Lobster Season--With a Catch : Commercial Fishermen Begin Annual Haul, Lament Public’s 5-Day Head Start

As their boats set out through the fog Wednesday, commercial fishermen embarking on the first day of the lobster season were both optimistic and angry.

The optimism stemmed from the lively opening day catch: Members of the local 20-boat fleet shuttling in and out of the harbor were averaging two to three lobsters per trap, considered a good haul.

“I’ve had a good day already,” said Dan Cludy of San Clemente, holding about 80 lobsters aboard his boat, the Sea Swift, about 11 a.m. “Maybe this means it’ll be a good season.”

But the high expectations were tempered by concern among fishermen up and down the coast. Because for the first time in the history of the lobster fishing industry, sportfishermen, those who don’t use traps, were given a five-day head start and allowed to launch their season Saturday. The change not only angered the commercial fishing industry, it blindsided it.

“It was all a surprise to us,” said Peter Tresselt, 58, a commercial fisherman from Laguna Beach who has been working the local waters for 30 years, even before Dana Point Harbor was installed. “Fish and Game changed the rules and then we heard about it after the fact. Everyone’s upset.”

The new rule did not bode well for the already testy relationship between the commercial and sportfishing industries, which are increasingly becoming rivals for the strained lobster resources along the Southern California coast. Commercial fishermen claim poaching by divers is one of their biggest headaches.

In addition to that, commercial fishermen consider the rule change another slap in the face.

“Commercial fishermen get a bad rap all the way around,” Tresselt said. “The common conception is that we make a lot of money by dragging in hundreds of pounds of lobsters every day. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. The bottom line is fuel costs are going up, more and more fishermen are competing for the resources, and it’s getting harder and harder for us to make a living.”

State Department of Fish and Game spokesmen said the rule change was made independently by the state Fish and Game Commission because, traditionally, most sportfishing seasons start on weekends.

“I think there is some justification for it,” said Gene Fleming, a senior marine biologist for the department, based in Sacramento. “To have seasons open on the weekend generally provides more opportunity to the sportfishermen who often fish on those days.”

The commission is powerless to change the rules for commercial fishermen anyway, since that industry is regulated by the state Legislature, Fleming said. Commercial fishermen this year were allowed to place their traps in the water on Saturday, but they could not bait them until Tuesday, Fleming said.

Fish and Game spokesman Patrick Moore acknowledged that the new rule has caused an uproar.

“There has been a lot of stink about it,” Moore said. “One group tried to get a court order to stop it, claiming they were not notified. I imagine there will be a lawsuit over it.”

Wednesday’s good opening-day catch might allow the entire episode to blow over, said Ralph Sugg, a Fish and Game warden for the past 13 years. Sugg and fellow wardens John Fallan and Dan Sforza spent opening day offshore on the department’s 24-foot boat, Barracuda, checking licenses and the sizes of the lobsters being caught.

“I saw one lobster all of Saturday night,” said Sugg, a Lake Forest resident. “We had four-foot surf that night. The danger of the sportfishermen getting a head start didn’t pan out. As it turned out, there was nothing really to be upset about.”

The conflict between commercial fishermen and sportfishermen goes beyond opening night, however, Tresselt claims. Commercial fishermen who rely on unattended traps scattered up and down the coast say divers are constantly poaching.

“In Laguna Beach, where I fish all the time, poaching has become the most serious problem I face,” said Tresselt, who has about 200 traps off the city’s coast. “Believe me, I understand sports divers, because I dive too. And not every diver is a thief, but enough are to make it a big problem.”

On any given weekend during the season, 15 to 20 of his traps will be opened, and often two lobsters stolen out of each trap, Tresselt said. It has become a problem “that literally costs me thousands of dollars each year.”

Since commercial lobster fishermen cannot check every trap every day, a burglarized trap can sit unused and un-baited for days.

“If I don’t check a trap that’s been poached, it sits with the trap open and it won’t be working until I get back to it,” Tresselt said. “You won’t find a lobster fisherman around who doesn’t say he gets hurt by poachers.”

Sugg agreed that catching a poacher and proving a lobster has been stolen is difficult. “We have to set up a sting operation and catch somebody in the act to do it,” he said.

Sugg and partners Fallan of Huntington Beach and Sforza of Mission Viejo caught some undersized lobsters being shipped back to port and they cited the fishermen. Legal lobster size is 3 1/4 inches from the rear of the eye socket to the rear of the body shell.

The amount of the fines is up to a judge, Fallan said.

Most of the fishermen want their lobsters to be just the legal size and not much larger, Sugg said. “Right about legal size is about a 1 1/2-pound lobster,” Sugg said.

With wholesale prices this year expected to be about $7 a pound, a legal sized lobster fetches about $10 for the fisherman, Sugg said. If a fisherman has 100 traps, he can do well. The season lasts until the first Wednesday in March, he said.

“The best time is only early in the season,” Sugg said. “Things slow down after about mid-December.”

Concerns about overfishing have been lessened by constant vigilance by wardens, traps that allow smaller, younger lobsters to escape, and the size limit, Sugg said.

“A lobster will be 7-10 years old with 10 breeding seasons before it is legal size,” Sugg said.

Because they depend on the lobsters for their livelihood, commercial fishermen are as concerned about dwindling resources as anyone else, Tresselt said. The South County coast used to be home to about 500 traps. Currently, there are an estimated 4,500.

Tresselt is more concerned about the price of wholesale lobsters. Many commercial fishermen now sell to wholesalers who can fly the lobsters to the Orient and get more than $20 a pound for them, he said.

“Taiwan seems to be where many of them are going now,” he said. “I’d hate to see the local people priced out of the market. Unfortunately, the price is not up to us. It all depends on the demand.”

Tale of the Lobster Some facts on the California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) : Range: from Point Conception to southern Baja California. Has no claws, which sets it apart from the Maine lobster. Has five sets of legs. The female has crab pincers on the last set of legs. Female lays bright orange eggs during spring and summer. Makes audible noises by rubbing long whiskers in front, much like grasshopper or cricket. Life span is up to 30 years. Some lobsters weigh up to between 15 and 20 pounds. Females tend to get a little larger than the males. At legal size for fishing, most lobsters are 7 to 10 years old. Humans are their primary predator, although octopuses like them as do giant sea bass when they are vulnerable to molting. They molt about three times a year. Source: William A. Newman, professor of biological oceanography, Scripps Institution of Oceanography