If it's abalone season and there's a low tide on the Mendocino Coast, Bruce Leaman likely is out on the bluffs at dawn with his binoculars, watching abalone divers and pickers.
"This is the time we get 300-plus divers at Glass Beach" in Fort Bragg, he said.
Leaman isn't just observing; he's watching for people who violate the law by taking too many abalone or ones that are too small. He's a volunteer and coordinator with Mendocino Abalone Watch, a 3-year-old nonprofit group created to discourage abalone poaching and to provide state game wardens with additional eyes.
When volunteers spot someone poaching, they notify Department of Fish and Game officials. They also try to educate divers about abalone and give kudos — and sometimes little yellow pocket knives inscribed with their organization's name — to those who follow the rules.
Leaman, 67, joined Abalone Watch shortly after it was formed. After moving to the coast with his wife in 2004, the retired credit union accountant had become increasingly concerned about abalone poaching.
He had noticed an "inordinate number of cases of abalone poaching" in the local newspaper's crime reports.
"I came to realize how endangered the species was," Leaman said.
He said he had been feeling powerless about the situation, so was thrilled when he heard about Abalone Watch.
"I picked up the phone and gave them a call," Leaman said.
He's become one of its most consistent volunteers, said coast attorney Rod Jones, one of the group's founders. The group has about 30 volunteers.
"He's very devoted to preserving good things for future generations," Jones said.
"He's passionate about saving abalone," said Fish and Game Capt. Wayne Kidwell.
Leaman goes out almost every day when there are low tides. That's when people can pick abalone from rocks without needing diving gear. As a result, they flock to the beaches from the Bay Area and Sacramento.
During those times, abalone gatherers can reach normally inaccessible beaches south of Glass Beach, he said.
"There's a parade of people coming down that beach dressed in dive suits and you can see headlights coming up the road. It looks like rush hour," he said.
When they detect someone breaking the law, Abalone Watch members normally notify game wardens. Sometimes they lecture the scofflaws. Rarely, they will take further action.
Leaman was with two volunteers last year when they caught someone who was discarding the abalone he didn't want back into the ocean. The law requires them to reattach the abalone to the rocks.
"We did a citizen's arrest," he said.
The group's primary goal, however, is to deter people from poaching by letting them know they're being watched. To that effect, they wear bright yellow jackets and hats and post warning signs.
The efforts seem to be working, Leaman said.
"Our reputation is spreading," he said.
More information about Mendocino Abalone Watch can be found at mendoabwatch.com.
(You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or Glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com.)
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