Phil Friedman Outdoors

California rockfish, hundreds of dolphin and the enigmatic mola mola (video)

Good fishing for rockfish dominated the Southern California coast this week providing anglers with excellent table fare. There are more than 60 species of rockfish found in Southern California waters, all of which are great eating. Boats from the Channel Islands to Baja California experienced summer-like weather and very good bottom-fishing this past week.

 

Nine year old Hector Medina and his 11 year old brother Manual were out with their parents Gabriela and Hector on the ½ day boat City of Long Beach this week and were treated to not only great fishing and weather, but also some great sights.

 

The two brothers from Carson, CA saw hundreds of dolphin, a school of mola mola, giant container ships, a beautiful sunrise and of course caught lots of fish. “I just want my boys to develop a love for the sea,” said dad Hector.

 

You’ll not only see a variety of rockfish taken in this video along with the enigmatic mola mola, but you may just see the fastest man on a fillet board anywhere.

 

 

Redondo lobster poachers get pinched with 132 bugs

 
Photo: California Department of Fish and Game
Evidence seized in the September 29 lobster poaching case in which 5 men were caught with 132 lobster near Redondo Beach. After being photographed, the lobster were returned to sea alive.

It was about 10 pm on September 29^th that California Fish and Game Wardens were observing five men poaching lobster from the King Harbor Jetty. Even though it was two days before the official opening of the 2011 lobster season, the men were busy taking as many of the tasty bugs as they could paying little attention to size limits.

 

The men hoisted the valuable catch into their pickup truck and headed off. Wardens Kory Collins and Michele Budish pulled the truck over and found 132 lobster inside.

Ramon Gonzalo Montes, 28, Omar De Leon Aguilar, 26, and Juan Manuel De Leon Haro, 34, all from Los Angeles and Augustin Granados, 67,and Ruben Flores, Jr.,38, both of South Gate were arrested for gross over-limit of lobster as well as possession of lobster for commercial sale. They were booked into Redondo Beach Police Department jail, their gear was seized as evidence, and their vehicle was towed.

 

“We are focusing our patrols on the worst abusers of our lobster resource to protect it for responsible users,” said Assistant Chief Paul Hamdorf of the California Department of Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division. “We are successfully using a team patrol concept and will continue to seek out those who intentionally violate fishing and hunting laws.”

 

“These are the kinds of people who ruin it for us all,” said Don Ashley from Pierpoint Landing. “They should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

 

After the arrest of the five suspects, Wardens Collins and Budish returned to the King Harbor Jetty to find four more lobster poaching cases with an additional 13 lobster. All lobsters from this night’s case were photographed as evidence and successfully returned to the ocean alive.

 

Recreational lobster fishing season opened Oct. 1, 2011 and extends to Mar. 21, 2012. Lobster fishing regulations are found on page 57 of the Ocean Sportfishing Regulations.

Lobster report cards are required for all anglers fishing for lobsters. The report card must be filled out prior to fishing for lobster, a common violation that has generated numerous warnings since the season opened, but will transition to citations soon.

Data from the lobster report cards helps biologists closely monitor the health of the population and any adjustments that need to be made regarding the taking of these delectable creatures.

Lobster seasons and size limits are set to allow lobsters the opportunity to reproduce prior to being old enough to retain by anglers, which takes about five to six years.

 

Wardens Colins and Budish are being invited to be on Philip Friedman Outdoors this Thursday, 9-10 pm on AM 830.   

Sand and calico bass on the verge of collapse?

According to a study at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, the populations of barred sand bass and calico bass have plummeted 90% since 1980. The two main culprits identified were warmer ocean temperatures and overfishing.

 

“California may be the only place in the world that allows fishing on the spawning grounds,” said Dr. Chris Lowe from CSU Long Beach. “It’s a sure recipe for disaster as we have seen this type of behavior lead to the collapse of some fisheries in the past.”

 

“We haven’t had a good sand bass season for at least 5 years,” said Don Ashley from Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach. “I still think that the Humboldt Squid have had a major impact on our local fisheries too.”

 

Ten years ago, it was common for sand bass to move on to the beaches to spawn in massive numbers stretching from the Mexican border to beyond the Channel Islands. Ensenada and Tijuana, San Clemente, Oceanside, Newport Beach, the Huntington Flats, the Santa Monica Bay and the Ventura Flats are just some of the areas where sand bass would show every spring to spawn. Thousands upon thousands of these fish could be taken daily by anglers when it was the best of times.

 

Now, the seasons are much shorter and sometimes, some of the aforementioned areas just get a trickle of the prized bass. Some anglers claim that the ebb and flow of fish stocks are a part of nature. They claim the drops are cyclical and can be explained by changing water temperatures and other factors.

 

“We need to be proactive in this matter,” said Tom Raftican, President of the Long Beach based Sportfishing Conservancy. Raftican advocates reducing limits and tightening size limitations so that smaller and larger fish would have to be released.

 

“Recreational anglers should be leading the fight for conservation and not letting other groups drag us into it,” said Raftican. “This is biology 101: you don’t fish a spawning biomass unless you want disastrous consequences. Conservation is in our best interest as fishermen.”

 

Why Spiny Lobster Report Cards?

Carrie Wilson is a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game. While she cannot personally answer everyone’s questions, she will select a few to answer each week. Please contact her at [email protected]. 

  
Question: A friend of ours received a $290 fine for not filling in his lobster report card correctly last year. What is the purpose of the report cards? If the fine print is so important, why isn't it listed first? (Joe B., Thousand Oaks)
 
Answer: While the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has records of commercial lobster harvest dating back to 1916, it wasn’t until 2008 and the introduction of the lobster report card that any kind of gauge on the size or scope of the recreational lobster fishery existed. According to DFG Marine Biologist Travis Buck, close to 30,000 lobster report cards have been sold to sport fisherman for each of the past three years. This in contrast to the landing receipts from only about 150 licensed, active commercial lobster fishermen. DFG biologists have estimated that the recreational catch equals close to half of the commercial catch, which is a significant amount of lobsters.
 
DFG is mandated by state law to manage the lobster resource, as well as other fish and game, and so biologists must gather as much information as possible from both the commercial and recreational lobster fisheries. When looking at a time series of catch data, Buck says it’s possible to see downward trends, which could signify if the sustainability of the resource is in jeopardy. If catch numbers remain stable year after year, the resource is considered sustainable and no further regulation is deemed necessary.
 
To learn more about the DFG Marine Region and the lobster report card program, please check out DFG’s website for California spiny lobster-related information, www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/research.asp.
 

 

Ship strikes pose serious threat to blue whales (video)

The shipping lanes off Long Beach/Los Angeles run right through the feeding grounds of the blue whale creating a danger zone for the largest creatures to have ever inhabited the face of the earth.

An abundance of krillof Long Beach and Los Angeles continues to attract more blue whales to an area where shipping traffic is also very heavy. The result is a serious risk of ship strikes for the largest creatures to have ever inhabited the face of the earth which can be fatal. While the most blue whale deaths attributed to ship strikes was 4 in 2007, the true number is thought to be much higher as many strikes go unreported and many whales simply sink out after being fatally struck.

 

Dr. John Calambokidis from the Cascadia Research Center is recognized as the leading experts on blue whales and he, along with Harbor Breeze Cruises and the Aquarium of the Pacific are looking for ways to reduce ship strikes. Tags are put on these mammoth animals in order to gather dive data, the positions of whales and the whale’s reaction to approaching ships.

 

According to Calambokidis, the early research suggests that blue whales do little to get out of the way from an approaching ship. “Blue whales have not adapted or evolved to deal with this new threat,” he said. So far, it appears that blue whales do little to avoid an approaching ship, generally do not turn away, in some cases they actually close ground on approaching ships. In addition, the have a penchant for surfacing when ships are near placing them in even greater danger.

 

Private boaters on smaller crafts should also be careful where blue whales are feeding. Calambokidis admonishes boaters to slow down when they come across a blue whale and points out that many times where there is one blue whale there are others nearby.

 

Two possible remedies to the ship strike problem off Long Beach/Los Angeles would be to mandate that boaters slow down in the blue whale feeding grounds. An even more effective step may be to adjust the shipping lanes away from where the blue whales feed.

 

 

Deepwater Bottomfishing In Japan by Captain Greg Vella

 Anglers in Japan drop as deep as 1,800 feet for the prized akou.

 
In Japan, the "akou" is a prized white meat bottomfish that is taken in really deep water off the coast of Japan.  How deep?  I asked the captain of the "Taiya Maru", a boat that targets these tasty bottom dwellers, and he replied that he usually starts off on hard bottom areas in at least 1,500 feet of water.  Best catches last season came from 1,800 feet deep.
 
Due to the depth, and the heavy weights necessary to sink your 10 hook rig to the bottom, most anglers use electric reels. 

The terminal rigging is very similar to what we used to use in California before the deepwater restrictions for rockfish came about. These rigs were perfect for targeting popular bottom fish, such as vermilion rockfish (reds) and  other red rockfish.  Cut bait, such as squid, or finfish, like the pacific saurey are preferred.
 
Akou are prized for sashimi here in Japan, but many anglers enjoy a traditional fish stew, called "nabemono", with chunks of akou, and vegetables.
The best months to target akou are the winter months. 

There  is no limit on these tasty fish; five to seven akou would be considered a good trip, and provide several fine meals.