OUTDOOR NOTES : Assembly Bill to Ban Gill Nets in Southland Is Dealt Setback

The fight to ban gill nets in Southland waters just keeps getting tougher.

The latest setback for assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress) and the backers of Assembly Bill 1, which basically would ban gill nets within three miles of the coast from Point Arguello to the Mexican border and in waters less than 420 feet deep around the Channel Islands, came in the form of a letter written by Jim Costa, chairman of the Assembly’s Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.

Costa informed Allen, author of the bill, that the long-awaited hearing on the issue, scheduled for Nov. 10 in Long Beach, must be canceled because the budget is exhausted and only a few of the committee members would be able to attend.

Costa suggested a January hearing in Sacramento.

This infuriated Allen, who claimed that there would have been a supporting force of between 1,500 and 2,000 people at the Long Beach hearing.

“Now we’re not going to be able to have people go there and talk about their concerns,” she said. “We planned on taking (committee members) and showing them some of the industry, where they make the gear and so on. They won’t be able to see the on-site situation, which is what they said they wanted to do.”

Phil Troy, West Coast representative of Salt Water Sportsman magazine and a member of the AB 1 advisory committee, agreed with Allen. “The fact that Sacramento can be so blatant is an eye-opener in itself,” he said. “Costa (last winter) said we pointed out a lot of things that his committee wasn’t aware of, and the only thing to do, before they could vote on this, (would be) to have an interim hearing and come down and find out about gill nets so they could vote properly.”

Responding to this, Edna Maita, the Assembly committee’s senior consultant, said Allen has always been treated fairly.

“We bent over backwards trying to accommodate (Allen) and to be always fair, and make sure that her issues and her feelings and her people have got a fair hearing in Sacramento,” she said. Of the hearing taking place in Sacramento, Maita said: “Her bill gets a whole new hearing, with three to four hours testimony.”

Meanwhile, AB 1 sits in limbo. And few, including Allen, really give it a chance.

What will happen in January?

“There’s going to be another hearing, in committee. No one will be there, and then they’ll vote against AB 1,” Troy predicted. “What’s unfair is that they’re holding a bill that determines the future of Southern California fishing, and they won’t even have a hearing in Southern California.”

Said Allen, who is already busy working on a new and tougher initiative plan for the November, 1990, ballot: “This has been an uphill battle from day one. It’s not been an easy fight, and I’m the only one in Sacramento really carrying the fight.”

Subsequent to last week’s story in The Times on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of northeastern Minnesota, U.S. Forest Service Chief F. Dale Robertson ruled to keep the three motorized portages open.

Although motors generally are prohibited in designated wilderness areas, Robertson concluded from tests conducted with well-conditioned Forest Service personnel that while “portaging by non-motorized means can be done, the risk to health and safety of portagers should be taken into account in determining feasibility . . . (in an area) hours away from medical attention.”

The Forest Service expects the decision to be challenged by the Sierra Club, Friends of the Boundary Waters and other environmental groups.

Said Gary Gotchnik, who runs one of the motorized concessions out of Wilderness Outfitters in Ely, Minn.: “At least we’ve got the Forest Service on our side.”

Briefly

One of the first tule elk hunting seasons since the early 1970s is set to open Nov. 4, as tags have already been issued to about 80 persons. Attempts last year to have a hunt for the animals approved were defeated in a Sacramento Superior Court--the result of a petition filed by the Committee for the Preservation of Tule Elk, which said the DFG had failed to present information properly on the various environmental studies involving the species. Tule elk are said to number as high as 2,500 in Inyo County, where the hunt is scheduled to take place.

Extremely low chukar and quail counts caused by prolonged drought conditions have resulted in the closure of the China Lake Naval Weapons Center upland game bird hunt, the DFG announced. The center, located in Kern County, opened for limited hunting--four days in late October and early November--in 1987 after a five-year hiatus.

Norman Weinstock of Tarzaza caught a 624-pound black marlin--a catch confirmed by the Palmilla Hotel’s Dave Liles--last Saturday while fishing near the Gordo Banks off Cabo San Lucas. His partner, Barry Fischer, caught and released an estimated 350-pound blue marlin, and his group of five caught a total of 36 yellowfin tuna, two wahoo and 31 dorado in three days’ fishing.

The Alaska Division of Sport Fish reported that 64% of large rainbow trout it captured by electrofishing last year suffered death or spinal injuries. The practice has been suspended pending studies. Smaller fish are less affected because they conduct less electricity.

CalTrout reports that the Department of Fish and Game and the Walker River Irrigation District have reached a draft agreement to avert a recurrence of the draining of Bridgeport Reservoir that wiped out trophy trout in the East Walker River a year ago.

The Valencia/Greater Los Angeles Balloon Race Spectacular--billed as Los Angeles’ first major hot air balloon race--is scheduled Saturday and Sunday at Magic Mountain. Gates open at 6 a.m. Admission is $3, with children under 10 free. Proceeds go to the United Way.

Don Kent, director of the Sea World Research Institute, will report on the progress of the Ocean Resource Enhancement and Hatcheries Project, which for the last five years has been studying the feasibility of enhancing marine fisheries using hatchery technology, at the San Diego and the Sea seminar tonight at 7 p.m. in room 204 of San Diego State’s Serra Hall.

The 21st annual Southern California Sail & Power Boat Show will be held Friday through Oct. 29 at the Long Beach Convention Center.

Fly fishing activities: Free beginning fly-tying classes are being offered by the Long Beach Casting Club on Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. at Recreation Park, Long Beach, with enrollment at first meeting. . . . International angler Chuck Fothergill will be featured at the Sierra Pacific Flyfishers’ monthly dinner Thursday night at 6:30 at the Odyssey Restaurant in Mission Hills. Information: (818) 785-7306.