City of los angeles general plan

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CITY OF LOS ANGELES CONSERVATION ELEMENT

Adopted September 2001

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life. The river fish tend to be introduced fish, like carp. Naturally

occurring fish may be washed into the river from streams during storms.

Sport and commercial fishing takes place in freshwater and ocean

environments. Pleasure fishing occurs at large local lakes that have

been stocked by the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG). The

program was initiated locally between 1993 and 1995. The lakes are

stocked with catfish from May through November and with rainbow trout

from November through April. In 1999, the DFG gave the city's

Department of Recreation and Parks authority to contract with private

suppliers, approved by the DFG, to stock city lakes with Channel Cat

Fish.

Sport or recreational ocean fishing occurs from piers, beaches and

boats. Commercial fishing boats ply the off-shore waters. Weather and

other factors can affect the fishing industry and fisheries. In 1997-98

El Niño conditions warmed local waters, driving large communities of

anchovies, squid and rock fish to cooler waters and attracting

increased populations of sea bass, yellow tail and barracuda from

Mexican waters. Until the early 1970s tuna canning was a major industry

in California and in San Pedro. By 1985 the industry had shifted to

American Samoa and Puerto Rico, partially due to international

competition, labor costs and costs associated with the upgrading of

aging plants to meet waste discharge cleanup regulations. During the

same period in California the sea urchin industry expanded from 77,000

pounds (1972) to 51 million pounds (1981), largely for processing and

export to Japan. In 1975 Mexico excluded U.S. fishing boats from its

territorial waters and restricted access to white bass, yellowtail and

other fish off the Baja coast, thereby significantly curtailing the

local fishing industry. Contaminants also can affect fisheries.

Chemical contaminants can make fish and shellfish hazardous to eat and

can cause mutations to and death of entire populations. For information

about contaminant impacts on the Santa Monica and San Pedro bays see

the Ocean Section.

Fisheries protection. Too much harvesting can damage ocean animal

populations. Market forces periodically shift due to changing culinary

demands associated with shifts in food fads, local ethnic populations

and international markets, sometimes resulting in damaging over

harvesting of particular populations or species.

Under regulations promulgated by the state legislature, state Fish and

Game Commission and the U.S. Fishery Management Council, the California

Department of Fish and Game (DFG) sets catch limits and other

regulations designed to protect marine populations from over

harvesting. The DFG is responsible for state fisheries management. To

protect the local fisheries, DFG restricts commercial fishing in 62% of

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CITY OF LOS ANGELES CONSERVATION ELEMENT

Adopted September 2001

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Santa Monica Bay, from Rocky Point (Palos Verdes Peninsula) to Malibu

Point. It prohibits use of gill nets, trammel nets, purse seines and

trawling in near shore areas and sets minimum size limits for some

species, including the California halibut. The state legislature in

1998 directed the DFG, under the authority of the Marine Life

Management Act, to develop comprehensive management plans to conserve

and sustain designated classifications of threatened fish.

Fisheries are impacted by contaminants. Pollution discharge management

is discussed in the Ocean Section.

Conclusion. Fisheries management is outside city authority. However the

city has stewardship responsibility relative to discharges into the

Santa Monica and San Pedro bays. 

Continuing issues:

N

 Reduction and loss of remaining fisheries due to human activities and

contaminants.

N

 Restoring native fisheries that have been lost or significantly

reduced by over harvesting, contamination or loss of habitat.

N

 Contaminants that make local fish and shell fish a health hazard to

humans and other animals if eaten.

Fisheries objectives, policies and programs: 

Objective 1: protect and restore ocean fisheries (habitats).

Policies and programs: see the Ocean Section. 

Objective 2: protect fisheries and enhance, restore or create fisheries

for native fish populations and for sport fishing or harvesting in city

managed waters.

Policy 1: continue to implement and to cooperate with lake fish

stocking or enhancement programs. 

Program 1: Coordination of the California Department of Fish and

Game park lake fish stocking program.

Responsibility: *Department of Recreation and Parks.

Program 2: stocking or management of fisheries at Lake Crowley and

other city-owned or managed lakes and fisheries outside the city

boundaries.

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CITY OF LOS ANGELES CONSERVATION ELEMENT

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Responsibility: *Department of Water and Power.

Policy 2: continue to consider and implement measures that will

mitigate potential damage to and will encourage maintenance or

restoration of fisheries.

Program: development permit processing and city property

management and development.

Responsibility: departments of *Building and Safety and

*City Planning, *lead agencies responsible for city

development project implementation and *agencies that own or

manage properties.

For related information see:

N

 Habitats and Scenic Areas Outside the City Section;

N

 Ocean Section (contamination, restoration and NPDES permit); and

N

 "Infrastructure Systems Element" (wastewater discharge into water

bodies), City of the Los Angeles General Plan (under preparation).

SECTION 10: FOREST 

The only remaining substantial conifer and big tree forests within the

immediate Los Angeles city area are located outside the city's

boundaries within the Angeles National Forest (aka Angeles Forest) and

on the north slope of the Santa Susana Mountains (mostly within the

Santa Clarita Woodlands Park). The park, noted for its Big Cone Spruce,

is managed by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. Plans are

underway to develop an access-habitat corridor connecting the park to

O'Melveny Park within the City of Los Angeles.

 

Angeles Forest contains natural flora ranging from desert to alpine

growth, including 2,000 year old limber pines. Approximately 3,500

acres of Angeles Forest lands are located within the northern portions

of the Sunland and Tujunga communities of the city. The forest reserve

was established in response to a petition from the citizens of Los

Angeles under the 1891 Forest Reserve Act. On December 20, 1892

President Benjamin Harrison announced the creation of the "San Gabriel

Timberland Reserve" and placed it under the authority of the U.S.

Department of Interior. The reserve was renamed the San Gabriel

National Forest (1907) and then the Angeles National Forest (1908). It

was the first national forest established in California and the eighth

in the nation. The reserve was set aside to protect the watershed for

development of farmlands in the Los Angeles and San Gabriel valley

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