A Real Catch-22: Too Many Fish for One Boat

Two men were plucked from the ocean 14 miles off Dana Point on Tuesday after their fishing boat sank, apparently because they had caught too many fish and put them all at one end, Coast Guard officials said.

“They had too many fish and the tail end went awash,” Petty Officer Fransico Lopez said. “The boat went under--I guess taking all the fish with it unless they stuffed fish in their pockets.”

Men and fish were found floating when the Coast Guard arrived at 6:10 p.m.

Ron Cochran, 29, of Irvine, owner of the 21-foot boat Ponga , and Darrel Beach, 30, of Redondo Beach, made an SOS call at 5:15 p.m. and said the boat was taking on water. Within a few minutes after the Coast Guard and two helicopters arrived at 6:10 p.m., it had sunk.

“It was engulfed rather quickly,” Lopez said.

“There was no way to know how many fish they had on board, but it is our impression that there were too many fish for that size vessel,” he said.

Lopez said the two men, who were shark fishing, were found on the bow of boat but then jumped into the water as it capsized. A helicopter lifted the two from the water. A Viking Serenade cruise ship also arrived and offered its help.

Neither fisherman was injured.