Local Fish: Will Their Fate Be Sealed?

Re “Fish Are the Earth’s Canaries,” Commentary, Feb. 28: Richard Anderson and Gregory Helms would like us to believe that all we have to do is draw an invisible fence around some islands and poof, we have abundant fish stocks. But where is the evidence? It doesn’t exist for California waters.

At Morro Bay and Pismo Beach we have two Pismo clam reserves and an invertebrate preserve. Sounds good. However, the cute little sea otter has eliminated most legal-size clams. There are still clams, but they rarely reach legal size for human use. The same has occurred between Morro Bay and Monterey, where red abalone were once abundant. It is well documented that sea otters, not humans, reduced abalone and clams by 90%. The Channel Islands have sea otters and huge populations of seals and sea lions.

California sea lions and harbor seals are eating a lot more fish these days and won’t be paying attention to invisible fences.

Steve Rebuck

San Luis Obispo