NEWPORT BEACH : Fishermen Will Try to Keep Pier Clean

Angry anglers landed one more chance this week to clean up the Newport Pier before the City Council authorizes a crackdown that would limit pier fishing and allow periodic closures of the pier.

Assistant City Manager Ken Delino said the enforcement effort is needed to eliminate litter--primarily bait, fish intestines and food wrappers--that anglers and transients are blamed for leaving on the pier.

“We’re asking for a tool to allow us to preserve a portion of the pier for those people who would like to enjoy the pier but don’t want to fish,” Delino told the council on Monday night.

Merchants and residents associations contend that visitors shy away from Newport and Balboa piers because of their seedy appearance, Delino said.

The fishermen were angry at the prospect of losing the end of Newport Pier at key fishing times in what some of them view as a struggle to prevent further development. Currently, there is one restaurant at the end of the pier.

“That end of the pier belongs to the fishermen,” resident Walter Barrow said. “When it was turned over to the city of Newport Beach, it was a recreational pier.”

Irvine resident and recreational fisherman Ted Kramer added: “I’ve heard talk of a nightclub being put up on the pier. Let’s keep that in Redondo (Beach) and L.A.”

Some asked for police citations for litterers and time to work with the city to police their own ranks.

The council voted unanimously to give Delino until April 10 to meet with more business owners and anglers to try to stop the littering without restricting fishing. The council also requested more police patrols and citations for littering.

Murphy and Delino are to return to the council April 10 with a report and enforcement plan.