Depletion of Local Marine Life
Re “Saving a Place for Marine Life,” Aug. 27: I have been scuba diving since 1968. My most recent dive was to Santa Rosa Island. I felt I had entered a war zone. Of the 30 or so divers, all but three were spear fishing. It wasn’t just the quantity of spear fishers but their attitude that really bothered me. Within minutes of the divers hitting the water, the ecosystem was decimated. Any fish larger than a foot was gone. Scuba divers are taught never to touch anything, as mere finger pressure can kill precious organisms. These divers were totally oblivious to their impact. Kelp was slashed by knives. Divers pulled themselves through the water by grabbing sensitive rocks. I even saw one diver trying to overturn a small boulder trying to flush out some unknown prey. The final straw was one diver proudly telling of how he chased one large fish (he didn’t know the species) to its cave in the rocks. He then blindly shot three spears into the cave. “I’m pretty sure I hit him a couple of times, though I couldn’t bring him in,” he gleefully related.
Never since witnessing cyanide and dynamite fishing in Indonesia have I been more disgusted by the underwater insensitivity of man.
SCOTT R. RUTHERFORD
Pacific Palisades
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We can no longer depend on our natural marine resources to feed us, any more than we can depend on wild game to feed us. We farm our land animals, we need to farm our fish. The choice is clear: We either shut down commercial fishing while we still have adequate stock to replenish the resource, or we shut it down when there is nothing left. We need to outlaw the recreational taking of fish during the respective spawning seasons.
I’m an ex-commercial fisherman and a current recreational fisherman. I catch and release. I’ve witnessed the near-elimination of whole fish stocks. I’d like to have my grandchildren experience some of those great things I’ve seen. If you take more of a resource than can be sustained, you run out! The fix takes guts and sacrifice.
JOHN HAMMARGREN
La Mirada
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