Just Reward

Just reward

Amid stories about slaughter of marine life, mostly involving indiscriminate nets and baited long-lines, comes praise for a local organization working to enhance marine life.

The United Anglers of Southern California, with a membership of about 10,000, was presented with the Conservation Association of the Year Award during the recent International Game Fish Assn. banquet in Palm Beach, Fla.

Among its 2003 accomplishments: the release of more than 124,000 white sea bass with the Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute in San Diego; leading a successful fight to remove pelagic long-lines from the West Coast’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone; ongoing efforts to remove bottom trawlers from California waters; and a strong involvement in programs to introduce kids to sport fishing.

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Setting them free

If you’re traveling to Cabo San Lucas in hopes of catching your first marlin, you might want to book a trip aboard the Tracy Ann and fish with Julio Castro -- but only if you plan on releasing your catch.

The Pisces Sportfishing captain will be honored Friday by the Billfish Foundation as the world’s top striped marlin release captain for 2003. Castro’s tally was 212 stripers; it will be the third consecutive season he will have received the award.

His secret? “He is just avid about releasing all the billfish he catches,” says Pisces owner Tracy Ehrenberg. “He sees others [killing] their fish and he gets so angry and asks me, ‘What can we do about this?’ ”

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Last defiant act

Seth Bone, owner of Kingfisher Charters in Sitka, Alaska, was asked recently what salmon did during the off-season, and without hesitation, he responded: They’re in training.

Still fresh in his mind was the whipping he received during the season by a king salmon he caught and estimated to weigh about 50 pounds.

“After I stunned it, I put it on the cleaning table to admire it,” he recalls. “For some reason, I leaned down so my face was close to the fish, I think to measure it. He suddenly flopped hard and his tail hit me in the face so hard, it felt like getting punched by Mike Tyson.

“My expensive Ray-Bans flew off my face and into the water, and I almost fell over. After I had regained my composure and wiped the slime off my face, I knew I’d have a good story for life. And he still tasted good on the barbecue.”

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All but extinct?

Oceanic whitetip sharks have been virtually eliminated from the Gulf of Mexico, according a study that appeared last week in the online journal Ecology Letters.

Whitetips are found throughout the world in subtropical and tropical regions, but two Canadian scientists have concluded that the species has declined by 99% in the gulf, although the federal government disputes that.

Ransom Myers, a fisheries biologist based at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, and colleague Julia Baum compared data from the 1950s to the 1990s as part of a global assessment of sharks.

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Spring flings

Fred Hall’s Fishing Tackle and Boat Show, long considered a rite of spring for Southland fishermen, is set for March 3-7 at the Long Beach Convention Center. Hundreds of exhibitor booths and seminars are featured. Admission is $12 for adults and free for children ages 15 and younger.... The Fly Fishing Show, which used to be part of the Fred Hall show, is scheduled for March 6-7 at the Ontario Convention Center. Gear, product and destination booths and clinics are on tap. Admission is $12 for adults and $2 for children ages 11 and younger.... The San Gabriel Valley chapter of Quail Unlimited has scheduled its annual gun dog showdown for March 13. The trial competition between breeds will feature planted chukar in an attempt to simulate a hunting environment. Cost is $60. Details: (909) 624-7411.

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Meet the new boss

Loris Ryan Broddrick, the new director of the California Department of Fish and Game, will be the main guest Sunday on the “Let’s Talk Hook-Up” fishing talk show on XPRS-AM (1090). From 7-9 a.m., listeners will have a rare opportunity to talk directly with the person in charge of the state’s fisheries and wildlife.... 976-tuna.com has added a weekly show featuring footage of recent bites in Southern California and off Baja California. The Thursday show airs at 6 p.m., features interviews with captains and “helps point anglers toward the weekend bite,” website founder Phil Friedman says.

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To e-mail Pete Thomas or read his previous Fair Game columns, go to latimes.com/petethomas.