open-ocean ecosystems overlaying a diverse seafloor topography and array of benthic and pelagic habitats that support biological communities, including high-density deep-sea coral and sponge communities." This area is further from human population centers than other U.S. areas and it is already challenging, even with a fishing ban, to do enforcement in such a widespread and remote area. By allowing commercial fishing interests in, one can hope for the best but the logical assumption is that reef destruction and further decline of sensitive fish populations will be the result. There's a codicil in the proclamation that only US-flagged vessels can fish there but there's also a provision that allows for the transfer of US-caught fish to foreign-flagged vessels. Where it goes after that is unknown. Personally, I see nothing good coming out of this. Joni Mitchell said it best in "Big Yellow Taxi": "You don't know what you've got till it's gone."

COLOSSAL SQUID - Well, it's a bit of an oxymoron since it's a juvy Colossal Squid and it's not (yet) very colassal at all. But the Schmid Ocean Institute has aa ROV exploring the South Atlantic Ocean and came upon the juvy Colossal, marking the first time one has been sighted in the wild sine it was first discovered a century ago. Pretty cool, even though this specimen is estimated at a colossal 11 inches long. Here's the link: FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH A JUVY COLOSSAL SQUID.

And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!

- Ken