baiting trouble

A San Francisco jury acquitted 65-year-old Pakawai Woo of assault charges after determining the San Francisco fisherman was merely acting in self-defense when he stabbed a man who had beat him and peed all over his fishing bait.

The Public Defender's Office tells us that the jury deliberated for no more then one hour before deciding that Woo, who is also a baker, was innocent of assault charges.

Woo was arrested on Aug. 14, 2011, after he stabbed 49-year-old Zhi Chen in the back of the knee while at Pier 30. The tension between the two fishermen started a month earlier, when Woo had sided with another man who had been arguing with Chen over who had caught a particular type of fish.

Then, on Aug. 14, Woo and Chen bumped into each other at the same fishing spot by the pier. That's when Chen, who had been drinking, walked up to Woo, unzipped his pants, and urinated in Woo's bucket of live bait.
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​The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service needs you and conservation partners to help save the dwindling San Francisco Bay-Delta longfin smelt population.

Once the most abundant fish population in the San Francisco Bay-Delta, the state says the 4-to-6-inch estuarine fish are at a record low for the first time in 40 years, and the species is headed toward extinction. As a result, officials have declared it a candidate for the Endangered Species Act.

Although this move will not impose any new restrictions, state law still makes permits mandatory for anyone taking the fish. The fish is joining another 200-plus species across the country that have been deemed in danger, but are in line behind other priority listings.

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Leland Yee likes all types of soup

​State Sen. Leland Yee, the enigmatic San Francisco politician known for his past brushes with the law and diverse array of stances on major policy issues, positioned himself last year as an opponent of a ban on shark fin soup, the Asian delicacy that depends on grisly fishing methods. That turned out to be a lost cause, as the ban became state law the first day of this year.More >>

Coming soon to a restaurant near you

​We reported last month that the much-heralded return of a market for fresh herring to San Francisco was off to a slow start. Last year, the California Department of Fish and Game changed its regulations to allow herring meat to be sold locally. Previously, the fish was caught commercially so its roe could be sold in Japan.

Well, it appears the waiting is over. After a month in which it was difficult to track down sufficient quantities of fish, a sizable amount of herring was landed last night, said Tom Worthington of Monterey Fish Market.

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Scarce so far

​Last month we reported on a change to state regulations that will allow fresh herring to be caught and sold locally. For decades, all the herring caught by San Francisco's commercial fishermen have been stripped for their roe, which is consumed in Japan as a delicacy called kazunoko.

It's been about a month since the relatively small-scale season for fresh herring -- only 10 permits to catch the fish were issued -- opened. We checked in today with Pier 45 Seafood President Mel Wickliffe, who is partnering with fisherman Ernie Koepf to sell herring. Koepf was instrumental in pushing through the revision to California Department of Fish and Game regulations allowing for a local herring market.

Well, fishing is an unpredictable business. At present it looks like the fresh-herring business in San Francisco is lacking one necessary element: herring.

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