Catalina WSB Massacre

[Toad Patrol]

Bloodydecks.com and 976-tuna have both reported that CalifStateUniversityNorthridge research skiffs were observed and videotaped at Catalina's West Cove (The WSB hotspot), setting 8 gillnets and pulling hundereds of prespawn White Sea Bass, and numerous other fish and marine life, including a "protected"Black Sea Bass, and tossing them back dead, to dozens of feasting seals. Numerous fishing boats were watching in disbelief and horror as these "scientists" were destroying the very resource that so many have worked so hard to restore. In the name of "research" of course, and some believe in an attempt to substantiate pending MLPA restrictions in this area.
 Dr. Larry Allen, the head of the dept. has e-mailed hundereds of outraged fishermen, claiming no harm. Check out the 976-tuna radio report  and the Bloodydecks thread, and no doubt the video will be posted soon as well.
 Until I actually see the video, I'm not heading to the castle with a burning torch. But sounds pretty fu#ked up to me, and I suspect the sh*t's gonna hit the fan on this one.
-Scott

[jscott]

http://www.bloodydecks.com/forums/inshore-islands-fishing-reports-southern-california-usa/108299-horror-west-cove.html

Here is the BD link.  I'm waiting to reserve judgement until I see the video. 

If you don't have a BD account and can't see it....here is the original post...

well this sucks but needs to be told. this morning in westcove the reserch skiffs for csun, laid out and collected gill nets . this resulted in the mortal destruction of hundreds of heavily egg laden white seabass, as well as every other concievable species swimming in the cove. these fish were thrown back dead as bycatch. The big question i have is who gives these guys the power to gillnet the cove just as these fish show up in mass to spawn. I was in the cove yesterday and saw hundreds of seabass balled up in spawn mode. These fish looked like a giant bait ball free swimming through the cove. It was a beautiful site. now the same fish were killed in the name of reseach to see how viable our waters are. Well i can tell you they sure were in good shape before the carnage. By the way we have 40 min of video capturing all of this. Need to make copies to send to fish and game and several other agencies that might be able to stop futher damage done to our ever depleted resorces. I for one am sick to my stomach that this crap still takes place in the name of science. For who? what kind of science wipes out a huge area of fish just to see if it is health. Not any more. These idiots just killed millions of our fish to be . The seabass never got a chance to spawn. Oh and is it ok to kill eveything else including at least one black seabass ...Horseshit. Anyways we need ideas and contacts to send the video to try to put a end to this kind of research. Im still in shock over this it was a big blow to west cove and our fishery. please let me know if any of you have any good ideas to get this lunacy stopped.

[Sea Weed]

This is the second time I have heard of something of this nature. I can't remember where the other time was I know it wasn't at the island. Aren't they breaking the law doing this.

[jscott]

I've seen the video...and imho this was blown WAY out of proportion.  It looked to me to be a pretty good scientific sampling method as has been used in the past.  I didn't see any gross misuse of ethics and neither did I see 'hundreds of pounds of wsb'. 

Nothing to see here--- move on!   

[potto]

Thanks for watching the video.  Now I don't have to.
Reading the posts on the thread reminds me why I am not a regular at BD.

[greybeard]

Is there a link to the video somewhere?  I would like to see it, though I'll admit that the postings did seem a bit hysterical.
Bruce (greybeard)

[Toad Patrol]

By the sound of the 976tuna report  and the gazillion BD posts, I got a bit charged up too. It's not difficult to instigate an internet lynching, and pleanty of fishermen are pissed and ready to raise a ruckus. After seeing the video, I couldnt see what the big deal was. It'll be long forgotten real soon I imagine. Some good points might have been raised regarding the DFG, but I ain't in the mood to get into it at the moment.
Good Night....