A happy ending to this fish tale

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- Most Saturdays of Grady Gauger’s young life have

begun in front of the Dory Fleet Market on Balboa Peninsula.

About 6 a.m., while his dad sips coffee, 4-year-old Grady watches with

delight as the dory boats come in, hauling in their fresh catch of the

day.

Often, Grady, with a little help from Dad, buys a bear claw to give to

fisherman Steve Escobar -- the guy with the crabs and lobster who, over

the years, has become a friend.

The Gauger family was hit hard by the news on Monday that emergency

changes to fishing regulations effectively ended the century-old

tradition of the dory fishermen. Federal officials who manage the

fisheries on Friday handed down the rule that many species of rockfish

could no longer be caught in waters 120 feet or deeper.

For one day, this spelled doom for the dories, whose business is

dependent on rockfish species like long-spine thorny heads, yellow eye

and others. But within 24 hours, an outcry to protect the six families

who comprise Newport’s dory fleet was loud enough to ring all the way to

Sacramento, and ultimately to Washington, D.C.

“We’re trying to make some provisions for the fisheries down there,”

L.B. Boydstun of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council said Wednesday.

“I expect something to happen in a couple of days.”

And, that fast, a seemingly hopeless situation was turned on its head.

“This is really good news,” Escobar said. “This makes more sense.”

The good news is as meaningful to residents as it is to the dory

fishermen themselves. The little fleet and market, which date back to

1891, help make Newport Beach someplace special.

“No place else nearby has anything like this. Where else can you go

and see people making their living off the earth the way they did 100

years ago?” Gauger said. “It’s so much a part of Newport Beach. My son

just goes nuts when he’s down there. He’s so into it. It’s such a really

nice treat, and I would hate to see that place become a ghost town. I’m

so glad it didn’t happen.”

Jim Fournier, Newport Beach historian and Web master of

TalesOfBalboa.com, described the dory fleet and market as a living piece

of history.

“It started in 1891, when the fishermen’s wives would sell the catch

right on the beach, right off the boats,” he said.

But the modern-day appeal alone is reason enough to hope the dory

fishermen stick around, he said.

“I work the night shift in a hotel right there where they’re bringing

the boats in,” Fournier said. “I see all the dory men going out at 1 a.m.

every morning. That takes so much determination to go out there every day

regardless of weather.”

Like Fournier, many have come to count on the dory fishermen being out

there every day, no matter what. In fact, the Black Sheep Bistro’s

cooking classes start at the break of dawn at the dory market, where

instructors and students pick out fresh seafood to prepare in class.

“I personally felt a loss when it looked like we would lose them,”

Mayor Tod Ridgeway said. “They’re so important to the charm here and even

the economy.”

The city was in the process of looking for ways to help save the dory

fleet when it received news that the fleet may have saved itself.

Acting on their behalf, Boydstun recommended that the ban be lifted on

long-spine and short-spine thorny heads and on sable fish smaller than 22

inches -- a distinction that makes all the difference in the world for

the future of this unique piece of Newport Beach history. Though it’s not

certain that federal authorities will accept the recommendation, it

appears likely that the move will save the dory fleet.

“The dory fleet is such a cool thing,” Gauger said. “I’m so glad it

looks like they’re still going to be around for another 25 or 50 years to

come.”

* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 june.casagrande@latimes.comf7 .