A FULLERTON INFORMER EXCLUSIVE
When sharks smell blood, they show up. When the media smells hysteria, they show up. When city officials smell what the media smells and put their noses together for an opportunity to wage a sort of elitist socioeconomic ethnic cleansing of an exclusive waterfront community, they appear to push the envelope as far as they can. The right to feed yourself is as basic as you can get and so much so that the framers of our beloved California Republic wrote it into our State Constitution in Article I Section 25.
What happened to the swimmer was tragic to say the least, and thank God he is O.K. What happened was an accident, plain and simple but If anyone is negligent here it is the city for not addressing the fact that there are dangerous sharks sharing the surf with with beach goers and for not banning swimming, surfing, and boating within 100 yards of the pier like almost all other cities do up and down the coast.
I want all involved to know that like we have always said all along, at the Fullerton Informer, there are two sides to every coin and every story. This one is especially newsworthy because it garnered such attention and the actions of city leaders appear to be so blatantly illegal.
Ironically, this an issue that I am revisiting from some 20 years ago in Newport Beach. The issue is when taxpayer funded government entities, in this case city officials, violate the public trust and jeopardize the very legal agreement that gives the beach city the ability to be a beach city, what is the city’s tideland grant. It, through Legislative enactment, deeds State property, such as tidelands and submerged lands to a municipal corporation, in this case, in revocable trust to the City of Manhattan Beach. S1955_Ch1427
What happened to the swimmer over the July 4th weekend was a tragic accident, but that is all it was. It was an ACCIDENT. There is inherent risk when entering the ocean to swim or dive. There is inherent risk when swimming near a public fishing pier where white sharks are known to congregate. Here is a photo just weeks before the attack adjacent to the pier. Tell me praytell, would you let your five year old swim there? Misguided City officials and ill-informed residents at the last council meeting declared that the pier area is safer than ever because the fisherman are gone. Really?
6-10-2014 manhattan-beach-sharks-closeup
The behavior of city officials, in my opinion, is criminal and the behavior of the media was par for their course. The slant was obvious and the fact that the media showed complete disregard for the illegal nature of the city’s actions is abhorrent. The fact that the media is going along for the ride while advocating for a fishing ban and not advocating for a swimming ban makes no sense. But hey, what else would you expect from the talking heads on the idiot box.
Instead of banning swimming in shark infested waters, they ban a legally protected activity-fishing, with an “emergency coastal development permit”. I believe that the city of Manhattan Beach is involved in illegal activity with its ridiculously issuing an emergency CDP for 60 days banning a legal and protected activity.
They should be banning swimming until they can sort out the fact that 2014 is an El Nino year and with the warm currents come food and sharks and swimmers.
The fact that they even considered making the fishing ban permanent at any point in the past while leaving the beach open to swimmers leads me to believe that there is incompetent legal counsel involved or worse- a concerted effort by some in city government to break the law to further an elitist agenda.
If the fishing ban is not lifted by the next council meeting, I am prepared to request an investigation with the State Attorney General’s office, put general counsel on notice at the State Land’s commission and look into a partial or full revocation of the city’s tideland grant.
As far as the media, they are all a bunch of big fat liars with the exception of NBC channel 4. They were the only ones that told the truth without the PETA pandering.
Well here is the version that the media won’t allow you to hear directly from the fisherman who has been threatened, vilified and even being subjected to threats of criminal prosecution and grand jury investigations by ridiculous grandstanding city officials in spite of the fact that HE DID NOTHING ILLEGAL. Here is the version from the fisherman in his own words. Much of what he has written has been omitted from the slanted reports pushing the fishing ban agenda. There is much more to this story. Here is the account from the fisherman-
“We arrived at Manhattan pier around 5:30 am 2 poles a piece 3 anglers 1 bag of 6 frozen sardines for bait.we set up our gear and casted out our lines around 6 am.only one pole each in the water due to lack of bait.40# mono with a 120# 6ft mono leader with a 5/0 circle hook mutu light by owner. With our big lines in the water we tried to catch bait such as mackerel or sardines.with no luck what so ever. A few lizard fish was all that bit. Not one bait fish in the water. We were sitting on the curb of the aquarium for about an hour playing games on our phones getting ready to leave.when my buddy’s pole started screaming. He picked up the pole set the hook.the fish made a bee line for Hermosa pier to the south. After 20 minutes he passed it to me. At this point the fish was approximately 150 to 175 yards away from the pier. It turned towards the shore and surfaced in the wave break 5 ft from a surfer 30 ft or so from shore. We seen that it was a shark. Not wanting to cut the line without warning surfers of the shark we screamed and yelled to clear the beach of everyone in the vicinity which is exactly what happened. Everyone that could hear us quickly exited the water. Eric Martin, the round house biologist was out there with us. In awe of the shark.we talked about it and he said not to cut the line yet as it might be a tagged shark. I was able to turn the sharks head out to deeper waters as it was on its way out i passed the pole to my buddy while i went to grab my knife. At this point Eric mentioned if he was out there he’d like to swim up to the shark just for the experience. I went to get the knife and we seen the swimmers approaching. My buddy tried to pull the shark towards us but was unable to do so. The swimmers were too far to warn.Heads in the water there was nothing we could do. Approximatly 200 yards off the south side of the pier we seen the shark jump but couldn’t tell if anyone was hit. About 30 seconds after we noticed something was serious. I didn’t have the pole in my hand at this time. I ran down the pier to the sand. I was there as they carried Mr. Robles out of the water. I was there as they treated him. I alerted an officer on the shore we were up there fishing and for her to come get our stories info and check our gear as she did. She then left and we cleaned up to leave. After receiving threats, we had to be escorted to our car. Quick history-we used to fish there almost every Saturday but due to constant hook ups with great whites we stopped fishing there for over a month. They were a nuisance.not what we were after. Like I said we use all mono leaders there. Any shark with teeth (gws makos) bite right through in a matter of seconds which is why the first 20 minutes of this ordeal we didn’t think it was a shark. It would have bit through.yes we target sharks.threshers soup fins leopards shovel nose.all of which pose no threat to people and all of which are unable to bite through our mono leader.
People hear shark and they automatically think we were targeting whites. Its not true and its perfectly legal to fish for those other species using the methods we use. In no way what so ever did we intend to cause harm to anybody in the water.While fishing there previous times groups of long distance swimmers would stop right in front of the pier, pull on our lines.and float there for as long as 10 minutes. We had told them numerous times we were fishing for sharks and it might not be safe. They would laugh like we were crazy.that video on you tube, which by the way was not ours, and there were over 50 people on the pier for this incident. You will hear joking and laughing. A comment was made about them seeing this shark and finally realize they’re there. No we didn’t hold it there on purpose and there was nothing we could do to stop it. Even if we cut our line that shark still had a hook in its mouth and was still gonna be upset.
With at least 175 yards of line attached to it if we did cut it it would have been bad for the shark and any swimmer in the area.all that line out there could easily tangle around any swimmer or object in the water and result in injury to the wading public or the shark. The intentions were to bring the shark as close as possible then cut the line to reduce risk of injury due to the length of attached line in the water. I no way what so ever did we intend for this tragic accident to happen. In no way what so ever did we intend to purposely endanger the public.like i said we cleared the beach of swimmers and surfers.and as soon as the long distance swimmers were close enough to warn they were warned also.we didn’t chum the waters.for what We fish for there’s no need to chum.and we didn’t have anything to chum with anyways. We most definitely didn’t use that 30 ft of wynch cable with a water bottle and marlin trolling lure that was brought in to the city council meeting that day. That’s preposterous to even think such a thing.we were fishing off a pier not deep sea trolling.that cable obviously had never even seen the water ever and was clearly a setup to fool the city council into thinking it was ours.
Absurd to even think something like that could be used off a pier.all 3 of us have fishing licenses and are well aware of the rules and regulations.were not ignorant hooligans from out of town who dont care about your city.we pay for parking and shop at your stores while were there just like everyone else.when we get to the pier we clean up any messes left by ppl who were there over night.we set up a kids swimming pool that we fill with mackeral and sardines for kids to come see and play with.when youth come by with their parents and want to try fishing we hand them a pole to try out.we interact with the public there in a very positive manner.we enjoy what we do and try to share it with others. Manhattan pier is one of the nicest piers in so cal and that’s why we fished there. Never had a problem with one person at all. We don’t drink alcohol or do drugs.We don’t tag the pier and we don’t try to scare people out there. We enjoy the atmosphere just like everyone else.i want to get into ideas that can hopefully prevent something like this from happening again.ill start with the sinks.those sinks are there for anglers to gut and clean there fish.sometimes very big fish.all the blood and guts that go into that sink drains directly into the water directly under the pier.We didn’t build those sinks.The city did. Maybe they should drain some where else. I am not a plumber so i cant fix that myself. That’s something the city needs to do.how about enforcing the clearance the swimmers should stay from the pier. There’s plenty of ocean to swim in. All we have is the pier to fish on. Every other pier has a boundary that swimmers are to stay from the pier and its enforced but not here.
How about putting some signs up warning the public that there are dangerous sharks in the water. It’s sad that people nowadays need to be warned bout such things but that’s the society we live in. Once again that’s not the anglers job. How about installing some kind of warning system at the end of the pier.a loud horn or even a phone that goes directly to the lifeguard stands.once again not the anglers job.If there was such a warning system maybe this could have been prevented.Those sharks are there. There is nothing you can do about it. That’s where they live. Instead of blaming the anglers for this incident lets look at ways we can prevent something like this from happening again. Banning fishing is not going to make the sharks leave.a few days after this no fishing ban was implemented great whites were spotted at the pier again. With not one angler out there.
To say these animals are gentle docile creatures is absurd. These are sharks.wild animals that can not be controlled. On the very same day in San Luis Obisbo county a surfer was laying on his board when a 8 to 10 great white slammed him off his board and bit the board in half.
He was able to get away safely. There was no one fishing anywhere near him.same sz great whites that are frequenting Manhattan beach. Open your eyes. The public is in danger and it has nothing to do with fishing. This ban should be immediately lifted and other restrictions should be imposed to protect the swimming public. This doesn’t fall on my shoulders . Everyone is so quick to blame me and fishing.Just because I don’t live there and I got a few tattoos and my past ain’t as pretty as some other people doesn’t mean any of this is my fault.I want to thank you for your time in reading this and considering other actions than banning fishing” .by Jason Hagemann-the fisherman
So there you have it gang. No gigantic hooks, no steel cable, no winch, NO broken laws, no illegal activity, nada. Yet the media never once mentioned THAT THE FISHERMAN CLEARED THE BEACH and aided the ailing swimmer on the beach, and profusely apologized. The scumbags in the media would have us believe the fisherman were sadistic creeps getting their jollies off of someone getting attacked by a shark. NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. Then again since when did the truth and the mainstream media stop being mutually exclusive terms?
So here we get to the meat and potatoes of the issue. First, in the interest of public safety, swimming, diving and surfing should be banned in shark infested waters, not fishing. I believe the greatest threat to public safety in Manhattan Beach right now is the city’s denial of reality. The fact is these sharks DO ATTACK unprovoked and we have children swimming in those waters while the fisherman are sent home.
Fishing is a protected right written into every beach city’s tideland grant spelling out the State Constitution article I section 25. It was done so as the right to feed yourself was and is one that is tantamount to being a free society.
When I placed a public records request over the phone for a copy of the city’s tideland grant, I was told over the phone that it would take 10 days to have it emailed to me. I then personally visited the City Clerk’s office and requested to personally inspect the document and was told that the documents were not ready nor were they available. The truth of the matter is that I pulled one up within about 16 seconds off of the State Land Commission’s website subsequent to my request. The Department of Fish and Wildlife as well as the Coastal commission are not comfortable with 60 days CDP being used for a fishing ban and neither are we. A CDP has never been used for banning a perfectly legal activity like fishing unless there was construction going on in or around an affected area. I was rather shocked myself when I looked over the city’s staff report.
In reality, there were plans to develop the piers, bulldoze homes, eliminate beach access by eliminating public parking and redevelop part of the Balboa Peninsula. It would have involved busing or trollying in vistors while removing public parking. At the same time I watched parking meters come out down Balboa Blvd when the sewer pipes were replaced and not get put back until I made a call to the Coastal Commission. There had been no hearing or permits pulled to eliminate public parking yet the red curbs went in anyway.
After much intimidation by law enforcement and strange unannounced personal visits to my home, on one very stormy and rainy February evening, I decided to draw the line in the sand. At the 2-26-96 Newport Beach City Council meeting I arrived and in hand, I called their bluff with a letter drafted and ready to be mailed to the acting Attorney General at the time, Dan Lungren. I also had copies ready to go to General Counsel at the State Lands commission along with my rep in the State Assembly at that time, Jim Morrissey, to begin the process of the possibility of a partial or full revocation of the city’s tideland grant if the fishing ban was enacted.
It could have turned Newport into a state beach. Newport officials have never implemented the illegal portions of the ordinance nor will they ever. The city manager shortly thereafter resigned and the fishing on the piers, the homes and parking down the center of Balboa Blvd still remain to this day.
The Manhattan Beach pier is built on State property below the high tide line which consists of submerged tidelands which through legislative enactment were deeded from the State to the City to be held in Public Trust. The beaches as well, are tidelands which are State property currently deeded to the city in an agreement subject to revocation if the public trust is violated. Expressly written into the grant is the State Constitution’s provision reserving in the people the absolute right to fish. Many beach cities are a dichotomy with both State and City beaches and consequently have NEVER attempted to cross the line. The City can restrict access to fisherman on the pier but the access has to be restricted to everyone. The City needs to work with the appropriate regulatory agencies where preemption exists in terms of gear restrictions and only as a last resort.
8.11.14-FGC-Letter-to-Manhattan-Beach
Jurisdiction is key here. A possible no take area of sharks in the form of a type of SMCA, combined with municipal code restrictions on steel leaders, line test and hook sizes coupled with a 100 yard buffer zone all around the pier banning swimming, diving, and boating will solve the problem. Any attempts at banning fishing must be accomplished via a Constitutional amendment. The city has absolutely no legal grounds to stand on when it comes to banning fishing. This in not my legal opinion but rather established fact.
The United States is a Constitutional Republic and by nature is a nation of laws. This very fact is directly responsible for the continued gainful employment of taxpayer funded city staff whose sole purpose is to navigate and enforce these laws.
I will never forget some 40 years ago, as an 8 year old boy, we would arrive at the Balboa pier around 3:30 am so that we would get a spot at the end. I will never forget the hundreds of dirt poor farm workers and immigrant laborers that lined the rails along side myself in eager anticipation of some of the most incredible runs of pelagics in the world where literally thousands of fish were caught in a matter of a few hours. At the time, the runs seemed if they would never end. They would fill buckets to take back to the other farm workers to supplement their diets as they could not afford to buy meat.
Things have changed I know. We don’t see runs like that anymore. Sadly, socioeconomically for many in our society things have not changed.
What remains the same is the fact that the right to fish is an absolute right clearly being preempted at the state level being subject to the terms and conditions that the legislature deems necessary. This puts the City Council at the back of the bus. The city must tread carefully on its plans. I don’t believe that the city is being upfront with what are viable solutions are much like Newport Beach was guilty of some 20 years ago where general services and law enforcement were intentionally called off, abandoning maintenance and refusing to cite violators as a pretext to manufacture a public health and safety crisis to package and deliver to the council a bogus, illegal, unenforceable section of the municipal code that ended the career of a city manager.
Realtors and huge developers were behind it then. They tried to railroad the fisherman out of town which would have been followed by the public at large. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now.
The fact is that the public in Manhattan Beach is in more danger now than ever before because there is a false sense of security being promulgated by city staff and the media. The idea that banning fishing will keep the sharks away is like the idea that banning umbrellas will keep the rain away.
When city officials blatantly ignore laws such as is in this case and the media fails to report it as such, there is no end to how far the envelope will be pushed.
There is nothing new under the sun ladies and gentlemen. Government must be kept on a short leash or they will eventually put all of us on one. Just a thought and hoping all involved will do the right thing. Our best goes out to Mr. Robles who in my opinion, should file a lawsuit against the city for not warning him that he was entering shark infested waters and they are shark infested waters folks-ask the biologist at the end of the pier.
#1 by Anonymous on July 29, 2014 - 11:59 am
Nice work Joe. You never cease to amaze me with such a broad scope of investigative journalism. This is a remarkable site.
#2 by J Garrison on July 30, 2014 - 2:14 pm
Somebody’s got to do the “investigative journalism.” You sure won’t get anything of value in the MSM.