Letters/Online Comments

Re: Tuna hatchery could be coming to San Diego Bay (issue April 5-18)

Money-Making Ploy, Not for the Ocean
This is crazy because you will have to feed them [tuna] little fish. Please tell us how many sardines or mackerel do you need for 10 pounds of tuna…and also tell us where you will catch those fishes? If you take fish from the ocean it will be less little fish to eat for our local fishes… shame on you…this is only to make money not to save the ocean.
Jean-Pierre P.

 

Re: Ventura Port District gives Dry Storage Facility tenants 30-day notice (issue April 6-19, 2018)

When Will This Project be Completed?
Well it’s been almost one year since I had to remove my boat from dry storage. It’s been a long, costly process for those of us forced to find alternative storage for our boats, while the project lingers on and on. Lots of us are currently paying over double of what we were paying. I know I sure miss the lower rate and the convenience of where I was. I hope this project is completed soon.
JD

 

Re: Endangered Efforts: Time to Bid Farewell to Vaquita (issue April 5-18)

Save the Vaquita Ahora, not Mañana!
Enough dialogue and looking for International solutions — vaquita are in Mexican waters. They are being killed by illegal netting by Mexican fishermen. It’s the Mexican government’s responsibility to stop the illegal netting. Not “mañana”… but “ahora”: Pretty simple! Otherwise adios vaquita!
Personally, I try capture and put them in some facility where they had a chance. At this point, it’s like an operation to save a life… It may work or it may not. There are no guarantees in life. Just give it your best shot!
Chester Salisbury

 

Best Case for Vaquitas
For a detailed account see the book by Brooke Bessesen, but the short version is that porpoises don’t fare well in captivity. Only a handful of harbor porpoises have been kept in captivity and they have not bred successfully.
When two vaquita were captured the adult female became highly distressed and was released. She swam rapidly away from the boat (rapid frantic swimming is a sign of distress in the delphinidae), then turned and swam back toward the boat and died in the arms of the veterinarians. The young vaquita was immediately released (fate unknown).

The best hope for the vaquita is first removal of the nets and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is literally risking their lives in confrontations with the fishermen to remove the nets (this is NOT a traditional fishery and the fishermen moved there to pursue the totoaba). Contributions to SSCS can be directed to campaign Milagro which is the campaign working in the Gulf of California.
Second, a NO GO marine reserve would SAVE the vaquita and ENHANCE the fisheries.

Finally, many of the totoaba bladders are shipped to China via San Francisco. Maybe Gavin Newsom can do something to help break the trade. There is a whistleblower program that congress has already FUNDED that provides rewards through the USFWS and other agencies. Maybe he could push them to implement the program?
Hope this helps. I’m posting a lot about this issue in the only forum I’m on consistently (democraticunderground) look for posts there and I’ll answer more questions if you have them.
Richard Sanders

All comments are edited for grammar and clarity. Full, unaltered comments can be read online at thelog.com or on social media sites.