Outdoor Notes : Net Ban Sought Along Whale Migratory Route

Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress), angered over recent incidents in which California gray whales have become entangled in gill nets, has requested that the director of the Department of Fish and Game immediately ban gill and trammel nets along the migratory route of the whales.

Allen sent a letter to Director Peter Bonatelli, saying: “I am aware of at least four incidents since March 10. Under the Federal Endangered Species Act, there is no allowable incidental take of the California gray whale. In addition, I have great concerns that the recently dropped calves are getting entangled in these nets.”

According to Curt Toucher, DFG information officer, four incidents were reported recently. One was unconfirmed, two whales were entangled and eventually freed unharmed, and one was found dead, entangled in a gill net.

Toucher said that the director has no authority to order such a ban, adding that it would have to be made on a federal level.

Jim Lecky, a marine mammals specialist with the National Marine Fisheries Service, said that isn’t likely.

“An order like that would come only if it was viewed (by the service) that the resource was in jeopardy, and there is a healthy population of whales so that’s clearly not the case,” he said.

On Wednesday, Allen introduced a bill (AB 2954), known as the Marine Resources Protection Act of 1988, which if passed would prohibit the use of gill and trammel nets within one nautical mile around the Channel Islands and within three nautical miles offshore between San Luis Obispo County and the Mexican border.

Montana game officials are planning a grizzly bear hunt and are accepting applications.

There are a couple of catches, however. Hunting will be allowed only by a single hunter and only when the state targets a particular bear for elimination--any grizzly causing damage on ranches along the Rocky Mountain East Front, either killing cattle or threatening people.

Also, the hunter--chosen by lottery--must be available to appear at the hunt site within 24 hours and have a license, which costs Montana residents $50 and non-residents $300.

The so-called damage hunt will run from April 15 through Sept. 30. The names of applicants will be taken through April 1 at the game department’s office in Great Falls.

Three Canadian government ministers and representatives of private conservation groups have agreed to come up with $5 million as a kind of “down payment” on the $1.5-billion North American waterfowl management plan, Canadian Environment Minister Tom McMillan said.

The money is to be matched by $5.2 million from the United States as a start of the 15-year program designed to bring the continent’s duck population, which dropped below 70 million in the early 1980s, back to the 100 million or more levels of the 1950s.

McMillan said the money was necessary to get started on the agreement, which was signed by the countries two years ago.

The City of Redondo, the 30-year-old fishing boat that was battered and sunk in January’s severe storms, has been raised and will be rebuilt by this summer, Redondo Sportfishing announced.

For the second straight year, California wildlife artist Bob Steiner has won the California duck stamp-art print competition, conducted by the California Waterfowl Assn. for the Department of Fish and Game.

Steiner’s winning entry of drake and hen mallards taking wing will be featured on the 1988-89 California duck stamp, with the funds going to Ducks Unlimited, Canada and California duck projects. Roughly $750,000 is raised annually by the sale of the stamps.

Briefly

Fly Fishing: A 7-week intermediate-to-advanced fly-tying course will be presented by the Can Fernando Valley’s Sierra Pacific Flyfishers beginning May 11 at the Senior Citizens’ Center of Van Nuys-Sherman Oaks Park.