Big Fish

As a child growing up in Baltimore, John Camper had a habit of collecting stray animals. Not homeless dogs or cats, he says, "just weird stuff," like lizards and tadpoles. His favorite pets, however, were fish. Every room in his house had a tank. Nowadays, Camper, 28, gets to play with some very big fish and one colossal tank, the New Jersey aquarium, which is set to open in March on Camden's waterfront. His official title at the aquarium is assistant curator of fishes, but it would be more appropriate to describe him as the Shark Guy. Camper, whose idea of work attire is a T-shirt, shorts and fishing rod, will oversee the care and feeding of the big sharks in the aquarium's two- story-high main tank.

Investigators are trying to determine what killed as many as 1,000 fish in Ridley Park Lake over the weekend. The dead fish were reported Saturday evening at the Delaware County lake. Police and state agencies including the Department of Environmental Protection and the Fish and Boat Commission were at the scene. Initial water tests did not immediately point to a cause, DEP spokeswoman Deborah Fries said Sunday night. She said water samples had been sent to a lab in Harrisburg for more testing.

They're played in flashbacks by hot young things Ewan McGregor and Alison Lohman, but "Big Fish" stars Albert Finney and Jessica Lange aren't exactly chilled salmon. Lange and Finney, who have been nominated for five Academy Awards each, even share a romantic scene in a bathtub - fully clothed. But Lange decided to heat things up: "Rather than just sit at opposite ends in the water, I thought it would be more interesting if I got on top of him, to invoke the idea of a mermaid," said Lange.

Blessed with a prime, easy-access location that includes two large parking lots, Big Fish could probably do well without trying very hard. But it's obvious that the Detroit-based, Chuck Muer chain wants its West Conshohocken link - number 20 - to do very well. Two recent review meals at the restaurant showed consummate concern with pleasing patrons. A new, lightened and brightened interior, sunny as a beach house, has replaced the no-fun decor of the previous seafood restaurant on the site.

This summer, 180 million Americans will travel to the seashore. Most go to relax. Many will dine on the local residents: crabs, oysters, fish, shrimp. But few are aware that the ocean is in deep trouble. Fewer still are aware that trouble for the ocean means trouble for us. A new study published in Nature magazine underscores just how bad things are. It finds that only 10 percent of previous stocks of large, predatory fish - tuna, swordfish, marlin, cod, halibut, skates and flounder - survive in the seas.

FBI agents stepped onto the deck of a 25-foot fishing boat at an expensive bayside development in Virginia Beach, Va., yesterday and an 18-month hunt was over. They put the cuffs on Dr. Lawrence William Lavin, the fast-living Philadelphia dentist who left town in November 1984 after being identified as the boss of a multimillion-dollar cocaine racket that allegedly catered to wealthy "yuppies" like himself. Agents said the 31-year-old Lavin had been living under an assumed name in waterfront elegance in a colonial-style home that neighbors said is worth about $225,000, complete with swimming pool and hot tub. He apparently bought the home in an exclusive neighborhood called Middle Plantation, on Lynnhaven Inlet, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, soon after his disappearance from Philadelphia.

The scream of line stripping off the heavy-duty spinning reel broke the tranquility of the early-morning cruise. Doug Blank jumped off his transom perch, yanked the rod from its holder and passed the works to a wide-eyed tyro in the fighting chair. Something Big had inhaled the bait. Something Big wasn't happy with this new association. It took eight seconds for 250 yards of line to peel off the reel, course through the bent-over rod and disappear into the drink. Just a free meal for Something Big. "Welcome to The Hump," Steve Phillips shouted from the tuna tower of his 38-foot Hatteras.

There's no getting around it - a big fish is an intimidating item. A 12- pound turkey just looks like Thanksgiving and a bunch of sandwiches, but a 12-pound bluefish looks like final exams at cooking school. Looks, however, are deceptive. Cooking a large fish is easy - if you have a large barbecue grill - and there are many rewards. The most important payoff is deliciousness. There's far less danger of dryness when you cook a large fish whole, and the slight flavor of smoke is a definite plus.

They had seen schools of blues, a couple of sharks, a couple of dolphins. Five hours into the fishing trip, with noon still an hour away, they got their first hit. "Reel hard, man," the captain, Ron Rookstool, yelled from the tuna tower on this 36-foot, single-engine fishing boat. There was kill in his voice. He smelled meat. Everybody - the four paying fishermen, the captain, his mate - knew there was a big fish at the end of the line. The journey was made in search of big fish.

The nation's most successful bass anglers are having very little success with large fish in the 16th BASS Masters Classic tournament. The 41 finalists in the event, the annual "World Series" of BASS (Bass Anglers Sportsman Society), are finding lunker largemouth hard to come by. Jerry Rhyne, a seasoned tournament pro from Denver, N.C., moved into first place yesterday after being in second after Thursday's opening day. Rhyne had five fish weighing a total of 6 pounds, 14 ounces, giving him a two-day total of 12 fish weighing 16-8.

FOR THE SECOND time in 3 days, the Miami Marlins walked up to the winter meetings podium to introduce a high-priced free agent while working doggedly behind the scenes to bring more sparkling stars to baseball's newest ballpark. The Marlins, dominating the market under art dealer-owner Jeffrey Loria, increased their spending spree to $191 million in less than a week, agreeing yesterday to a 4-year, $58 million contract with lefthander Mark Buehrle just hours after finalizing a deal with All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes.

Investigators are trying to determine what killed as many as 1,000 fish in Ridley Park Lake over the weekend. The dead fish were reported Saturday evening at the Delaware County lake. Police and state agencies including the Department of Environmental Protection and the Fish and Boat Commission were at the scene. Initial water tests did not immediately point to a cause, DEP spokeswoman Deborah Fries said Sunday night. She said water samples had been sent to a lab in Harrisburg for more testing.

THOUGH DWELLING behind the shadows of big-time Division I basketball and the hoopla that surrounds it, there are schools in the Philadelphia region that have staked their own claim to fame. And while they may not receive all the accoutrements of say a Villanova or a Temple for winning big, the Daily News eliminated divisions, conferences and size and found the area's five best programs that also can lay claim to keeping the Delaware Valley a mainstay as a college basketball mecca.

Mark Mayson became the football coach at Lower Moreland High in 1982, making him one of the longest-serving coaches in the area. He wears multiple hats as a coach, assistant principal, and athletic director - and he wouldn't want it any other way. "This is where I am, and this is a great place to be," said Mayson, whose school competes in the small-school Bicentennial Athletic League. "The school has been good to me. I've met some wonderful people here. " Mayson said he has never felt he was missing something by not coaching at one of the high-powered football programs in the area like Class AAAA North Penn or Neshaminy.

Maybe tonight's senior prom will help them to forget. Washington Township let a big fish off the hook yesterday in an Olympic Conference American Division softball game at Cherokee. And like a big fish, Cherokee, ranked fourth by The Inquirer, took advantage of the opportunity and earned a come-from-behind 4-2 win. Township's misfortune and Cherokee's fortune surfaced in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Minutemaids (8-6 overall, 4-2 division) had a 2-0 lead, and everything appeared to be going well for pitcher Alissa Schoelkopf and her teammates.

THE POLICE Department's elite Narcotics Field Unit is supposed to go after big fish - kingpins who package mounds of drugs behind closed doors. But Officer Jeffrey Cujdik and the officers who worked with him spent a lot of time shooting fish in a barrel. Day after day, they busted mom-and-pop store owners, most of whom were immigrants with no criminal records, on misdemeanor charges for selling little ziplock bags, which police say are used to package crack cocaine and marijuana.

When the U.S. and International teams square off in the seventh Presidents Cup in Montreal this week, no one will be under more pressure to perform than Mike Weir. Not only must Weir carry the flag as the only Canadian on the 12-man International squad, he's making his fourth Cup appearance as one of Gary Player's two captain's picks - and it was a stretch of a pick, truth be hold. For his first wild card, Player tapped Australian Nick O'Hern, the guy who whipped Tiger Woods in the Match Play Championship earlier this year.

Prosecutor should have made Lynch testify State Sen. John Lynch, one of the most powerful Democratic Party bosses in New Jersey for decades, has pleaded guilty to tax evasion and theft of honest services through fraud. Christopher Christie, U.S. attorney, has snagged another one. But it appears that Christie has made a plea bargain with Lynch that does not include requiring Lynch to give up - or testify against - anyone else. This is the same deal that political fund-raiser David Damiano got. He was able to plea-bargain his involvement in trying to get a farmer a higher price in a condemnation action.

Labor Day is gone. The Shore is quiet now. Most beachgoers have packed away chairs and umbrellas and turned their thoughts to school and football. But come Memorial Day, they'll be back, expecting the solace, nourishment or income they've always derived from the ocean. The question is: What will they find? Increasingly, scientists say, beneath the dependable tides lie signs of serious trouble. Overfishing, destruction of wetlands, agricultural runoff, industrial pollution, and climate change are destroying the ocean ecosystem.

Leila Varella's son Darius, 9, no longer munches tuna sandwiches for lunch. His mother now regrets the slabs of shark she tossed onto the grill. Two years ago, amid national concern about mercury in seafood, they plucked strands of hair to be tested in a national survey of mercury levels in the U.S. population by the environmental group Greenpeace. Darius' level was slightly high, so Varella nixed the fish. "Mercury," said Varella, of Philadelphia, "is not something he needs.