Sewage Spill Puts Kelp Beds in Harm’s Way : Economy: Businesses that rely on the environmentally sensitive area off Point Loma are jeopardized by effluent from ruptured pipe.

The massive sewage spill off Point Loma promises to sully San Diego’s carefully cultivated image as a tourism mecca, and threatens catastrophe for several local businesses whose livelihoods are tied to the giant kelp beds off San Diego County.

Already, one small, specialized business has been hit hard by the spill: divers who pluck sea urchins off Point Loma to be turned into sushi.

“We’re not buying from off Point Loma until this thing is cleared,” said Dave Rudie, spokesman for Catalina Offshore Products, which processes the divers’ catch for market in the United States and Japan. “We’ll buy from off of La Jolla or San Clemente Island, but we’re just not going to buy off of Point Loma.”

Ocean currents seem to be driving the partly treated effluent to the south, away from the main body of the kelp beds. But marine biologists worry that the environmentally sensitive plant could be damaged if the massive spill isn’t quickly contained, and sportfishing companies fear that fish in the area could eventually be declared unfit for consumption.

Most San Diegans come into contact with kelp only after storms wash strands of the aquatic plants onto local beaches. But Catalina Offshore is only one of a handful of local companies whose economic health is closely tied to the state-owned kelp beds that dot the ocean between San Diego and Monterey.

* Kelco, a San Diego-based division of Merck & Co., has harvested kelp off San Diego since 1929. The company’s bayfront processing plant extracts algin, a chemical byproduct that improves the consistency of food products, stabilizes printing pastes and is used to manufacture fine paper.

* Damage to the kelp beds would also hurt San Diego’s financially struggling sportfishing fleet, which each day sends boats on half-day trips to the nutrient-rich beds that serve as a breeding ground for a variety of fish.

* The spill could also endanger the economic health of a number of small companies and individuals who harvest lobster, sea cucumber and abalone, biologists said.

Kelco, which harvests the lion’s share of the more than 100,000 tons of kelp taken each year from the beds, is “closely monitoring” the spill, according to company spokesman Steve Zapoticzny. Kelco most recently harvested kelp off Point Loma in early January.

“There’s no immediate impact on us (because) there’s usually little kelp to harvest at this time of year,” Zapoticzny said Thursday. “Longer-term, it remains to be seen” what the millions of gallons of effluent will do to the kelp beds.

Kelco, which uses large seagoing harvesters to trim the kelp “canopy” that sits just below the water’s surface, has witnessed relatively minor sewage spills in the past, Zapoticzny said.

But the spill that was discovered earlier this week about 3,000 feet offshore represents “uncharted territory” for scientists who study the kelp beds, said Ron McPeak, Kelco’s chief marine biologist. “This is the first time we’ve ever had anything like this happen. . . . It’s hard for us to know exactly what’s going to happen.”

McPeak said the spill could damage or kill “a few hundred acres” of young kelp plants to the south of the broken pipe that began growing in 1991. McPeak, who flew over the beds Sunday, said the break appears to have occurred “on the south or southwestern edge” of the 4-mile-long bed that stretches north from Point Loma.

However, if the spill hits the main body of the kelp bed, it could produce more bad news for San Diego’s already troubled sportfishing fleet, because many local boats make half-day trips to the kelp, home to a number of species, including bass, bonito and barracuda.

The spill hasn’t forced sportfishing boats to modify their schedules, said Phil Lobred, general manager of H&M; Sportfishing Landings, which has about 20 charter sportfishing boats. The city’s three fishing boat landings are telling customers who call with questions that fishing conditions haven’t been hurt by the spill, Lobred said.

The fleet operators said they fish far north of the contaminated water and that the fish are safe to eat. But Lobred said he is worried that, should the spill last for a long time, “biologists will be telling people not to eat” fish caught locally.

Last year was a dismal one for the city’s world-renowned sportfishing fleet, largely because tuna--the main attraction for fishermen--didn’t migrate far north enough to waters close to San Diego’s boats.

The spill has also hurt the small community of professional divers who pluck abalone, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and lobster from the Pacific. Until the spill, divers commonly pulled their harvest from the sewer pipe itself, which serves as an artificial reef, divers said.

While some Point Loma sea life is not yet contaminated, buyers are hesitant to take a chance. That’s why Rudie’s company insists that divers go elsewhere. Catalina Offshore wants to take no chances with its reputation, he said.

In addition, the divers themselves are leery of swimming anywhere near the contaminated water.

“A lot of guys have lost half their income or all their income right now,” said Bob Shea, president of a local divers association. “We’re waiting to see what happens with disaster relief aid situation. We’re going to put a claim in against the city for (divers whose) income is at zero” because of the spill.

The spill could stress other parts of the ocean as well, Shea said, because divers who are prohibited from working in the Point Loma area will migrate elsewhere.

“Having (Point Loma) taken away is bad because it will concentrate commercial divers in remaining areas,” Shea said. “When you get (all the divers) working the same area for too long, it puts a dangerous impact on the resource.”

As word of the spill spread around the country, San Diego’s tourism industry began damage control.

“We’re sorry to see (the spill) made the front page of the New York Times,” said Al Reese, vice president of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau. “It seems that it got a little bit more negative coverage than it warranted.”

Reese said the spill is an “emotionally charged issue” that could have a negative impact on the financially strapped tourism industry if it continues for any length of time.

For the tourism industry, the only “positive” news was that the spill occurred in mid-winter rather than during the peak vacation season, Reese said.

Reese said it is too early to determine the spill’s long-term impact.

“A great deal will depend on how long it remains a hot news story,” he said.

“I certainly hope that (San Diego) doesn’t become known in the future for its sun, sand and sewage,” Lobred said.