Everingham says local bait fish OK

Buck Everingham has seen the kind of sardine and anchovy die-off that occurred Tuesday in King Harbor Marina in Redondo Beach.

“It’s pretty rare, but I’ve seen it four or five times, mostly up by the corner there by the Hotel Del (Coronado),” said Everingham of the San Diego-based Everingham Bros. Bait Co. “Sometimes the water is clear and there isn’t red tide. They just get pushed in by mackerel or whatever is feeding on them and die in shallow water. It happens every now and then, but it’s not alarming. It’s not the end of the world. Just wrong place, wrong time.”

That’s exactly what California Fish and Game biologists believe happened. They’ve pinpointed lack of oxygen in the water as the cause of the massive die-off of sardines. They believe recent storms may have caused the school of sardines to swim around the breakwater and into the enclosed harbor. They became trapped there and were unable to get out before depleting the water around them of oxygen.

The city of Redondo Beach has activated its crisis response team and volunteers have been scooping fish with nets. The dead fish are being transported to a collection center and will be recycled into fertilizer. The harbor stayed open throughout the day and continues to do business as usual.

Meantime, just to be sure, biologists will do further testing on the dead fish, and DFG wardens are monitoring the harbor.

Everingham said the local bait situation is in great shape.

“We just can’t sell it right now,” he said. “We need that tuna season to get going.”


