DFG EXTENDS ROCKFISH CLOSURE.

Byline: Keith Lair Staff Writer

The warning to anglers has been coming from avid hunters for years: ``You're next.''

Until recently, though, anglers have ignored the admonition.

However, the two-month closure of the Southern California rockfish season two years ago and the impending closures of the Channel Islands preserve and the state's Marine Life Protection Act prompted anglers to take notice. And last week in Long Beach, the state's Fish and Game Commission further limited the take on rockfish, and placed further limits of other species.

``We are under siege,'' United Anglers of Southern California president Tom Raftican said.

Last week in Long Beach, the commission, following directives from the state's Department of Fish and Game and from the federal government's Pacific Fishery Management Council, chose to add more time to the rockfish closure, extending it to eight months in Central California and four months in Southern California.

The Southern California season will be closed from November to February, the prime rockfish season. The Central California season will be closed from March through June and September through December.

The commission also voted to reduce the number of surf perch that anglers can take from 20 fish of various species to five and reduced take limits for red abalone from four-a-day and 100-a-year to three-a-day and 24-a-year.

``The siege is real,'' said Montebello resident Dan Hernandez, host of ``Sportfishing With Dan Hernandez,'' which can be seen on KDOC television and the Outdoor Channel. ``I don't think anglers believe this is real. But when they want to go fishing and find out they can't, then they'll know that this is real. There are people out there who want to eliminate fishing.''

The call to limit fishing and fishing areas comes as DFG biologists say stocks are becoming depleted through overfishing. Anglers are saying they're not depleted and the studies are inconclusive or cannot be substantiated because of a lack of research. It's a controversial and touchy topic in which there are apparently no perfect answers.

``It is hard to say who to trust,'' said Pasadena resident J. Bradford Crow, a member of the L.A. County Fish and Game Commission.

``There's a lack of science,'' Hernandez said. ``It's not real science behind them.''

John Fuqua, the captain of the Cat Special out of Oxnard's Cisco's Landing, said there's no shortage at all.

``I can take you out right now and show you hundred of lingcod,'' he said.

Crow and Hernandez claim it's the hardcore environmentalists who are trying to push these measures through.

``They're wearing their Gucci outfits and designer glasses,'' Hernandez says. ``They want every fish to live. They get up and say they have 50,000 people in their organization, but only 500 live in California. They're trying to rally the whole country by making California the first stop.''

Crow said at last week's meetings was one anti-hunting supporter he had seen at anti-bighorn sheep hunting rallies.

``Yes, fishermen are under attack, but for the most part, I think (the commission) is doing a pretty good job,'' he said. ``I think to some degree, there are definitely problem areas.''

Crow said that instead of closures, which he says will shut a fishing area forever, the commission should consider reducing limits and limiting seasons, much like duck season.

``When you're limited to one fish a day, there's still going to be 50 boats,'' Hernandez said. ``But the difference is that everyone is enjoying the day and if people catch a fish, it's like an all-for-one, one-for-all situation.''

That ``all-for-one'' attitude has taken shape in the fishing community, he says.

``It used to be manufacturers hated each other. Small retail shops wouldn't have anything to do with the chains. No one would talk. But now, when you go to the meetings, they're all shaking hands and talking to each other. Good things have come out of this.''

The commission has been mandated by the state legislature to implement the MLPA by next year.

``The big question is what do we do?'' Hernandez said.

``We need better legislature,'' Crow said.