Politics & Government
DFG to Enforce Marine Protected Areas
This week's video also features a gray whale on its way to Baja, huge dolphin pods, the sights and sounds of the harbor, and a whole lot of rockfishing.
The new year brings with it Southern California's newly established marine protected areas, which went into effect Sunday. It is up to anglers to know where they cannot fish.
The Department of Fish and Game, in a news release, stated that wardens will be on the water and "will take appropriate enforcement actions, which could include education, warning, citation or arrest, depending on the violation."
Anglers can find maps of the new protected areas at dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/scmpas_list.asp. They can also access information about closed and restricted sites on their iPhones, iPads and Android devices by visiting dfg.ca.gov/m/MPA and following instructions on the MPA mobile website.
Find out what's happening in Redondo Beachfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
With the app, anglers can look up marine parks, reserves and conservation areas by name or by county. They can look up maps and regulations, and they can also track their location using the GPS on their mobile device to see if they've crossed an MPA boundary.
Ignorance of the law will be no excuse for violating it, according to the Department of Fish and Game.
Find out what's happening in Redondo Beachfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Rockfishing season ends with a bang
The final weekend of rockfishing was a fun and productive one for many anglers as the bite remained good for most up through Saturday evening. The season, which closed Sunday, will remain closed through March 1.
Fishing for rockfish was productive for a variety of the more than 50 different species of bottom dwellers that inhabit our coast. Lost of great-eating rockfish should make for a happy new year.
Besides being able to catch some fresh, delicious fish for their New Year's celebration, anglers got the chance to see gray whales and huge pods of dolphin, too.
On board the Westerly out of Long Beach Sportfishing, anglers were treated to some incredible spectacles of nature over the past week. In addition to the gray whales and lots of dolphin, there were some smaller fin whales lunge feeding out near the oil rigs off Huntington Beach.
