Dead Fish in Marina Del Rey - News Flash. Not a big deal actually

More dramatic puffery or real facts?

On KNX news radio.  On Channel 7 and Channel 5 and even helicopters getting a news shot.  Thanks to Larry.  Our local bait dock.

I was there Sunday morning just a few hours after the loss and talked to the guys at The Landing where there was “No Bait” sign up for us fishermen. The bait dock had released all that dead bait to float away.  Just one of many typical crowding of fish and Low Ox type event.

I'm reminding you of the very low tide with long heat wave and then those issues were combined with a fresh overcrowded pen of a big wrap of fish by the bait boat, the In-Sein, and they lost the load of fish!  Rather than haul it out where it belonged they dumped it in the harbor.  It floated down A basin.

Simple. But the big load of dead fish dumped into the water at the receiver is then left to bloat and float away into A Basin is ugly. And shocking to the folks who don't know it is just a small kill off of the bait dock.  Because he was Too Successful at finding bait!  So now the news people have a Photo moment. You will have a 20 second News Blip. But no real on the ground reporter to Kick the Facts Loose. Newspapers are not totally dead right?  Well you would think it.   You can't actually get them to take the time to look for the full story.

And there was a heat wave All Week. (I've been sweltering in my office) And there was a super low tide. Heat makes an algie bloom more than normal in the enclosed bayment of MDR harbor. Just a few yards out from the bait dock in the main channel was more bait. And the birds frolicked as usual picking at them that Sunday morning. And the bait boat was out picking replacement bait for his bait biz right in front of MDR Breakwater. The eco system is still functioning. Life is thriving here.

Some "Green" zealots will make hay out of it and claim of "Eutrophication" or blame a phytoplankton "bloom" or something man made so that they can justify great increases of their actions needed and more funding or more "Sky Is Falling" overly dramatic puffery.

If you wanted the real story, call and ask Larry Derr the owner of the bait dock.

Not rocket science here. Not complicated. Just business as usual in the working world of fishing bait.

But first please help to end the “Chicken Little” reporting.  The sky is not falling.  The fish in Marina Del Rey are not all dying off.  Don't re-post stuff on Facebook or Twitter or forward spam emails without doing a little homework to find out that it's not just puffery for dramatic scare the public impact.

BTW, We (in Marina Del Rey Anglers) have a very successful fish husbandry program a little ways away.  To date we have released 93,753 juvenile fish.  That may be a good positive story. But no reporter wants that story.  No dirty laundry in it.

Sincere wishes for tight lines,

Keith Lambert            -<"><