Submitted by: Skip Schexnayder | June 12, 2015

Sad site. There were actually 2 structures on this barge headed to the beach for scrap.  Off of the Central LA coast where I grew up fishing, we have lost 75% of the platforms I fished with my dad and granddad.  Reefing most of these structures in place should be a no-brainer! All are clearly charted, none are in shipping lanes, all user groups know where they are.  No vessels drafting more than 20′ use any of these waters. In my area oil and gas platforms make up most of the hard bottom we have. What’s the problem? The  Federal government! It makes me sick. They were once called “Islands in The Stream” in government publications, now they are called “Idle Iron”. What changed? We need a very loud voice from the environmental community to understand what’s going on here, fishermen haven’t been able to get it done. Any ideas? Thanks for your help.

Skip