Coalition Says Nets Kill Indiscriminately : Group to Seek More Humanely Controlled Use of Entrapments

The National Coalition for Marine Conservation (Pacific Region) has mounted a campaign against the indiscriminate slaughter of marine mammals and unwanted food fishes by offshore drift gill nets and nearshore set gill nets.

The 10,000-member Coalition, headquartered in San Diego, claims 27 whales have been confirmed as having been entangled in gill nets off Southern California.

The last reported instance was April 4, when a 27-foot gray whale, wrapped in a gill net, was found during the early morning hours on a Pt. Loma beach. Nineteen of the 27 are known to have died because of the entanglements. Twenty-one of the whales are on the endangered species list, 17 of which were gray whales. Any killing of an endangered species is illegal.

Twelve of the entanglements have occured since last December, and seven are known to have died.

The whale entanglements were originally believed to have been limited to drift gill nets, used to catch shark and broadbill swordfish in offshore waters. The Coalition, with a strong membership of sports fishermen and sailors, confirms that shallow water set gill nets used for halibut and white sea bass also are responsible for some of the whale deaths. The net the San Diego whale was caught in was a monofillament set gill net used to catch halibut.

These nearshore monofillament nets are the same type of gear that recently has been restricted in Central California because of sea otter deaths and the killing of harbor seals, porpoises, sea lions and marine birds.

Unwanted animals are taken in the nearshore gill net fisheries. A 1984 Marine Mammals Commission report on the halibut gill net fishery in Morro Bay says, “The ratio of marketable vs. non-marketable species was extremely high (72% non-marketable). This demonstrates the non-selectivity of the fishery’s potential for damaging species of little or no present economic concern.”

A study of the same type of fishing between Point Conception and the Mexican border conducted by the California Dept. of Fish and Game has shown similar statistics but has yet to draw formal conclusions.

Coalition Executive Director Carl Nettleton claims that drift gill nets may be killing 20,000 to 50,000 blue sharks each year.

“These sharks are wasted, thrown back in the ocean dead. They have virtually no market because their flesh has an ammonia taste. The ecological impacts of such large removals of a species from the ecosystem are unknown at this time.”

Nettleton also reports that marlin swordfish also “have been taken illegally in the drift gill nets.” He estimates that in 1983, upward to 2,100 of these prized game fish may have perished in these nets.

Nettleton announced that the Coalition is considering requesting a closure to all gill net use in the nearshore areas that are in the whales’ migration path from Nov. 1 to March 30. Present legislation being carried by Senator Marion Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) seeks such area closures to drift gill nets, but could be modified to include all gill nets, Nettleton said.

Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) also is carrying legislation suitable for modification. Her bill focuses on overfishing by gill nets, which have caused depletion of the white sea bass and reduced halibut stocks in Southern California’s coastal waters.

Sailing Notes

Lyn Cherry of the Dana Point Yacht Club reports results of the club’s first race of its seven-race series. The overall winners of the race were three Catalina 27 skippers in the Catalina class. First place went to W. Luzzio of Condor, second to J. Gault of Mysterry and third to W. Clore on Vivace. “A” class led the race. Redline (F. Perez) was first, Tsunami (D. Danielson) was second and Invader (W. Pollock) was third. “B” class winner was Mucho Gusto (J. Morales), and “C” class first went to (Ecstasy) Al Johnson. DPYC Series Race No. 2 is set for May 4.

H. Werner Buck Enterprises will hold the 17th Annual Anaheim Boat Show from April 10-14 at the Anaheim Convention Center. Official show host is “Skipper” Alan Hale, actor.