Scarce Tuna, Scant Profits : Fishing: Pickings of the sea are slim for renowned San Diego sport boats. For whatever reason, the tuna have gone elsewhere.

It was yet another in a seemingly endless string of disappointing days for the captain and crew of Producer, a 65-foot fishing vessel searching for elusive schools of tuna in the Pacific Ocean off Baja California.

From July through October, Producer’s rails are usually jammed with as many as 30 avid tuna enthusiasts who stand a good chance of catching their daily limit of bluefin, yellowfin, big eye, skipjack and the prized albacore.

But on this August day, there were just 16 paying customers, and no tuna to be found. “You could say there was a whole lot of nada off of Ensenada,” said a crew member.

Unfortunately for San Diego’s 80-boat sport-fishing fleet--known worldwide for superior fishing--there’s been a whole lot of nada this tuna season. The annual migration of tuna up the Baja coast has stalled about 150 miles south of San Diego, leaving the city’s boat crews and anglers frustrated.

The tuna are well within the grasp of San Diego’s longer-range fishing boats, which attract the few anglers willing to pay well for several days, or several weeks, on the water. Earlier this month, for example, a pair of multi-day boats pulled in hundreds of yellowfin and bluefin tuna.

But the fish remain largely out of range for most of San Diego’s boats, which are equipped for trips of a day or less. Boats like Producer usually travel about 85 miles south into Mexican waters before heading back to San Diego.

Ray Sobieck, Producer’s owner and skipper, isn’t sure why the tuna haven’t swum farther north this year.

The best explanations are water temperature, water clarity and the little-understood “El Nino” phenomenon that alters Pacific water temperatures and currents, devastating ocean fishing. But Sobieck said the fish will eventually move north and that he’s hoping nature will reduce the economic shock by extending the season into November.

The lack of tuna hasn’t escaped the notice of devoted tuna fishermen who regularly scan the sports sections of daily newspapers for the previous day’s catch. Some prefer the less-crowded conditions of the early season and will gamble on the catch, but many won’t book trips until they know plenty of tuna are biting.

During a recent week, Producer spent three days tied to its dock at H&M; Landing on San Diego Bay because reservations failed to materialize. “If we can show people fish counts, they’ll come. . . . They always do,” said Sobieck, who described conditions off Ensenada as “spotty at best.”

Sobieck, who has worked on fishing boats out of San Diego since the late 1960s, said, “I’ve never seen it like this. And, the (captain) I used to work for, who has 15 years more experience than me, said he’s never seen it like this.”

Hoping for a break on this particular trip, Producer left its dock near Shelter Island in San Diego Bay about 11 p.m. the previous day, headed for the “outer banks,” an often-fished area southwest of Ensenada where other boats had encountered fish earlier in the week.

The 16 anglers on board drifted off to sleep in the ship’s bunks while the twin-engined boat began its trip south.

Shortly before 6 a.m., the smell of coffee and bacon wafted into the hold from the galley as Sobieck called over the ship’s public address system for five anglers to report for the first of several hourlong trolling shifts.

Francisco Palacios, a Yuma, Ariz., businessman, was the first to show for the first shift. While it’s nice to catch fish, Palacios said, it’s more important to “put your mind on the water, the scenery. . . . You can use it to relax your entire self. . . . It’s really so much more than just fishing.”

Later, when it gradually became apparent that there were no tuna to be caught, most fishermen abandoned their expensive rods and reels for a snack in Producer’s well-stocked galley or a rest in their bunks. John Masterson, a hospital administrator and volunteer soccer referee from Bakersfield, spent much of the day in the galley, studying collegiate soccer rules in preparation for an upcoming recertification test.

But the bunks and galley emptied quickly when Sobieck occasionally reported that his sophisticated electronic gear had picked up what appeared to be schools of fish. Alas, most often the gear was wrong.

For Producer’s customers--who spend about $100 each, including $4.85 for daily fishing permits required by the Mexican government--it was just sport. But Sobieck was worried about business.

Operating the boat is a complex and costly undertaking. A percentage of ticket sales goes to the Port of San Diego, H&M; Landing and local bait companies. Producer, which would cost about $850,000 to replace, burns about 300 gallons of diesel fuel during a daylong fishing trip. Fuel prices, which went “insane last year” because of the Middle East war, are hovering at about 90 cents a gallon, said the spokesman for one San Diego fueling station.

Sobieck typically travels with two crew members who are qualified to pilot the boat plusfive other crew members. In addition to paying crew wages, he pays for insurance, permits--including about $5,808 to the Mexican government for a one-year boat license--and maintenance.

The slow season also causes tough times for boat crews. Deckhands, who earn about $50 a day, depend heavily on tips. When the fish aren’t biting, tips fall off.

The tuna shortage is the latest in a series of jolts to San Diego’s sport-fishing fleet. Boat owners were rocked during the last year by skyrocketing fuel prices. In the spring, Mexican fishery regulators adopted, but later rescinded, a string of stringent rules that would have put the fleet out of business just as the tourist season began.

While the sport-fishing fleet has not gathered specific data on its contribution to San Diego’s economy, it is recognized as a “significant outdoor recreational attraction,” according to Al Reese, spokesman for the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau. The fleet provides employment for an estimated 400 people on the boats but also generates business for bait companies, hotels, five boat landings, restaurants and tackle shops.

“We can tell when the fleet is doing well,” said Mike Morton, president of Brigantine Corp., which operates two restaurants near where the fleet is docked. “It’s a big source of business for us during the summer.”

Sobieck, the winner of two recent sport-fishing tournaments sponsored by the San Diego Sportfishing Council, apologized repeatedly to his customers for Producers’ failure to find tuna. But he did his best to ensure that the anglers didn’t return empty-handed.

After nine hours of unsuccessful trolling for tuna down south, he steered the boat toward the Coronado Islands off Tijuana. Within an hour of arrival, the group, with help from the crew, landed 34 smaller fish, including some 3- to 8-pound bonitos and barracuda.

The brief flurry of action at the Coronado Islands, a popular and usually productive destination for many of San Diego’s short-range boats, was “something nice to end the day,” said one angler who landed a handful of barracuda and an 8-pound bonito that won a jackpot contributed by anglers as a prize for the best catch. “But, I’d trade it all for one big eye,” he said.

Slow Days for Sport Fishing Passenger totals (in thousands) Nearly halfway through the tuna fishing season, San Diego sport fishing fleet specializing in one-day trips for anglers is doing poorly, compared to the past five years.

Total Number of Fish Caught** (in thousands) * through Aug. 20 ** Catch includes albacore, yellowtail, bluefin, big eye and yellowtail. Source: San Diego’s sport fishing fleet.