Long Claw of Law Targets Illicit Lobster Trade

The anonymous tip came in three months ago. Surveillance began a month later and involved 18 wardens, six from a unit that specializes in covert sting operations. It went on almost around the clock for 60 days.

Finally, the pinch was made and two Southland residents are in hot water for allegedly catching more than their legal limits of lobsters and illegally selling them from the parking lot of a Southland hospital.

Jon Michael Hand and Edward Gary Wolf, both of Downey, were arrested late Tuesday night and cited for possession of over-limits, a misdemeanor.

Forthcoming charges are likely to include unlawful possession of lobster and selling lobsters taken under the authority of a sportfishing license, misdemeanors punishable by fines.

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Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the Department of Fish and Game, said the case is significant because it involves a “sport operation commercializing a resource set aside for sportfishermen only” in a prime lobster breeding area.

Hand and Wolf allegedly performed most of their dives in Santa Monica Bay, which is off limits to commercial lobster fishermen.

Mike Norris, a DFG warden and the lead officer in the case, said that a search of Hand’s home on Tuesday turned up a chest freezer “full to the brim” with lobster tails and packages of lobster legs. Wardens also found an envelope with $760 cash and a check for $175. On the envelope were the words, “Jon’s lobster.”

On Hand’s phone-answering machine, Norris added, was a message from someone inquiring about the purchase of lobster.

Seized as evidence were tanks, wetsuits, spear guns, game bags and a computer “which has a large number of incriminating photos, including one showing Mr. Hand standing alongside a black sea bass [a protected species] with a spear gun in his hand,” Norris said.

Both suspects were reached by phone Thursday. Hand refused to discuss the arrest and claimed to be guilty only of “stupidity.” Wolf said he was innocent of the over-limits charges and added, “I don’t know anything about selling them. I went diving with the guy and that’s it.”

Norris, however, said the evidence is compelling. Using night-vision equipment, he said, wardens watched the pair throughout several dives off Marina del Rey.

Hand was the diver, Norris added.

He said that on Feb. 20, he met Hand and Wolf at the launch ramp. They had 14 lobsters and claimed that each had obtained his legal limit. (Lobster season is open through Wednesday, with a daily bag limit of seven per person.)

“But only Mr. Hand was in a wetsuit and Mr. Wolf was in street clothes and with bone-dry hair,” Norris said.

Wolf said he was dry because he would dive first, and then dry off, change and watch the boat while Hand was diving.

The over-limits citation was not issued until Tuesday night, after the search of Hand’s home and the subsequent arrest of both men.

More incriminating, Norris said, is video footage of the repeated sale of lobsters from the lot of a hospital where Hand has worked for 11 years.

Norris said that on one occasion, wardens witnessed an exchange of $120 for eight lobsters. He added that Wolf was present when a cooler full of lobsters was lifted from the boat.

Many of the lobsters are believed to have been sold to hospital employees, Norris said, adding that the hospital administration is cooperating with the investigation.

How all this plays out remains to be seen.

The district attorney’s office is still reviewing evidence and it could be months before additional charges are brought against Hand and Wolf.

But two things are clear. First, the folks at the hospital are going to have to find another pot from which to pick their fresh lobsters. More noteworthy, the state takes very seriously laws protecting its marine resources.

“Making cases like this gives us something to work for,” Norris said.

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Coming Ashore

Grunion season has begun and the fish will be prime for the taking tonight through Monday night, with the first wave expected ashore sometime after 10 p.m.

During open season--April and May have been set aside as observation-only months--grunion hunters can take as many fish as they want, provided they use only their bare hands and, if they’re 16 or older, are in possession of a valid fishing license.

A schedule of runs is available at www.dfg.ca.gov.

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Add Grunion

Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro is offering its annual “Meet the Grunion” program Saturday, with a 9 p.m. film followed by a grunion hunt on nearby Cabrillo Beach. Cost is $2 for adults, $1 for seniors and children. Details: (310) 548-7562.

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Show Stoppers

Another Fred Hall Fishing Tackle and Boat Show has come and gone, leaving fishermen with nothing to do but go fishing. About 250,000 attended this year’s event at the Long Beach Convention Center. Attendance was down slightly from last year, but sales were up, promoter Bart Hall said.

Making the biggest sales pitch, of course, were those supporting the fight against a series of proposed marine closures within the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.

The American Sportfishing Assn. and United Anglers of Southern California took their turn last Friday, using the show as a platform to release a commissioned study intended to discredit a government economic-impact analysis that, according to the study, “dramatically underestimates” the potential loss of revenue and jobs.

On Saturday, Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) informed anglers he was on their side.

“The ocean belongs to us, not the government,” Rohrabacher said. “We don’t need a bunch of bureaucrats to control our lives.”

Rohrabacher and Congressman Colin Peterson (D-Minn.) are co-sponsors of HR 3547, or the “Freedom to Fish Act.” It specifies “that all federal regulations promote open access for recreational fishing to the maximum extent practicable” and that restricted areas “be as small as are scientifically necessary to provide for the conservation of the fishery resource.”

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Taking the Bait

Missing from Laker forward Samaki Walker’s bio: “Likes to bite heads off sardines.... “

Walker and teammate Brian Shaw spent a day last week treating a group of inner-city kids to a day of fishing aboard Redondo Sportfishing’s Sea Spray.

One of the kids along for the ride, the 7-year-old son of the charter master, bit the head off a sardine as a way of challenging Walker.

The other kids chanted encouragement until Walker finally accepted the challenge.

Which probably helps explain why he demanded to be among the first off the boat.

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Cape Fear

Those planning trips to the Los Cabos region in southern Baja California next fall should note that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is scheduled Oct. 21-27 in Cabo San Lucas.

That’s during peak marlin-fishing season and many in the resort city are predicting chaos, as the number of dignitaries and security personnel will number well in excess of 1,000.

Tourists, if they can find accommodations, should expect limited services.

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Quick Casts

* The Sierra Pacific Flyfishers’ annual free, four-week casting course begins Saturday, running from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at Reseda High and nearby Reseda Park pond. The final class will be at Piru Creek. Details: (818) 888-1974.

* Irvine Lake is the site of the inaugural Sport Chalet Trophy Trout Tournament, March 23-24. Irvine Lake and adjacent Berkley Spring Lake will be stocked beforehand with rainbows, browns and brookies.

The derby is free but participants have to pick up entry coupons at one of the sponsor’s sporting goods stores, and pay the lake’s $16 admission fee. Details: (714) 649-9111.

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Winding Up

If you’ve never had the opportunity to witness the big waves Maverick’s is so famous for, you can do so now from the safety of your own home.

MavTV, a Web-cam project more than a year in the making, is up and running and can be found at www.mavsurfer.com or www.surfline.com.