HUNTINGTON BEACH : Surfers, Anglers at Odds Over Pier Use

Officials may consider creating a new city job of wharfmaster to keep the peace on the Huntington Beach pier, particularly between surfers and anglers who are competing for space in the ocean below.

The pier turf war has escalated in recent weeks, Community Services Director Ron Hagan said Friday. There have been reports of anglers casting their hooks into surfers and their boards, with surfers retaliating by grabbing the lines to pull fishing poles into the water, he said. People have also thrown bottles at the wave riders below, he said.

The situation recently became so heated that one surfer got out of the water, walked out on the pier and attempted to throw a fisherman over the side, Hagan said.

Huge crowds that have flocked to the pier since its opening on July 18 have contributed to other problems, Hagan said. Skateboarders and bicyclists illegally ride out on the pier and run into people. Anglers have cut up their fish and left “blood and guts” on the decks and benches, he said.

A knife-wielding fisherman was arrested this week when he allegedly threatened a man walking on the pier, Hagan said. The stroller complained about the fisherman cleaning his fish on the bench and asked him to use the sink installed on the pier for that purpose. The fisherman swore at him and brandished his knife.

The victim called police, who arrested the fisherman when they found four outstanding warrants against him, Hagan said.

“No wonder you can’t have world peace,” Hagan said. “You can’t have peace on the pier.”

Hagan said that officials hope to keep tensions down until after Labor Day, the traditional end to the busy summer season, without resorting to imposing new regulations. A possible compromise, Hagan said, would be to permit fishing only on the south side of the pier when there are south-breaking waves.

Hagan said he sees the role of the wharfmaster, if such a position is approved by the City Council, as an arbitrator of disputes and a public relations person for the city.

Mayor Jim Silva said anglers can hurl their lines only about 20 yards from the side of the pier because they are required to cast underhanded. “There shouldn’t be a problem,” he said. “The Huntington Beach pier has always been a fishing pier.”

Silva said he wouldn’t support creating a new position of wharfmaster “in these tight budget times.”

Councilman Don MacAllister also said there may be no need for a wharfmaster. “My feeling is . . . ‘Come on, guys, let’s work together and stop being kids in the sand box,’ ” he said. “We’ve not had problems in the past. Why do we have them now?”

MacAllister said he favors having a portable international no-fishing sign that can be rolled up and down the pier, banning fishing in the shallow waters where the waves may be breaking that day.

Robert Hutton, 21, a veteran surfer, said he believes strong feelings developed because the pier had been closed so long and surfers had come to believe they had no competition for the area.

Surfing is popular at the pier because sand builds up around the pilings, causing the size of the waves to increase, he said.