Hatching a Plan for More Fish : Newport Bay Project Aims to Replenish Dwindling White Sea Bass Population

Thousands of visitors swarmed to the waterfront Friday and were subjected to highly unusual treatment.

They were dunked in huge tanks of water on trucks, hauled onto a ferry and shot out of a water hose. They loved it.

These visitors were no ordinary beach-goers. They are 3,000 white sea bass that are part of an unusual project to help nature regain its balance--and fishermen boost their catch--in Newport Bay.

“I think those fish are finding this as exciting as we are,” said Rolf Mall, a state Department of Fish and Game official who watched the unusual goings-on.

The sea bass minnows were hatched in San Diego. They are now temporarily lodging in two underwater tanks in Newport Bay, about a quarter-mile south of Balboa Pavilion. The baby fish will live in the offshore tanks for about five months, growing bigger and stronger until they are able to live on their own. Then they’ll be released in the harbor area, replenishing the dwindling stock of California’s once booming crop of white sea bass.

In unusual ceremonies Friday, state officials, fishing enthusiasts and environmentalists opened the new home for the baby white sea bass. Called a “grow-out pen,” the offshore device is a floating dock akin to a cattle feedlot. The baby fish will be fed pellets daily as they swim in their bay-water tanks on the dock. Ultimately, many of the fingerlings will become big 40-pound sport fish--future challenges to fishermen and dining delights for thousands of gourmets.

Until about 30 years ago, Southern California’s ocean waters roiled with white sea bass. But development of waterfront areas, human population growth, pollution and excessive commercial fishing greatly thinned out the species, state officials said.

“California now has only one-tenth of the white sea bass it had 30 years ago,” said Steve Crooke, a senior marine biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game.

“We used to have about a million white sea bass in our waters, and now the estimate is down to about 100,000.”

With the dwindling numbers in mind, Crooke, Mall and other state and local officials praised the launching of a way to increase white sea bass population. They noted that volunteer efforts by sport fishermen provided the necessary work and money.

Volunteers from the Balboa Angling Club are going to feed the 3,000 minnows each day, Crooke said. And Mall, who is the head of the Department of Fish and Game marine resources division, said the money to build the grow-out pens came from the Pacific Fisheries Enhancement Foundation, a fund-raising arm of the Balboa Angling Club.

The foundation’s president, Jock Albright of Corona del Mar, said the grow-out pens cost about $33,000 total. Donations came from individuals, clubs and businesses, he said.

The grow-out pens are two underwater tanks, seven feet deep, that are on the floating dock. The wooden dock is 50 feet long by 24 feet wide and has a protective fence around it.

“The sheriff’s Harbor Patrol people are going to be looking out for this” dock, Albright said.

The white sea bass fingerlings were hatched at the Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute in San Diego. The tiny fish, about four to five inches long, were put into water tanks on two trucks and hauled into Newport Beach on Friday morning. A Balboa ferry hauled the trucks to the floating dock that contains the grow-out pens.

A wide-mouthed green hose flushed the fish from the truck tanks into the grow-out pens. Onlookers whooped and applauded. “Oh! They’re nice-sized!” said one woman.

Albright said future loads of minnows will be somewhat younger and about three to four inches long. The fish will be about seven inches long when they are released from the grow-out pens. White sea bass must grow to 28 inches before they can legally be caught, and state officials said this growth process takes about five years.

Jim Paulk of Huntington Beach, director of United Anglers of Southern California, said fish will continually be grown and released in the Newport Beach pens. The United Anglers are coordinating volunteer efforts to restore white sea bass, Paulk said.

One spectator Friday asked marine biologist Crooke to explain why white sea bass are so popular with fishing enthusiasts.

“This fish becomes fairly large,” Crooke said. “It can grow up to 80 pounds, although most of the sport catching is in the 20- to 40-pound range. They’re very good to eat, and they fight fairly hard too. They’re also an impressive fish to look at: a 35- to 40-pound white sea bass is about four feet long.”

Newport Beach’s grow-out pen for white sea bass becomes the second in the state. The pilot project was launched several months ago in waters off Ventura County. More grow-out pens for white sea bass are scheduled in the near future in other areas of the state, including one each at Marina del Rey and at Redondo Beach’s King Pier, both in Los Angeles County.

The result, according to marine experts, will be a resurgence of one of California’s best loved sport fish.

State official Mall said the restocking is part of prudent planning.

“The white sea bass is not yet an endangered species,” he said. “The efforts we’re undertaking are to keep it from being an endangered species. This fish has suffered from a lot of development along the coast. It’s been slowly disappearing, and now we want to help it out.”

Stocking Plan

Thirty years ago, about 1 million white sea bass lived in California waters. Now, due to overfishing and pollution, that number has dwindled to about 100,000. Importing minnows from San Diego to the Newport Harbor “grow-out” facility is expected to revitalize the fish’s numbers here within a few months.

About 3,000 three-inch fish were supplied by Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute.

The fish will grow to their seven-inch release size in five months.

They will be tagged with coded wire tags before release so fish experts can determine their migration patterns.

Hatchery operational costs are being funded by a $1 tax on every Southern California saltwater fishing license.

The grow-out pen is like a pontoon dock, equipped with underwater predator barriers, automatic feeders, surface pollution screens and perimeter fencing topped with plastic webbing.

Two pens can each hold up to 20,000 white sea bass.

Newport harbor master provided the mooring site.

Source: California Department of Fish and Game

Sea Bass Portrait Name: White sea bass (Atractoscion nobilis) Size: Immature two to four inches; juveniles 24 inches; adults up to five feet. Markings: Very young are silvery, brown or golden; juveniles are silver-gray with series of dark bars on sides; adults are gray-blue, bronze or almost yellow. Food: Mobile prey including sardines, mackerel, anchovies,squid. Spawn: April though August. Life span: 20 years plus. Habitat: Varies depending on age. Very young live in drift algae just behind surf line; juveniles occupy bays, shallow coastal waters near rocks or kelp; adults found alone or in schools near reefs, kelp beds; during winter, large adults move into deep water, 120 to 350 feet. Source: California Department of Fish and Game