MLPA process coming to a head in Southern California; anglers hope for the best

Anglers on Sunday will stage a "Yes on 2!" rally at Dana Wharf Sportfishing in support of one of three proposals being considered by the Blue Ribbon Task Force as part of the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative. The BRTF will select its preferred alternative -- either of the three plans or an integrated version -- during a meeting next week at the Hilton Hotel in Long Beach.

(Public comments will be accepted from 1:30-4:30 p.m. and from 7-10 p.m. Wednesday, and the BRTF will choose its alternative Thursday.)

Whichever proposal is selected and ultimately approved by the California Fish and Game Commission, it will establish a network of state marine reserves along the Southern California coast and at the Channel Islands to help conserve fisheries and habitat. SMRs will be off limits to fishing and other types of consumptive activities.

The Marine Life Protection Act, passed by the California Legislature in 1999, requires the state to reevaluate and redesign California's system of marine protected areas, or reserves. The process is already complete in the North-Central and Central Coast regions.

In the South Coast region, from Point Conception to the U.S.-Mexico border, proposal No. 2 is favored by anglers because it's not as extreme when it comes to SMRs.

"We're not out here saying 'no' to conservation -- we're saying yes to a plan that achieves the MLPA's mandated conservation goals while minimizing the economic and social impact on Southern Californians," said Steven Fakuto, president of the United Anglers of Southern California, which was involved in the process as a stakeholder. "Workgroup 2's plan is still going to hurt, but we can live with the fact that it offers the best level of conservation while striving not to severely restrict recreational fishing."

This weekend the ocean will bring out the best in people

Many have said ocean is therapeutic, but this weekend it goes beyond that: The waters off Southern California will become a theater in which kindhearted people will do their best to help others.

On Saturday, Sean Clancy will paddle his kayak from Huntington Beach to Santa Catalina Island to raise money for the Dream Street Foundation, which treats kids with life-threatening illnesses to a unique camping experience.

People have pledged donations and as of Thursday night Clancy had received $10,326. Last year he made the same voyage and raised $16,000. He asks those who would like to help to visit the Dream Street website and find "Sean's Kayak Event" in the "You Can Help" field.

Also on Saturday, the Malibu Invitational gets underway at Surfrider State Beach. It's a high-level surf contest that runs through Sunday, and some proceeds will benefit local surfer Lyon Herron, 16, who has been battling Gardner syndrome, a potentially deadly cancer, since he was 6.

"We're looking forward to a great event with some of the world's best  surfers. But more importantly we're excited to help Lyon," said Brad Gerlach, a big-wave surfer and spokesman for Primo Beer, the event sponsor.

On Sunday is the Catalina Classic paddleboard race from Catalina to Manhattan Beach. The Ocean of Hope uses this grueling 32-mile competition as a fundraiser for the Sarcoma Alliance. Twenty team members will compete to raise money toward finding a cure for this deadly cancer.

Robert Chambliss is the only sarcoma survivor to have actually paddled in the race. But he didn't finish the 2005 competition because his right shoulder began to ache because of the cancer. Robert died in 2007. During the 2008 competition two paddlers, Gene Boyer and Ron Roebuck, delivered some of his ashes across the channel to help Chambliss finish the race.

It was a touching moment when they arrived at the beach, and there figures to be more touching moments this weekend. May the best men and women prevail--heaven knows they'll be trying.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: Surfrider State Beach in Malibu will be the site of the Malibu Invitational surf contest this weekend. Credit: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times

Saltwater fishing report: White seabass bite erupts at Catalina

White seabass are among the most sought after saltwater game fish in Southern California. They're popular because of their freight train-like fight and the tender flakiness of their ivory-white flesh -- and perhaps because they're so finicky that when a wide-open bite does erupt it becomes truly special.

Philip Friedman, the founder of 976-TUNA who provides regular reports for Outposts, was at the backside of Catalina on Thursday at daybreak, when one of these phenomenons occurred.

He was aboard Options, a six-passenger sportfisher out of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach, with sons Philip Jr. and Patrick, Earl McVicar and Arturo Velasquez. They'd obtained live squid from a commercial boat and McVicar got things started by catching a 25-pound yellowtail at first light. 

They then sat and waited, frustratingly, while watching anglers aboard nearby boats battle 20- to 40-pound seabass. This is another typical thing about seabass. If you're not on the precise right spot, you can miss the bite, and when the bite shuts down it literally shuts down.

But the feeding croakers ultimately swept past Options, and each angler and the three crew members  filled their one-fish limits. Philip Jr. also caught a legal-size halibut, and Velasquez, a novice angler, hauled from the depths a 100-pound black seabass, which was released because black seabass are protected in California.

What's good news for seabass anglers is that Options Capt. Tino Valentine and other skippers have been metering thousands of seabass, and on Tuesday the bag limit increases from one to three.

Meanwhile, on the albacore front, Friedman reports that the longfin tuna remain in an area 120-plus miles south of Point Loma, but that a northbound migration appears imminent. Anglers aboard several San Diego-based vessels will be searching for closer schools of albacore this weekend.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: From left, Philip Friedman Jr., Earl McVicar, Patrick Friedman and Arturo Velasquez display Thursday morning's catch aboard Options. Credit: Philip Friedman
 

 

Catalina Island scientific excursion open to the public

The public is invited to join marine biologists, naturalists and other staff of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium on an exploratory day-trip to Catalina Island on Sun., June 14.

"Catalina Above and Below" is an annual scientific observation and collecting expedition sponsored by the aquarium.

Passengers will have the opportunity to assist in checking fish traps set the day prior. Anything captured will be placed in onboard tanks for close-up study, then later released or kept for display at the aquarium.

Throughout the voyage, staff will be watching for and discussing the variety of marine animals commonly seen in the area, including whales, dolphins and sea lions.

There are also plans to conduct a controlled shark-baiting exercise designed to lure sharks to the surface for observation and attempted tagging.

Flying Fish Festival begins today on Santa Catalina Island

*Updated Huell Howser to link to Huell Howser Productions website

Huell Howser will be grand marshal at this year's Flying Fish Festival, taking place today through Sunday on Santa Catalina Island.

Held to celebrate the return of flying fish to waters off the island, the annual event has a myriad of activities scheduled. Kicking things off this evening is the Taste Around of Avalon, at which attendees can sample fare from local restaurants.

Boat and kayak tours will take place each evening, when the fish are most active and can be lured closer to the vessels using lights.

Other activities include a parade, a street fair and beer garden, musical entertainment, live marine touch tanks, garden tours and children's crafts.

The festival this year coincides with the 80th anniversary of the iconic Casino Building, where a dance will be held Saturday evening. Admission will be $19.29, to commemorate the building's opening date.

Flying fish can be seen near Catalina from May to September. While they don't actually fly like birds, their unusually large pectoral fins enable the fish to take short gliding flights above the surface of the water.

-- Kelly Burgess

Image credit:  Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce

Catalina Chamber Day is May 6; scuba divers needed

When asked about the importance of maintaining the USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber at the island's Two Harbors area, dive master Ken Kurtis said, "The chamber provides a vital safety net for divers, and, to put it bluntly, without it people would die."

The chamber, which is used to treat various scuba-diving-related ailments, is funded largely by donations. The annual Chamber Day, chaired by Kurtis, is a primary fundraiser.

This year's Chamber Day and Chamber Evening (a separate event at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach), is May 6. Cost is $90 for two dives, plus $30 for food and tank refills. Cost for the Chamber Evening dinner is $90, which includes a private tour of the aquarium and five raffle tickets.

About 250 people are expected for the dive and 500 for the dinner.  Those who cannot make either and would still like to help can enjoy a mythical  "Flying Dutchman" dive (for $90) and receive a commemorative T-shirt and raffle tickets.

Kurtis, who owns Reef Seekers Dive Co. in Beverly Hills, said donations are down this year and that the chamber needs the help of divers. Please click on the Chamber Day link  to learn more.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: A garibaldi. Credit: Ken Kurtis

White seabass fishing bite on at Catalina Island

Passengers on the overnight boat Pacific Quest from Pierpoint Landing sportfishing in Long Beach had an awesome catch of white seabass at Catalina Island on Wednesday.

The eight anglers on board landed seven keepers up to 40 pounds. There were several others hooked that either were lost or shorter than the legal length of 28 inches.

"This could be what we have been waiting for," said Pacific Quest captain Josh Walton.

White seabass are currently spawning, so many can be caught in water as shallow as 6 feet, though most are hitting at about 20 feet, with live squid the bait of choice.

The warmer weather during the past few days has put the large fish in a biting mood it seems. Another Pierpoint boat, Dreamer, radioed in to Philip Friedman of 976-TUNA.com that they have caught limits this morning.

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo: Ruben Marciel from Hemet, Calif., (left) is pictured here with Pacific Quest Captain Josh Walton. Credit: Pierpoint Landing

Sea monster from Sea of Cortez resurfaces in shape of an oarfish

Who said there are no sea monsters?

The 15-foot oarfish in a photo being passed around by Bill Roecker of Fishingvideos.com was actually taken in May 2007 at Baja California's East Cape region, near Rancho Leonero Resort, by Troy Tinney of Encinitas.

These bizarre denizens, who occupy the dark depths most of the time, occasionally surface, usually dead or dying. A few have been discovered in recent years in the Sea of Cortez.

They can measure 50-plus feet and undoubtedly -- with their long, oar-shaped fins and crimson manes -- are among species to have spawned tales of sea serpents among ancient mariners.

You may recall the surfacing of a live oarfish in 2006 inside a bay at Santa Catalina Island. Harbormaster Doug Oudin donned snorkeling gear and swam alongside the fish, before it died, and described its coloring as "metallic silver with bright blue-brown spots and splotches, along with its amazing pinkish-red full-length dorsal fin."

Their modern discovery may date to 1808, when a 56-foot serpent-like creature washed ashore in Scotland. In 1901, a 22-foot oarfish drifted onto the sand in Newport Beach, becoming, according to one reference book, "the basis for many sea-serpent stories told by local bar patrons for more than a decade after its discovery."

The oarfish in the photo looks to have had its tail bitten off. In the Sea of Cortez, apparently, there is no dignity in dying.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: A 15-foot oarfish that surfaced last year in the Sea of Cortez is hoisted by three adults who made the discovery. Credit: Troy Tinney

Whale watchers should be on the lookout for Chopfin, the transient orca

When the storms clear out and the ocean is again calm and navigable, marine mammal enthusiasts will venture out in search of Pacific gray whales migrating south to Mexico.

What they might encounter, though, are killer whales that have been seen sporadically in recent weeks off Orange County and Los Angeles. These "transient" orcas prey almost exclusively on marine mammals and perhaps are taking advantage of an abundant California sea lion population in the San Pedro Channel.

The most prominent member of this small sub-pod of transients is "Chopfin," who has a severely damaged dorsal fin.

In all, 150 transient killer whales have been photo-cataloged by researchers Alisa Schulman-Janiger and Nancy Black. None is as easily identifiable or as mobile as Chopfin, who is catalogued as CA217.

So if you're heading out anytime soon, definitely keep an eye peeled for Chopfin and his posse.

Scuba divers note: Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup day is Feb. 21

Scuba divers fond of Santa Catalina Island and concerned about the cleanliness of the marine environment might wish to mark Feb. 21 on their calendars.

The 28th annual Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup has been scheduled for that day -- the only day diving is permitted in Avalon Harbor.

It's become one of the most popular diving events in Southern California; last year 520 participants from various dive clubs showed up to clear the ocean floor of items lost or thrown overboard by careless humans.

Last year the water was murky, though, as the event followed a period of rain and wind. Hopefully, visibility this time will allow a thorough clean up. Cost is $35 per person for those registering online before February. To register or learn more, click here.

Photo courtesy of Catalina Island Conservancy