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The sanctuaries plan - California.
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by Xerife1 | November 12, 2009 at 08:35 am
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The sanctuaries plan would nearly double areas that ban or limit fishing off Southern California.
A California blue-ribbon panel voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve landmark fishing and harvesting restrictions off the coast of Southern California. This would create protected areas for depleted marine species while also leaving certain areas open for fishing.
The five-member panel will recommend making the 250mi-coastline economically and ecologically sustainable to the California Fish and Game Commission.
The commission will then tackle the plan on 9 December; it is expected to back it, although the completion of the change may take several months.
The state commission may make its final determination next summer or fall.
“We are doing something really unprecedented,” said Meg Caldwell, a blue ribbon panel member from Stanford Law School. “This is not just for ourselves and all the various users . . . but for communities that have lived with and lived in these systems for thousands of years and for future generations as well.”
The plan was developed amid turbulent discussions between environmentalists and the fishing industry over access to the ocean, kelp beds and submarine canyons as well as parking lot and restroom locations that could affect water quality, larval production and marine health between Santa Barbara and the Mexican border, Los Angeles Times reports.
"We do not have the resources to enforce regulations currently on the books. This is a matter that jeopardises officer safety," lobbyist for the California Fish and Game Wardens Association (CFGWA) George L Osborn told the panel.
Panel votes to expand habitat sanctuaries off Southern California
UNITED STATES
Thursday, November 12, 2009, 17:30 (GMT + 9)
Source:
worldnews www.fis.com/fis/worldnews
Related article:
- More of California's coasts gain protection
By Natalia Real www.fis.com
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at 08:59 on November 12th, 2009
Twenty per cent of California waters along the North-Central coast will be protected under the MLPA. (Photo: NOAA)
More of California's coasts gain protection
UNITED STATES
Friday, August 07, 2009, 02:30 (GMT + 9)
California’s Fish and Game Commission decided on Wednesday to ban or restrict fishing through 20 per cent of its North-Central coast. The move is meant to give marine ecosystems a chance to recover from fishing activities and will go into effect on 1 January 2010.
Fishers complained about the impact this would have on their income considering the recession. Conversely, environmentalists celebrated the decision and hope it will spark a trend for the establishment of underwater state parks, The Los Angeles Times reports.
Commission Deputy Director Andrea Shea said that fishing will be entirely prohibited in about 11 per cent of the protected zone. Supporters hope the move will allow for stocks such as cod, abalone and crab to replenish, reports the Associated Press.
California North-Central coast. (Map: NOAA/Stock File)
Only the first three nautical miles off the state’s coast are protected by the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), as waters beyond that point are ruled by federal jurisdiction. The waters off Southern California, the northernmost state coasts and San Francisco Bay, will next be covered by the Act.
The version of the plan proposed by the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force beat out the ones proposed by environmentalists and fishers on a 3-2 vote.
It was opposed by Commissioner Daniel W. Richards and President Jim Kellogg. They argued that the protected area off the Central Coast should be evaluated to ascertain its success before the plan is applied elsewhere, and also that the state might not be able to meet the expenses.
"Budgets come and budgets go, recessions come and recessions go," Commissioner Michael Sutton rebutted. "What's going on here is more important than that."
Don Benninghoven cast the vote that broke the tie and received the approval of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Benninghoven was appointed by the governor on Tuesday to replace Commission President Cindy Gustafson, who had resigned on Friday.
Passed in 1999, the MLPA mandates that a network of restricted fishing areas be set up. The first group of protected areas spans about 200 sqmi from Point Conception in Santa Barbara County to Pigeon Point and was approved in 2007.
The Central Coast, which is the first of five coasts to be studied, already benefits from some protected areas.
The 21 protected zones encompass 155 sqmi of reserves, marine parks and managed recreation areas. The vote applies to the area from Pigeon Point in San Mateo County to just north of Mendocino County’s Point Arena.
The measure is “the single most important thing that I have ever done," said Commissioner Richard B. Rogers.
According to Spokeswoman Lisa Page, "it represents another milestone in California's leadership on oceans management and is the example of the kinds of outcomes that can be achieved by a collaborative process."
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- West Coast governors ask for Disaster declaration
By Natalia Real
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
Photo Courtesy of FIS Member NOAA/NMFSborrar
at 10:32 on November 12th, 2009
Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, along with Governor Schwarzenegger, is pushing for a disaster declaration. (Photo: Governor.oregon.gov)
West Coast governors ask for Disaster declaration
UNITED STATES
Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 21:30 (GMT + 9)
The governors of both Oregon and California have requested that US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke declare the salmon fisheries of the two states a resource disaster under the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act, and a commercial fishery failure under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
The federal declaration procedurally opens the way for ocean fishers to receive federal economic aid.
"Salmon are a vital component of California and Oregon's natural resources and provide significant aesthetic, recreational, commercial, and economic benefits to our states," the governors wrote in a joint press release. "Economic assistance will again be critical for the well-being of our fishing communities and states."
Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski also issued Executive Order 09-08 declaring a state of emergency in Tillamook, Lincoln, Coos, Clatsop and Curry counties and coastal portions of Lane and Douglas counties as a result of limiting measures issued earlier this month by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) for commercial salmon fishing.
"Sadly, this is the second consecutive year that the collapse of the Sacramento River fall Chinook has led to major commercial ocean fishing closures along Oregon's coast," Governor Kulongoski said. "We need salmon populations to rebound, in order to sustain ocean ecosystem health as well as Oregon's fishing communities."
Expectations of diminished runs of fall chinook in the Sacramento River prompted the PFMC to not allow the 15 March season opener to move forward for salmon fishing from Cape Falcon to Humbug Mountain and from Humbug Mountain to the Oregon/California Border. On 8 April, the Council voted to completely shut down chinook fisheries from Cape Falcon, Oregon to the US/Mexico border off California.
This year as well as last, Kulongoski has directed state agencies to ease the impact of the decision on Oregon salmon fisheres and their families. The executive order specifically tasks officials to impart job retraining, provide food and health services, and to secure emergency financial aid, among other measures.
"While I recognise there are many Oregonians in need at this time, I nonetheless have asked state agencies to make serving the coast a priority since these communities have been struggling over the last several years as a result of extremely limited fishing opportunity," Kulongoski explained.
The PFMC's recommendation of season closure is now being reviewed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) fisheries division. Approval is expected by 1 May.
Related articles:
- Salmon fishers cleared to receive USD 70 mln in aid
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By Denise Recalde
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
at 10:34 on November 12th, 2009
The closure of the west coast salmon fishery in Oregon, Washington and California led to a total economic loss of USD 290 million. (Photo: Anderson)
Salmon fishers cleared to receive USD 70 mln in aid
UNITED STATES
Thursday, November 27, 2008, 20:30 (GMT + 9)
West coast salmon fishers have been granted USD 70 million in aid by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service on Tuesday.
The newly released funds effectively completes a USD 170 million financial assistance package first proffered in September in response to the year's shutdown of the ocean salmon fishing season off Oregon, Washington and California, Newport News Times reports.
The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Council (PSMFC) had announced in october a total grant of USD 100 million - USD 25 million to Oregon, USD 11 million to Washington, and USD 62 million to California, based on the estimated economic impact of the shutdown in each state.
US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez had declared a commercial fishery failure for the West Coast salmon fishery on 1 May - an act which officially releases federal aid to the fishing families and communities affected.
“The salmon fishery has been a mainstay of the West Coast's ocean fishing revenues for many years,” Gutierrez had said when he announced the disaster aid package. “This year's closure left thousands of fishermen and dependent businesses struggling to make ends meet. This will help them get back on their feet.”
Governors Ted Kulongoski and Christine Gregoire of Oregon and Washington, respectively, as well as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California announced the combined economic impact at USD 290 million. Congress had approved USD 170 million in aid to the sector in May, but the process fell through over a technicality in the 2008 Farm Bill detailing the process of the disaster funds.
Legislators re-approved the fund in July.
In the meantime, as the relevant rules were being sorted, state officials negotiated a disbursement agreement among themselves and PSFMC, the recipient of the federal aid grant. The accord helped to anticipate and smooth over the likelihood of an inter-state clash over distribution rights similar to the one Oregon and California staged soon after the Klamath River-related disaster took place in 2006.
The PSFMC distributes the funds only to eligible fishermen and related business owners, including wholesalers, processors, charter boat owners, recreational guides, and gill-netters.
So far, checks have been sent to more than 2,000 commercial salmon fishermen who were licensed permit holders in 2007, and 1,400 business owners and others struggling financially as a result of the fishery's closure.
The commission has distributed more than USD 73.6 million of the initial USD 100 million; officials expect the remainder of this amount to be fully distributed by the end of November.
With the release of the remaining USD 70 million, they anticipate another influx of applications.
Related articles:
- USD 100 mln in disaster aid released to West Coast salmon fishers
- Failure declared for West Coast chinook fishery
- Low salmon run triggers congressional appeal for federal relief
By Denise Recalde
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
at 11:36 on November 12th, 2009
Its a good and necessary initiative that already successfully is implemented in European fishing areas. Although here is some cheating on quotas do happen the impression is that fisherman in general are sufficient disciplinarian to obey the rules. For several period a year they even are not allowed to fish at all.
at 11:41 on November 12th, 2009
Thank you for this article.
Limiting fishing helps preserve future fishing economies, and can meet the desires of environmental concerns as we move toward sustainablility for all our natural resources including the fishing off our California coastlines.
This is great news.