Bummer in Redondo....
 

Due to a power outage on Sunday night in King Harbor, about 3000 White Sea Bass died in their growing pens near the Sea Lab. The outage caused loss of water and air to the fish, which averaged 8 to 9 inches. They were scheduled to be released next month. Fish have been removed and sacked and put in the trash.
Nearly 3,000 white seabass nursed in covered pens at a Redondo Beach science education and ocean conservation center were smothered to death when a power outage cut their oxygen supply over the weekend.
The fish were grown at SEA Lab as part of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife's Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program, a long-term effort to reestablish strong fisheries for the croakers, whose numbers had thinned to worrisome levels until 20 years ago.
The grow pens at the Redondo Beach SEA Labproduce up to 12,000 white seabass a year in batches of 3,000 to 5,000. Statewide, about 60,000 white seabass are grown to adulthood and placed into the oceans each year as part of this experimental program.
"It's a shame the 30-some volunteers who clean the tanks, feed and raise the fish will not see their babies released into King Harbor," said Rich Ford, co-director of the White Seabass Project's Redondo Beach facility. "The fish were removed from our above-ground tanks and bagged and put in the trash."
Ford and several volunteers threw out the dead fish after discovering Monday morning that a power outage had shut down the pumps that circulate water and oxygen in the pens.
Southern California Edison spokeswoman Caroline Aoyagi-Stom said the power outage that affected King Harbor began at 3:22 p.m. Sunday when a piece of equipment failed. She did not know the exact cause or nature of the problem, but said most of the nearly 6,000 customers affected had power restored by 9:30 p.m.
Ford said the facility receives batches of young white seabass when they are about 4 inches long from a Carlsbad hatchery. They are fed and cared for at SEA Lab until they mature to 8-10 inches in length. In October, they released 8,998 fish to King Harbor.
The fish that died Sunday had been at the SEA Lab since November and were 8-9 inches long, and set to be released into King Harbor next month, he said. Another shipment from Carlsbad is expected in May. But Ford said he's disappointed he didn't get notification of the outage in time to turn on generators that circulate water and oxygen in the fish pens.
"It's kind of discouraging," Ford said. "We really do get attached to the fish.
"When we release them, they're like teenagers leaving home."

Oh Noooo!!!!

What a disappointment!! Damn!!

Wow that suks

Maybe time for a backup generator? That sucks, so much work for all involved.
What kind of draw do the pumps carry? Maybe some grant money could help in this situation.

Sounds like they have generators...they just have to turn them on manually.

Oh man that's sucks!!
Edison needs to make a donation to the center..

They need to get back up generators that's automatically turn on when the power fails, generators that you have to manually turn on don't help if no one is there at the time.

Kinda same thing at my job. If the company would have invested in a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) it would have paid it self many many times over...but who am I to say

I blame this on you Jaime! Get back to work, I'm tired of pay'n so much more for gas!

Hopefully they can get those generators to work automatically some how....

It pretty simple. They need to install automatic transfer switches. Maybe a commercial power fail relay. So they can be notified also. We use these at our cell sites all the time. When main power fails the generator fires up almost instantly.

+1 When all else fails blame Jaime!

MONEY?
 

...Kinda same thing at my job. If the company would have invested in a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) it would have paid it self many many times over...but who am I to say"
That all sounds well and good...BUT...most of our timers, feeders, and equipment is at least 10 years old. We operate on a shoestring budget. I can't remember anything lately except crowders and nets that was brought in new..it always seems to be donated or scrounged.
If you have that knowledge and would like to volunteer to help install that equipment, perhaps we can find the funds. Especially since the CCA-CAL is now involved in the White Sea Bass Project.
Please get in touch if you are interested in helping.
http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwegall...ker_CMYK-2.jpg

Sent you a PM

What sad news... a real bummer. I hope that something gets done to keep this from ever happening again... it's a shame...:mad:

Why? Why do people go to UPS, when a diesel generator is the most superior type of backup? Send me a pm with the contact at that facility. I'd like to examine their load, and propose a generator for the facility.

Instead of investing money in generators and wasting other money on power for above ground tanks they should put the fish in cages like the bait barges and not worry about power outages. Then they'd also have the extra money saved from having to buy power to spend on other things. That's my 2c.

True, but UPS are only good for a couple hours anyway. I'm working with the Electrical engineers managing Fashion Island and they're replacing 5 year old battery backup systems, basically a million bucks down the drain on a system that wasn't maintained. Now they're going to generators. Diesel generators will last 30-40 years no problem.

That a freaking shame... is there a better way to dispose of them than the trash? Free chum give away or something?