More La Jolla Beach Considered for Reserve

The fate of La Jolla’s popular beaches hangs in the balance as state officials consider a 2-mile stretch of coast as the future site of one of four ecological reserves mandated by the passage of Proposition 132.

The initiative, approved by voters in November, 1990, bans the use of gill and trammel nets within 3 miles of California’s shore and calls for the establishment of four reserves for marine research beginning Jan. 1, 1994.

The state Department of Fish and Game has selected a dozen 2-mile stretches of California coast as possible reserve sites. The only one in San Diego County encompasses La Jolla Cove, La Jolla Shores and part of Black’s Beach. The new reserve would expand to both the north and south an existing 2-mile ecological reserve.

The suggestion to designate additional shoreline has sparked an outcry in La Jolla, where residents and water users fear a ban on all recreational activities such as swimming, surfing and sport fishing in those waters.

“We’re not saying, no, don’t have a reserve in San Diego County, but we are saying let’s look at it from a more reasonable position,” said Alan Pitcairn, a director of the San Diego Oceans Foundations, an ocean advocacy group.

More than 2.4 million people last year visited beaches that stretch from La Jolla Cove to Torrey Pines, said Lifeguard Bob Albers of the San Diego City Lifeguard Service.

Opponents to the new reserve are lining up in an effort to keep the waters open for use. They include the La Jolla Town Council, the San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park Committee and San Diego City Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer.

The Department of Fish and Game has asked the state attorney general for an opinion on whether swimming and other activities could continue in reserve waters.

State officials emphasized Monday that they are far from picking the final sites. The decision will rest with the Department of Fish and Game, the Fish and Game Commission and the Marine Resources Advisory Committee.

“This particular area (the La Jolla coast) has generated an awful lot of negative comments, so the likelihood of it becoming one of the sites is probably pretty low,” said Rob Collins, a marine resources supervisor with the Department of Fish and Game.

A public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at A Place to Meet, across from Sea World, where state officials will update the public on the selection process and gauge public sentiment on the issue.

Collins said opposition has plagued many of the other coastal sites under consideration.

“A lot of people think maybe these reserves might be a good idea, but they don’t want them to affect them,” Collins said.

After the public hearing, the Marine Resources Advisory Committee will whittle the list down to six sites. The state will prepare impact reports and publish the results, Collins said.

Establishing the four additional reserves was just one component of Proposition 132, which aimed to ban the use of gill or trammel nets. The first type of net traps fish by the gills, the other entangles them. Both nets came under fire because marine mammals were becoming entangled in them and drowning.

A provision of the measure grants California fishermen who use the nets a one-time payment equivalent to a year’s catch. The money will come from fees added into annual fishing licenses.