Outdoor Notes / Pete Thomas : U.S. Fishermen Warned to Stay Out of Cuban Waters

Ray Scott, president of the 540,000-member Bass Anglers Sportsman Society, has taken it upon himself to spread the word that Americans fishing in Cuba are not only breaking the law, but are downright un-American.

This comes after a group of prominent American sportsmen were warned by the U.S. Treasury Department to drop their plans to go bass fishing in Cuba, or face fines of up to $50,000, prison terms of up to 10 years, or both.

“Not only are these trips illegal,” Scott said, “but they’re also immoral and give aid and comfort to the enemy. Every dollar that has slipped into Cuba, and we believe fishermen have been spending at least $500,000 a year there, can go to purchase bullets, grenades and other weapons of war on the world market to the further the destruction of democracy.”

Scott, who said his group has kept track of fishermen entering Cuba to fish its bass-rich waters, added that he has seen “literally hundreds of unsuspecting American fishermen going there, unaware that they were aiding and abetting the enemy.”

New hunts proposed to the Fish and Game Commission Feb. 5 by the Department of Fish and Game for 1988 include tule elk hunts and a four-zone mountain lion hunt.

Continuing hunts were also recommended for deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, bear and a second-year of limited desert bighorn sheep hunts.

Commissioners will review proposals and take public testimony at a second meeting March 4 in San Diego.

Although stopped by court orders in its bid for a mountain lion season last year, the DFG offered regulations almost identical to those offered last year.

The department said it has prepared an environmental document that is intended to address “cumulative impact” issues cited by a San Francisco superior court as grounds for stopping the hunt approved last year by the commission.

Two Woodland Hills residents pleaded no contest Tuesday to possessing bear claws for sale and were ordered to donate $1,000 to the Department of Fish and Game’s Wildlife Preservation Fund.

Bette J. Wildish, 49, and Mary J. Baratta, 55, were also ordered by Van Nuys Municipal Court Judge Alan Ellis to perform 200 hours of community service and were placed on three years’ informal probation.

The women were sentenced after entering their plea to one violation of a state Fish and Game Code section that prohibits the possession for sale of bear claws.

Wildish and Baratta were charged after undercover investigators from the DFG made a deal with them to buy a silver and bear claw belt buckle at a jewelry booth the women operated at a West Hollywood trade show. The purchase for $452 was completed at Baratta’s home last August.

Briefly Reminder: Applications for permits to hunt wild turkeys during the spring turkey season in eastern Tehama County must reach the DFG’s Redding office by 3 p.m., Feb. 25. . . . United Anglers of California, the state’s largest fishery conservation organization, will hold its annual fund-raising dinner April 2 at Dan Foley Park Recreation Center in Vallejo. For more information call (415) 845-3553. . . . Fly fishing: Fred Contaoi will present a slide show and speak on fly fishing for salmon and steelhead on Northern California rivers March 8 at 7:30 p.m. in the community room of Rio San Gabriel Park in Downey.