Residents roar over noise

Andrew Edwards

Operators of a barge used to raise fish in Newport Harbor have been

ordered by Newport officials to prevent noisy sea lions from breaking

into the facility.

Residents living along the Balboa Peninsula waterfront complain

they are tired of listening to sea lions bark at each other day and

night. The city’s Harbor Resources Division recently received a

petition signed by more than 40 people asking for the barge’s

removal.

“Literally, the noise is intolerable,” Balboa resident Dan

Gilliland said. Gilliland presented the petition at last week’s

Harbor Commission meeting and said he has seen as many as 16 sea

lions at the facility at one time.

“The [sea lions] get into arguing with each other over who gets to

come aboard and who gets to sleep where,” Gilliland added.

The pens have been used in the past by the nonprofit Pacific

Fisheries Enhancement Foundation to raise white sea bass. The

foundation is affiliated with the Balboa Angling Club, and the two

groups share a Balboa Peninsula address. On May 31, Angling Club

members made repairs to the facility in an effort to keep the sea

lions away, according to a city document. However, the animals have

since managed to find their way back in.

“They have gotten very smart and very big,” Balboa Angling Club

director Alex Samios said.

Sea lions lounged on the barge’s steps before the animals figured

out how to break into the barge some time before the Memorial Day

weekend, Samios said.

Samios is also president of the Pacific Fisheries Enhancement

Foundation, which installed the Newport Harbor barge in 1992. The

nonprofit has facilities in other Southern California harbors and

last year released about 270,000 tagged sea bass, Samios said.

About 6,000 fish were released from the Newport barge in 2004, a

record number, Samios said.

The Harbor Resources Division sent a letter to Samios June 3,

indicating that city officials supported efforts to raise fish, but

mooring rules require that animals are not able to enter the

facility. The deadline given to make repairs has already passed.

City officials hope there are no sea lion-related problems after

repair work planned for today is completed, Harbor Resources

Supervisor Chris Miller said.

“We’ve been assured a number of times, and hopefully this will be

the last time,” Miller said. If scheduled work is unsuccessful, city

officials could possibly begin the process of removing the barge’s

mooring permit.

Residents are bothered not only by the noisy animals who have

found a place to lounge on the hatchery, Gilliland said. He said he

thinks the facility, which looks like a floating cage, is an eyesore.

Gilliland wants the hatchery relocated to enhance neighbors’ views.

“It seems to me that with a little creativity, they could move

it,” Gilliland said.

However, Samios said he has no intention of moving the barge.

“It’s a good program,” he said. “Just because a couple homeowners

don’t like the view doesn’t mean we have to wipe out a program that’s

been in place for 13 years.”

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at andrew.edwards

@latimes.com.