OUTDOOR NOTES : Change in Mexico Offers Hope for Tuna Fishing

Fishermen and their love of tuna. . . .

They travel miles to battle the powerful fish. They spend huge amounts on tackle and boat tickets. The last few seasons have been extremely productive for the San Diego fleet, and experts say the tuna will cooperate again this summer.

Enter the Mexican government and its announcement last month that five tuna a day are too many for the recreational fisherman. Two are plenty, it says. Not so, say many Southland fishermen, changing their vacation plans and canceling reservations.

“Half the (Southern California) fleet is going to be hurt by this,” said Bob Fletcher, president of the Sportfishing Assn. of California.

Fletcher has been to Mexico City twice since the new regulations were announced. “The regulations that we had been complying with are fair and equitable, and the resource is not in jeopardy,” he says, and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission backs him up.

The Mexican Department of Fisheries, however, has not relaxed its stance.

“They didn’t hear any of it,” Fletcher said after returning from his most recent trip, last Friday. “All they decided was that a person doesn’t need more than a couple of fish.”

That was not the news the Southland sportfishing community was hoping for.

But Fletcher said all hope is not lost, thanks to recent developments within the Mexican Department of Fisheries.

Maria de Los Angeles Moreno, the secretary of fisheries who in 1989 drew praise for her hard-line stance against Japanese long-liners, resigned last Thursday.

Moreno’s resignation, some feel, stems from problems facing the department--such as that of the United States’ embargo of tuna caught by the Mexican fleet because the type of net it uses kills too many dolphins--and subsequent pressure from within the Mexican government.

Her replacement as secretary of fisheries is Guillermo Jimenez Morales. Will Morales be more sensitive to the complaints and concerns expressed by industry and government officials north of the border?

That remains to be seen. But Fletcher said he will seek an audience with Morales as soon as possible and insists that his travels thus far have not been entirely fruitless.

“Based on my discussions with tourism officials and the department of commerce people, it became clear that this attitude and this action was fairly unilateral in that (Moreno and her undersecretaries) never really coordinated this whole set of regulations with all the other parts of the administration,” Fletcher said. “And this could have something to do with why she was gently moved over.

“We’re hopeful that Mexico will be sensitive to the issues that have been raised, and we’ll try to deal with them quickly because we made it very clear that this is an issue that can’t just go on and on . . . because we won’t be here. And I think we made the point very well with everyone we met with.”

Don’t make plans yet, but there should be fish in the Owens Gorge this year for the first time since the 1950s.

California Department of Fish and Game and Los Angeles City Department of Water and Power officials toured the gorge on foot and by helicopter last Friday before announcing a preliminary agreement to reintroduce water to the gorge in phases, following a break March 5 in the powerhouse pipeline that bypassed the historic trophy trout fishery.

DWP workers started Monday to remove debris and old structures, and the first flows could start in mid-June.

“There’s going to be water and with water comes fish,” said Curtis Milliron, a DFG fisheries biologist.

However, fishing may not be allowed until permanent flows are established.

Briefly

SALTWATER--Cold water and lack of bait are being blamed for the lack of a “spring awakening” in Southland waters. Most of the action has taken place at Catalina, where barracuda to 10 pounds are showing in large numbers. The few boats traveling to Santa Rosa and San Miguel islands are reporting fair success with halibut. Randy Trier of Thousand Oaks, fishing aboard Ventura Sportfishing’s Pacific Dawn, managed to land a 28-pounder.

Corbina are beginning to show in the surf, but so far are reluctant to take the bait. Large halibut have not been so reluctant. Pete Gajic of Santa Monica, using a one-ounce Krocodile, took a 13-pound halibut from the surf on a stretch of beach in southern Malibu last Saturday. He also had catches of eight and seven pounds. Gajic, who often fishes from his surfboard, said colder-than-normal water and a recent run of grunion may have had something to do with the halibut intrusion near the beach. Offshore waters are still cold and another grunion run is predicted--though it is off limits to grabbers--for tonight through Saturday.

FRESHWATER--California Trout will be conducting a fin-clipping project at Fish Springs Hatchery in the Eastern Sierra as part of a plan to evaluate the growth and survival of trout planted in Crowley Lake. Prospective volunteers can contact Jim Edmondson at (818) 249-4460. . . .The South Coast chapter of Trout Unlimited will hold a banquet-auction Saturday from 6-10 p.m. at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. Proceeds of items sold--including fishing tackle, artwork, travel and fly plates--will help finance various conservation projects. Cost: $40. Details: (714) 724-8840. . . . Roy Richardson will teach a beginning-intermediate fly-tying class Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at the East Fork Fly Fishing Store in Irvine. Cost: $50.

HUNTING--A San Francisco Bay area resident had a top bid of $11,000 at an auction for the first opportunity to hunt a tule elk from the herd in Lone Pine. He will have the opportunity to take a bull two weeks before the general season opens next November. The money will go toward studies in elk management. . . . Raahauge’s annual shooting and hunting sports fair, featuring seminars, demonstrations and contests, will be held Friday through Sunday at Raahauge’s in Norco. Details: (714) 735-2361. . . . Hunting licenses for 1991-92 will go on sale May 20.

MISCELLANY--The Department of Fish and Game is planning to build an artificial reef--consisting of thousands of tons of quarry rock--slightly beyond Bataquitos Lagoon next week in Carlsbad. The reef will enhance habitat for a variety of marine life, including such sport fish as halibut and white seabass. . . . Abilities Expo ‘91--the largest show in the country devoted solely to products and services for the physically limited--will be held Friday through Sunday at the Anaheim Convention Center. . . . The Southern California Marine Assn.’s spring boat show is in progress through Sunday at the Pomona Fairplex.