Wildlife Patrols Off Coast to Be Cut Back

Fewer wildlife officers will patrol the waters off the Ventura County coast after the state slashed an already pared-down budget of the California Department of Fish and Game, officials say.

The reductions in patrol boats and officers will result in fewer arrests in Ventura County waters and elsewhere for violations of state laws designed to protect fisheries and wildlife, said DeWayne Johnston, chief of Wildlife Protection for the department.

“We’ve already lost 10% of our force over the last three years,” Johnston said. “If the economy doesn’t recover, we’re going to be in big trouble.”

The department suffered a 15% cut in an across-the-board rollback to all state departments, officials said.

The cuts will cause Fish and Game to reduce personnel and vessels in the department’s nine-boat fleet, which patrols waters from Eureka to San Diego. Johnston said all the details have not been worked out, but the reductions in staff and vessels are being done in phases.

The 100-foot-long Hammerhead, which is stationed at Long Beach and regularly patrols waters around the Channel Islands, will be sold or dry-docked, he said.

The 40-foot Yellowtail stationed at the Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard was spared from the cuts. But it will spend less time in local waters because it will be drawn into San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties to help fill in for fleet reductions there.

Johnston said the fleet is responsible for apprehending both commercial and sport fishermen who break wildlife protection laws.

“We didn’t want to reduce our marine patrols because coastal protection is a high priority with the department,” Johnston said. But the cuts were so deep, Johnston said the department had no choice.

“No one is happy over the choices,” he said.