Icon of the Deep About to Win State Designation : Legislation: Lawmakers approve bill naming the Garibaldi California’s marine fish. Supporters say it is being overharvested, but some counter that the threat is exaggerated.

Golden trout, move over. A new creature of the deep is poised to be anointed as an official state fish.

The flame-colored fish called the Garibaldi finally may have won the honor--and some of the protection--long sought by sports divers who call it a symbol of the beauty of marine life off the Southern California coast.

After laborious lobbying, state legislators have passed a measure naming the Garibaldi the state marine fish and imposing a three-year ban on its commercial collection.

Among the bill’s backers is an Anaheim-based group named Ocean Futures, which expressed concern that the ranks of the distinctive orange fish may be thinning because of harvesting by commercial aquarium collectors.

“It’s an icon,” said Jim Hall, an Ocean Futures member and longtime diver who helped lead the fight to protect the fish. “I don’t think we’re going to find a better state marine fish than a bright gold fish.”

But some still question whether the Garibaldi really needs special protection. They assert that plenty of the fish thrive along the coast and around the Channel Islands, and they say Garibaldi supporters have overstated the threat from collectors.

If the bill is signed by Gov. Pete Wilson, the Garibaldi would join the elite flora and fauna anointed as state symbols, including the state flower, the state marine mammal, the state reptile and even the state rock.

It would not, however, supplant the golden trout, a freshwater creature that would retain the title of “state fish.”

The Garibaldi holds a special meaning among divers, Hall said. Novices descending for the first time see the bright fish approach, eager to eat out of visitors’ hands.

“It’s a rite of passage,” Hall said. “It’s a magical experience.”

Those who fought for the Garibaldi initially had sought a six-year moratorium on commercial collection. But now they say they are relieved at passage of the amended bill from Assemblyman Bill Morrow (R-Oceanside), especially since a similar measure died in Sacramento last year.

The measure would halt commercial collection until February, 1999, unless study shows that the impact of such collection is less than feared.

Garibaldi aficionados had sought the moratorium because of reports from veteran divers that the number of Garibaldi appeared to be declining. They feared that commercial collectors were scooping up the fish for aquarium-fish dealers or buyers in Asia, where they reportedly are prized for their brilliant color.

Dan Chick, legislative aide to Morrow, called the Garibaldi’s future “truly an economic issue.” The money generated by the dive industry “is an asset,” he said.

But amid fears of overharvesting, some remain skeptical.

“That species is probably at an all-time high for numbers,” said Edward Tarvyd, professor of marine biology at Santa Monica College. The bill’s supporters, he said, are “saying no, no, this poor thing is endangered. They won’t listen to the scientists.” Tarvyd called the number of Garibaldi collectors “almost nil.”

And bill opponent Robert K. Moor of North Hollywood, who recently closed his collection business, complained that such restrictions are hurting legitimate businessmen and opening the door to poaching. He said only 13 collectors are operating in the state, and their future is bleak. His own license fees went from $50 to $1,600 in three years.

“I find it very difficult to believe that 13 of us can devastate the coast of California. It doesn’t make sense to me,” Moor said.

But Kristine Hartney, associate professor of biology at Occidental College, said marine biologists have observed that Garibaldi are slow to recover after being collected from a reef. She and a colleague hope to find funding for a full-scale study of population trends.

Although state records show that 644 Garibaldi were caught legally by aquarium collectors in 1993, some wondered if the total is really higher, and if recent rules limiting collection to the months of November, December and January were too weak to shield the fish.

If only 644 fish are collected annually, Hall said, why are the fish collectors so worried about a moratorium?

“The biggest question is, there’s no real good numbers on the commercial aquarium take,” said Irene Hashimoto at the Diving Equipment and Marketing Foundation and its environmental foundation, Ocean Futures.

In Sacramento last week, a spokesman for the governor’s office said Wilson has until mid-October sign the bill and has not yet commented on it.

Meanwhile, one constituency that apparently has not waded into the Garibaldi debate are supporters of the golden trout, which was anointed state fish in 1947. State officials do not anticipate a skirmish between interest groups for the two fish.

“They in no way compete with each other,” said Dave Dick, editor of Outdoor California, the magazine of the state Department of Fish and Game. While the golden trout frequents high mountain lakes and streams, he said, “the Garibaldi is an entirely different critter, with its own set of fans. It’s a marine guy.”