The headline story in your August 13th issue regarding the 2009 USA Spearfishing National Championships off of Leo Carrillo State Beach highlights an ecological problem regarding the effects that such “sporting” events can have on the ecology of a fragile area-when 60 entrants with scuba gear and advanced spear guns are turned loose in a tranquil kelp forest with the objective to win prizes for killing the largest fish and the most fish. These fish are residents of the Kelp Forest, not migrants. The average life span of calico bass can be 34 years while 15 for California sheephead. We had a “secret reef” off Leo Carrillo that allowed us great pleasure in watching fish behavior and enjoying the beauty and interactions of many species of fish. One particular fish, a large California sheephead, we had named Cousteau after the famed marine biologist. All California sheephead began life as bright red females and over the years change into the distinct male form. They are curious fish and will approach divers, a feature that makes them very vulnerable to spearfishing.
I visited our reef on the Monday following the contest and found very few fish. Cousteau probably was the contest winner and the lives of many of our marine friends won trophies for the 60 participants. Because of the hundreds of resident fish speared that day, it totally changed the ecology of the Kelp Forests off Leo Carrillo State Beach. It will most likely take a minimum of 14 to 20 years for the fish to be reestablished.
As a biologist and longtime Malibu resident, I am not against spearfishing, but contests such as this have no place in today’s world where the pressure on marine organisms is so intense. There is no catch and release in spearfishing. Rod and reel fishermen have lost a great resource as a result of the massacre that took place in one day in a State Park Beach. Perhaps this contest points out the need for more State Marine Reserves that could be enjoyed by those who treasure the beauty of an undisturbed Kelp Forest and all its inhabitants.
Jim McHenry, Professor of Biology