FISHING INDUSTRY (Return to T.I.)

The history of Terminal Island is a history of fishing and related industries. To think it was started by the enterprising 12 or 15 men from Wakayama-ken is interesting. How did their adventurous trail via Seattle or San Francisco end at Terminal Island, California? The arrival was recently commemorated by the San Pedro Historical Society with a brass plate approximately 30 yards offshore, in an area the Society named Issei Cove. This was the very location where the Tagami family, with other partners (I believe Yuki’s father, Kobei Tatsumi, was involved) built the White Point Hotel. The resort had hot spring baths and an outdoor ocean swimming pool.

White Point Hotel, location of Issei Cove. (Courtesy of San Pedro News Pilot)

White's Hot Springs Tamiji Tagami began construction in 1915	Whites Point Hot Springs 1920s & 1930s Hotel and Restaurant	Saltwater Pool - 1922 concrete swimming area Bathhouse & Outdoor Dance Floor

In the beginning, dressed only in flimsy loincloth and armed with long knives, the Japanese dove for abalone. In those days abalone must have been plentiful and located not too deep underwater. The water of Southern California was much warmer than in Honshu, Japan, so they wore a lighter loincloth than they had at home.

The abalone were boiled, cooled and put on a wooden rack to dry. The process was a disaster at the beginning, according to a story by an Issei (first generation person). When the meat was cooked in a shell and left out in the sun to dry, germs would enter through the breathing holes of the abalone shell and spoil the meat. The solution was to shuck the meat and dry it.

(Abalone meat, especially from the young and tender ones, was delicious. As a youngster I would have a piece of dried abalone in my pocket and every so often I would take it out, and slice a thin piece with a pocket knife. I’m sure you did the same. Who can forget the delicious taste of golden brown, dried abalone?)

By November 1901, the hardy fishermen were rowing their tiny boats 25 miles to San Clemente Island, according to Mr. Kawasaki (he was always Kanichi-nisan to me). However, I wonder if he meant Santa Catalina Island, which is 25 miles away; San Clemente Island would be about 45 miles.

The fishermen were canning abalone from November to May for the Asia Co. in Los Angeles. From June to October, the shrimp season kept them busy. They worked with Harris and Berch of San Pedro, with most of the shrimp cans going to San Francisco.

The prosperous abalone industry came to an abrupt end. The ugly horn of racial prejudice stuck out in 1905 when California prohibited the industry because of allegations that the Japanese fishermen were spying on the coast line.

Soon after the abalone industry stopped, about the end of 1906, Mr. Zenkichi Hamashita purchased the 24-foot boat, Columbia. According to Mr. Kawasaki, he was the first Japanese fisherman to start commercial fishing along the coast of San Pedro at White Point. He later became the first man to start a Japanese grocery store in Fish Harbor. I remember Mr. Hamashita as a man small in stature, but he must have been smart with lots of business acumen. His kintoki (snow cone) was the best.

(Mr. Hamashita earned $3 to $4 a day for his fish catch, and the farmers were only earning $1.50 a day. Thirty years later, in 1937, I worked in a supermarket produce department from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for a grand sum $2.50. Not much progress, wouldn’t you say? Of course, after meals, I still came home with $2.)

A group of Japanese joined Mr. Hamashita in San Pedro in the spring of 1907. They were Hikotaro Sarae, Nakasuji, Hayashi, and Tsuchiyama Asari (this name puzzles me because it has two surnames). These names are familiar on Terminal Island. (I remember Frank Sarae, a good tennis player for San Pedro High School. Hikotaro Sarae must have been his father.)

These pioneering fishermen used small boats, powered with 5 to 10 hp gasoline engines. In Southern California, we called them jig boats. The name probably came from jigs, which were used to catch fish. The jigs were lures with hooks and were made out of bone, metal, or abalone shells (no plastic at that time). They were trolled with a line attached to poles. The Japanese called them ken-ken bune − lures were ken-ken and bune meant boat. Pulling lures was ken-ken o hiku.

Usually a single fisherman would operate the boat, jigging a long line with jigs, or using line with baited hooks attached to a floating pole.

From my little knowledge of fishing boat history, I believe these jig boats were called lampara in Monterey and San Francisco. The Italian and Portuguese fishermen in Northern California started to use them because their design was so seaworthy in rough water. Very likely, the boat design came from their European fishing villages. It was a handsome vessel. The bow flared graciously to keep the ocean spray at a minimum, and the stern was tapered to insure maximum speed and superb steering.

Jig boat or lampara – Mr. Yoshimatsu Hamaguchi. (Courtesy of Mr. Takeuchi)

In 1910, the San Pedro Fish Co. was founded by Yoshitaro Tani, Dentaro Tani, Torao Takahashi, Hikotaro Sarae, and Kaneshima, who were mentioned in the Genesis section of this book. These early, hard working fishermen sold their catches to the Los Angeles and Santa Monica fish markets. Some were marketed via Union Salt Lake Line to various cities.

The fishing boats were becoming larger and the gasoline engines were 7, 10, 12, and 20 horsepower. Sardines were also in their catches, and bait tanks were starting to be used to hold live anchovies. This started the local tuna fishing industry.

The 45 hp boat eventually became popular because the fish were plentiful, especially the sardine. The price of albacore was $30 to $35 a ton, which necessitated a larger boat with a bigger pay load.

To understand the boats and fishermen, it is important to know a bit about the fish. The method used to catch the fish depended on the type of fish that was wanted. In addition to jigging, there was the braile net. It was used solely for mackerel, which is more or less a surface fish feeding on plankton and anchovies. They tend to school, so a braile net was the method of choice. Albacore hardly ever school and are found at various depths. The long-line, or jigging, was the way to catch them. At times, live anchovy bait, using hook, line, and pole would be used. As for rock cod, they are in deep water as far down as 75 fathoms (one fathom is approximately 6 feet). The method of fishing was with long line (hand or pole), baited hook, and very heavy lead sinker. Blue fin tuna will school, so later the purse seine technique was used and the catch was on tonnage scale, not pounds. Imagine an old-fashioned purse with draw strings ─ this is the basic principle.

The various species of fish are also seasonal. Nets were used to catch sardine in winter. When the warm weather began, the later 45 hp boats had a live bait tank in the stern, and with barbless hook, line, and bamboo poles, the fishermen would go after the tuna or the skipjack (katsuo). The fishermen were primarily after albacore because of its white meat when cooked. When the albacore were feeding in frenzy on the surface, the Japanese fishermen resorted to various colored feathered hooks (called kozu-no with red and white being the most popular). The feathered hook was barbless, making the fish easier to unhook in mid air. This tricky release was accomplished by snapping the wrist on the pole at the right time.

This picture from Mr. Takeuchi’s book shows the 45 hp (Shiju-go-bariki) fishing boats on the left side and the jig boats on the right side. The 45 hp boats were naturally longer with wider beams and the sterns tapered a little. The Lamparas were smaller and the stern tapered almost to a point.

(In a recent conversation with several fellows from Honolulu, we touched on the subject of commercial fishing. One fellow came up with the word Shibi, referring to local blue-fin tuna. I had not heard that word since the Fish Harbor days. It brought back a nostalgic memory of the days when Issei fishermen talked about the Shibi on the island. I almost had tears as the image of Dad ─ Chiyomatsu Ryono ─ talking about Shibi floated in my mind.

Besides chumming with anchovies to keep the fish near the boat, I watched Dad and the crew take a bamboo pole with a little cup, or just a fine point, and beat the surface of the water creating a noise similar to a bunch of anchovies. That kept the tuna active and near the stern portion of the boat. The fishermen were adept and quick to employ techniques learned in their native village, with certain modifications to catch fish in Southern California’s coastal waters.

It is no wonder that in 1917, the Pacific Fisherman Journal wrote:

“The Japanese taught the Americans and all others how to catch fish in commercial quantities, and they are the best fishermen in the game. As a result, the packers vie with each other in providing them with attractive quarters close to their respective plants.”

This article is so true. As I was growing up, it was easy to observe how the successful boat owners carried more clout with their canneries than less successful owners. The plants would extend themselves to keep the captains happy; they didn’t want to lose their contracts. I remember going with Dad to Van Camp’s office. He would approach Mr. Gillis, the general manager, and in his broken English ask for this and that. Invariably, he was successful.

Formerly the entrance to the Van Camp office.

Presently office of the Pan Pacific Cannery, about 1980.

The canneries rented small houses to the fishermen. I know my dad rented many houses under his name. Besides the usual number for his crew members, he had homes for his friends and the unlucky people. At times, he paid rents for others. The rent was about $6 a month. The quarters were not naturally attractive. The people made them that way by planting flowers and building fancy fences.

Mr. Takeuchi’s book lists numerous fishing boats at this early period. There were many lamparas and 45 hp boats, and some boats a little larger than the 45 hp. Purse seiners and tuna clippers came much later.

How boats were named is interesting. My father started with a little boat between lampara and a 45 hp in size, and he named it Chitose, after a Japanese battleship on which his younger brother was serving. Others named their boats using their hometown name. The Fujii family’s boat was Kushimoto, the name of their village. Later on, when they bought a larger boat, it was Kushimoto No. II. The same was true with the Hashimoto family and Ubuyu Maru.

Ubuyu Maru ─the owner was Mr. Ryokichi Hashimoto. Mr. Hashimoto was a quiet man. I remember that he would often travel with Dad when they fished at Monterey for sardines. Dad liked him a lot and called him Hashimoto-kun. (Courtesy of Mr. Takeuchi)

I loved the name Naruto, a boat owned by Mr. Saka of Taiji. Naruto sounded royal and supreme to me. Another name I liked was Scandia, owned by Mr. D. Tani, my father’s good friend. There were many other interesting names.

By the 1930s, the number of smaller boats dwindled. Some successful families returned to Japan, and others tried other types of business. The older lssei families phased out as the sons turned to other professions. Consumer demand and competition for a larger load led to the building of larger purse seiner-type boats. This ushered in the golden era of commercial fishing in Fish Harbor, the good old days of Terminal Island which lasted until the fatal day of Dec. 7, 1941.

The fishing canneries were a vital part of the fishing industry and life on Terminal Island.

According to several books, the first cannery on Terminal Island was started in 1893 by Mr. Wilbur Wood. The cannery’s name was California Fish Co., often called Cal Fish. However, at this time there was no Terminal Island as we know it now. Maybe Cal Fish was located in San Pedro.

Cal Fish became the Southern California Fish Cannery. Mr. Wood eventually left, but years later, when the cannery had financial difficulties, he was its president. When he retired after about 26 years, Larry Holland became the new owner.

(An item to remember, Mr. Wood and Mr. Holland were very supportive of the Japanese families during the trying time of evacuation.)

In 1903, Mr. HaIfhill of the Southern California Fish Co. established the logo “Chicken of the Sea” with the help of Mr. Wood.

Japanese fishermen started the San Pedro Fish Co. in 1910, and at about the same time, Chinese businessmen started a cannery which later became Franco-Italian Fish Co.

In 1912, according to the San Pedro Historical Society’s book and remembering what Dad had told me, Mr. Wood started his own company, the California Tunny Co. with Paul Eachus. It was bought by the Van Camp family when they came to San Pedro in 1914. A disastrous fire hit the Van Camp Fish Cannery in 1915, and it consequently was bought out by White Star Cannery.

Looking down Tuna Street, about 1980.

(Some of you must remember Gilbert Van Camp Jr., who played tennis for San Pedro High School.)

According to Mr. Takeuchi’s book, the following canneries were operating as of 1915 to 1916: Van Camp Fish Cannery, White Star Fish, Ambrose (?), North American, Coast Fishing, South Coast, Haifhill, Stafford, Golden State, and Los Angeles Tuna.

Fish Harbor came into being when the dredging was completed in the main channel in 1917, and the fish canneries started to move to that part of the island. It became one of the largest commercial fishing centers, and home for us.

That same year, Martin Bogdanovich’s French Sardine Co. — later the prominent Star Kist — started, along with Joe Mardesich’s Franco-Italian Cannery (China to the Japanese fishing colony). Linde took over the Japanese operations of the San Pedro Fish Co.

Part of Van Camp’s International branch.

When World War I started, there were more canneries operating in the harbor. The Van Camp Cannery recovered and absorbed three other companies: International Packing Co., which the Japanese called In-ta, a way of saying International, and where Mr. Nakasuji was foreman; Neilson and Kittle, which the Japanese called Ne-ru-son; and White Star, where Mr. Fujikawa was foreman.

Front of In-ta (formely International) cannery, about 1980.

In 1935, the Barracuda Street mole, or breakwater, was constructed, which resulted in an outer basin on the east side of the harbor. A wharf was built on the east side, and the main building there was the Pan Pacific Cannery. Today Pan Pacific Cannery is the sole survivor in Fish Harbor. Van Camp and Star Kist moved their operations to the South Pacific Islands.

The primary station where the fish are vacuumed through the large hose

from the hold of the boat to the cannery, about 1980.

Overhead structure. The fish are cooked and canned below.

(For the breakwater project, Mr. Kinoshita had to sacrifice his boatyard and machine shop. I remember Mr. K. Shiroyama having his boat, Chicago, built at Kinoshita boatyard. The Chicago was one of the first Japanese-owned purse seiners.)

The city of Wilmington was not standing idle during these pioneering days. There was a small Japanese fishing colony there, and Toyo Fishing Industry was one of its principle canneries. The cannery financed the construction of the Patricia and Patricia II for a partnership of Japanese fishermen from Taiji. I faintly remember Dad telling me stories of Patricia II.

Patricia and Patricia II. Pacific Fishing Journal

The Japanese fishermen were the first to think about live bait tanks and “ice machines” to preserve their tuna catches. The “ice machine” was, in essence, the use of salt water to keep the fish cool. Patricia Il can be called the first tuna clipper because it concentrated on tuna catches only. I believe they were already fishing the Baja California area.

After World War I, boats became larger, the nets longer and deeper, and the bait tanks much bigger. As the nearby fish sources became scarce, the fishing ground moved further away, extending far south below Ensenada and as far north as Seattle. No longer were the 45 hp boats adequate. The jig boats were still doing well, especially with bottom fish. The boats were now 70 feet to more than 100 feet long. The pay loads were much larger, and boats were fitted with big diesel engines and large oil tanks for long cruises. Boats also were able to carry tons of ice for preserving their catches. Refrigeration and brine tanks didn’t come into existence until about 1941.

The age of the popular purse seiners, 65 feet to 100 feet or longer, was ushered in about this time.

Patriotic – Chiyomatsu Ryono. Built at Harbor Boat Shop in 1928.

I remember when the Patriotic was built by John Rados and his Harbor Boat Shop. He had already launched Pacific, Costa Rica II, and Alexander II, which was about 85 feet long, and had already started on the purse seiner Acalin, which had a double cabin if my memory is to be trusted. At the same time, Al Larson Shipyard had launched Ubuyu Maru, New Monterey, and had Mr. D. Tani’s San Lucas on the drawing board. I believe that Columbus, owned by lku and Kanshi’s father, Mr. Kyoo Yamashita, may have been completed before San Lucas. These last two were the larger tuna clippers in the neighborhood of 125 feet.

San Lucas – Dentaro Tani. One of the premier tuna clippers prior to World War II. Mr. Tani, who previously owned Scandia, was a very close friend of Dad’s. (Courtesy of Mr. Takeuchi)

The purse seiners were versatile, catching sardine in the winter and local blue fin in the summer. When both of those were more or less fished out, the boats were used for mackerel. However, before purse seiners could truly establish themselves, the awful Depression fell upon us.

The Depression left a lasting memory for me. The folks would buy socks that were much too big for me. The reason behind this madness, I later found out, was that each time there was a hole in the toes, Mom would snip off that section and sew the ends together.

We suffered because Dad invested everything in building Patriotic in 1928. Times were difficult for everyone. At about this time a loaf of bread was 5 cents and the family was fortunate to have meat (weiners) once a month. Grocery stores must have had it rough because they probably carried credit for all the starving families.

It was during the Depression that I had my own experience in a cannery. I was 13 and to help out I went to work along side the ladies. Dad said if Dr. Okami and Rev. Yamamoto worked at the cannery as youths, my older brother and I could do the same. He invested in two buckets, two knives, two oil-cloth aprons, and two pairs of boots and sent us off to Linde Fish Cannery. We worked side-by-side with the ladies in their white uniforms and white hats, chopping the heads off sardines. We worked hard. I wasn’t about to be outdone by the “Obasan” bunch. I couldn’t take the hazing. They were constantly laughing and saying, “Look at Chika-chan. He’s working so hard not to be outdone.” It was almost sexual harassment! The work came to a glorious end just two days later when Brother and I went on strike. Dad never did recover his financial investment!

Dad was fortunate to have a friend, Mr. Charles Houghton, a marine insurance broker who was brought up in Tokyo from the age of 2, and who spoke fluent Tokyo-ben (elite dialect of Tokyo). Mr. Houghton leased the Patriotic to a movie company in Hollywood to be used as a Coast Guard cutter to run down boot-legging whiskey operations. The movie location was at Catalina Island and the star was Chester Morris, who became famous as “Boston Blackie.” Dad had to teach Mr. Morris how to steer the boat. This extracurricular activity was welcomed income during the Depression. The movie was “Corsair,” a B movie sometimes shown on television in the wee hours of the morning.

The following are pictures of some of the purse seiners owned by the Japanese fishing families. Many of the other boats are omitted only because I was unable to obtain their pictures. I apologize to those families. Most of the pictures below are taken from Mr. Takeuchi’s book. The boats not shown are: Silver Gate, Richness, Congress, Cleopatra, Costa Rica, Francis, Liberty Girl, Success, Onion, Silver Ware, Advance, Stanford, Senorita, Yukon, Eight Brothers, Amazon, Emblem, Ohio II, Example, Star, New World.

Boats tied up at the East Basin. (Courtesy of Mr. Takeuchi)

One of the more popular purse seiners, the Stanford II. The owner, Mr. Jinshiro Tani (Tani-no-oyaji) was one heck of a man. (Courtesy of Mr. Takeuchi)

The Sweet II was owned by Mr. Sanzo Oka, a classy gentleman. I always thought of him as a man in a charcoal gray and white striped suit with a matching necktie. He was a tall, slender man. (Courtesy of Mr. Takeuchi)

Westmaco – Mr. Matsukichi Miyagishima. (Courtesy of Mr. Takeuchi)

White Rose – Mr. Shigematsu Ishikawa. (Courtesy of Mr. Takeuchi)

Nancy Hank – Mr. Yohei Suzuki of Shizuoka-ken. Perennial top boat in Fish Harbor. He was good and had top crew members to work with. (Courtesy of Mr. Takeuchi)

Linde – Mr. Kinsaku Yamasaki. Another tough man from Shizuoka-ken. He liked his cigars – Havana, no doubt. (Courtesy of Mr. Takeuchi)

The industry recovered from the World Depression. The economic boom was soon in full gear and it was full steam ahead.

The fish were plentiful, especially the sardine. The purse seiners were coming back from short trips loaded with them. The average load must have been nearly 100 tons. The Italians and Slavonians were outfishing the Japanese in number and tonnage.

The Patriotic loaded with mackerel, about 1957.

The Patriotic unloading mackerel through a giant vacuum hose in about 1957. This method was put into operation during the post-World War II era and tried at Southern California Fish Cannery. The first boat to try this successful innovation was the Patriotic, shown with a full load of mackerel.

Unloading, about 1957.

Unfortunately, the prosperity was not to last long. Tonnage limits were instituted, but it was too late. The sardines were gone from the nearby sea because of overfishing. The next fishing ground was San Francisco. After a few years of abundant no limit fishing, the same result followed. Next came Monterey, then Coos Bay, Oregon. At this stage fishing was interrupted for the Japanese fisherman because of Executive Order 9066.

During World War II, the Slavonian, Italian, and Portuguese fishermen did well. With top prices under war condition economy and with fish plentiful, the canneries were going full blast, 24 hours a day. No one thought of the consequences of overfishing. When the few Japanese fishermen returned to resume their trade, the sardine were totally depleted. The prize catch was Pacific mackerel. This species also has been overkilled. It is now so scarce that local purse seining is dead.

Also after the Depression, year-round hunting for tuna by the tuna clippers was developing, but it was at a slower pace than the spectacular purse seiner.

The bulk of the tuna clipper fleet was made up of the Portuguese fishermen from San Diego. They were the more adventurous group, and consequently, the majority of the tuna clippers were based in San Diego. The closeness of San Diego to Mexican waters and water south of Panama was one of the reasons for the selection of San Diego as the base.

The tuna clippers caught their tuna with hook, line, and pole. For the larger tuna, 100 pounds or more, there would be two to three men on one hook.

Note two poles on one line and how the fishermen are working from an iron platform, just about submerged on the surface of the water. The lone man on top is throwing anchovies to keep the tuna feeding. “Chumming” attracts the fish and keeps their attention. (Courtesy of Mr. Takeuchi)

Fishermen on single poles. The fish are smaller. (Courtesy of Mr. Takeuchi)

My father was a pioneer in studying the possibility of using a spotter airplane to find schools of fish. When we lived at 641 Tuna St., John Rados and the aviator Davey Johnson often came to our house to discuss the new idea. Dad went up in the air often with Mr. Johnson and logged a lot of airtime. Dad pulled out of the project, but Mr. Rados and Mr. Johnson went ahead and built a tuna clipper, Rajo. They tried for a few years with no success.

Cipango, delivered in 1929, was the first raised deck tuna clipper. Cipango, which means Japan in Spanish, set the style in tuna clippers for years to come.

Cipango – Iichiro Ono. Note the raised foredeck and two large bait tanks. After Patricia II, Cipango was the second Japanese tuna clipper. (Courtesy of Pacific Fishing Journal) Two noteworthy boats for which I was unable to obtain pictures were the Marico and the Columbus. The Marico was owned by Mr. Torao Takahashi. I believe this boat may have been the renovated Asama Maru. The Columbus was owned by Mr. Yamashita and was one of the successful tuna clippers built along the lines of the San Lucas. It is a shame I couldn’t obtain pictures, and I apologize to both families. Another boat, Panama, was owned by Ozawa and Ishii.

(I remember playing with his oldest son, Tetsuo, when we were kids. He gave me an Erector set for Christmas one year. After 65 years or so, I still have it stored in the attic. I cannot get my grandchildren interested in it. As you know, kids today are so sophisticated. They are totally into computers.)

The post-war picture of tuna clippers also changed. Tuna became harder to catch and more expensive as boats had to venture further south after overfishing the Mexican water. New concepts and techniques were desperately needed if the tuna industry was to be saved.

Two factors helped preserve the industry. The first was the introduction of the power block, which revolutionized the way the crew pulled in the net. The power block was introduced by the purse seiner, Anthony M, with terrific success.

The second factor was the foresight and imagination of a Terminal Islander, “Yankee” Kosoroft (I hope the spelling is correct). Yankee bought a naval minesweeper, named it the “Yankee Mariner,” and converted it to a large purse seiner, a novel idea. This boat used a large net — as long as three-quarters of a mile — handled by the power block. It also was very deep. It was nothing forthe “Yankee Marl ner” to catch 50,75 or 100 tons of tuna atatime, compared to the clippersthat could only catch about 20 tons. This made bait and pole fishing from tuna clippers obsolete.

The Yankee Mariner’s trial run to Costa Rica was a fair success. The Nisei crew were Yutaka Yoshimoto, Toshiaki Yamasaki, Hajime Kariya, and Ray Matsushita.

(We all remember Yankee’s younger brother, Jimmy. The Kosoroffs were the sole Russian family on Terminal Island. By the time Jimmy and his sister, Annie, entered first grade, the only language they could speak fluently was Japanese. They could not speak English like the rest of us, and couldn’t speak Russian, their parent’s language. They just spoke Japanese.)

The success of the Yankee Mariner led to the conversion of all tuna clippers to super purse seiners. The race was on, larger boats to accommodate larger catches and larger nets, bigger engines for more speed to get to distant waters faster. They were already using brine tanks and more efficient refrigeration systems to hold large catches. Modern super seiners are even air-conditioned and have showers with hot and cold running water. They have the latest electronic equipment, computers and self-steering systems.

By 1980, all the big seiners were engaged in large scale tuna operations in foreign P countries such as Samoa, Indonesia, and Thailand, far from Fish Harbor and San Diego.

What next? I do not know. I fear the future appears bleak. Modern electronic equipment plus bigger boats and bigger nets are too much for the fish to compete against. Where will be the next fishing ground? Already our Maguro-sashimi is coming from the distant waters of Hawaii and Nova Scotia.

(Nova Scotia, by the way, with its cold Atlantic Ocean water, is ideal for epicureans, who appreciate the Toro part of the big tuna for sashimi. Toro is the belly section of a big tuna and has a high cholesterol level, but should be acceptable for infrequent gourmet dining. By the way, the Toro sashimi is expensive ─ maybe $50 to $100 for a meager serving.)

A strong, international conservation law is needed to insure a permanent population of marine life. Ecological balance is imperative. We cannot overkill.