Post by LSDeep on Mar 15, 2006 8:22:12 GMT -5
A pioneering plan designed to turn ecologically important spots in California's coastal waters into hundreds of miles of state parks to protect fish and other marine life will get its first public hearing today.
Under the Marine Life Protection Act of 1999, California would be the first state on the West Coast to establish a chain of marine reserves. The parks would serve as nurseries to replenish fish and other sea life depleted by more than a century of commercial and sport fishing, state officials said Monday.
Marine reserves proposed for the state's Central Coast include rich underwater ecosystems at Año Nuevo, Pacific Grove, Carmel, Point Lobos, Point Sur and Morro Bay, according to options under consideration by a state-appointed panel.
Those spots are some of the most biologically diverse in the world, where giant kelp forests, rocky reefs and underwater canyons and spires support bountiful populations of rockfish, shrimp, Dungeness crab, squid and the prey on which they depend.
The only other extensive state marine reserve systems in the United States are off the coasts of Florida and Hawaii.
California's marine parks plan, if adopted, could set strict limits against taking any living, geologic or cultural resource, from rockfish to rocky coral and sea stars.
"Protected areas will prevent those species from being overfished and ensure that the ecological roles that they play in an ecosystem are protected as well,'' said marine biologist Mark Carr, a UC Santa Cruz associate professor who serves as a scientific adviser to the panel that will recommend proposed reserves.
The proposed protections also would attempt to offset the negative effects of coastal development, water pollution and other harmful assaults from a growing human population.
And the state is proceeding with the marine reserve program amid concerns that the state Fish and Game Department does not have the money to carry out its mission. Supporters of the program have urged Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to add funding when he revises his budget in May.
Today and Wednesday in Seaside, near Monterey, a nine-member panel appointed by the state's resources secretary will review five proposals written by groups including fisherman, scientists and conservationists and one developed at the panel's request by its own staff.
Fishing would be banned or limited in varying degrees in all of the options in the Central Coast plan, which extends from San Mateo to Santa Barbara counties. By the end of the meeting, the panel is expected to recommend about two dozen locations off the Central Coast. The final decision lies with the Fish and Game Commission, which is scheduled to make its own selections by the end of the year.
Eventually, four to six other regions of reserves will be designated along the 1,200-mile California coast, including a separate plan for the San Francisco Bay. The reserves will lie in state waters, which reach from the shore to three miles out to sea.
The coastal waters are the focal point of some of the state's richest commercial and sport catches, and representatives of the fishing industry oppose big reserves, saying the strictly protected areas would leave them with empty nets.
"I'm personally skeptical that preserving the areas will actually benefit the fish populations,'' said Rick Algert, harbor director for the city of Morro Bay, who was part of the group developing the fishermen's option. About 60 commercial fishing boats anchor in his harbor.
Algert said that under one of the proposals developed by conservationists, "if you take the best fishing areas, it will put all the fishing pressure in the areas that remain open.''
The proposal has been two years in the making during which interested parties -- including fishermen, wholesalers, processors, divers, residents and scientists -- at more than 40 meetings have thrashed out five alternate ways to protect the coast.
The alternative crafted by fishermen allows for the largest commercial and sport take among the options; a second presents a conservation option; a third is a combination of the first and second options.
The fourth option was prepared by Natural Resources Defense Council and Point Reyes Bird Observatory, and a fifth is a product of local residents and focuses on protecting the otter range. The sixth option was developed by the staff of the state panel at the panel's request. Some interest groups have criticized the panel for weighing in with its own option as well as complaining that it's either too restrictive or not restrictive enough.
California was the first state to establish marine reserves, in 1913. There are small protected areas at Año Nuevo, Elkhorn Slough, Hopkins Marine Station, Carmel Bay, Point Lobos and seven other sites. In 2003, 10 new state reserves were added around the Channel Islands.
Research from some of these sites is being used to support the argument that setting aside reserves benefits the species and the ocean.
One study by UC Santa Cruz and U.S. Geological Survey scientists suggests that existing marine reserves in central California kelp forests may help sustain exploited populations by producing adults and larvae that depart the reserves for the wider ocean.
About $4 million has been spent on designing the options for Central Coast reserves. The money comes from state agencies and private foundations.
Sonke Mastrup, deputy director of wildlife and inland fisheries division at the Fish and Game Department, praised the public-private partnership that supported the citizen involvement. But Mastrup cautioned that "there is currently no funding to implement any of the proposals on the water.''
The annual cost to manage, monitor and enforce regulations for a set of Central Coast reserves is estimated to run between $3 million and $9 million a year, he said.
Hearings
The plan will be the subject of meetings 10 a.m.-6 p.m. today and 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 1441 Canyon del Rey, Seaside. Go to www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/mlpa/meetings.html.
Proposed marine reserves
By the end of the year, the state Fish and Game Commission is expected to designate a chain of protected areas along the Central Coast. A state-appointed panel will review six proposals, including this plan mapped by its own staff, and then make a recommendation this week to Fish and Game.
State waters
From shoreline to 3 miles out in the ocean
Marine Reserve: Prohibits any taking of resources
Marine Park: Allows sport fishing but no commercial fishing
Marine Conservation Area: Allows some sport and commercial fishing
Soquel Canyon
Portuguese Ledge
Point Sur
Natural Bridges
Pacific Grove
Carmel Pinnacles
Santa Cruz
Año Nuevo
Julia Pfeiffer Burns
Point Lobos
Carmel Bay
Elkhorn Slough
Hopkins
Coho Slough
Ed Ricketts
Cambria
Estero Bluff
East Morro Bay
Piedras Blancas
Morro Bay
Point Buchon
San Luis Obispo
Pismo Beach
Lompoc
Vandenberg
Purisima
Source: California Department of Fish and Game
E-mail Jane Kay at jkay@sfchronicle.com.
Under the Marine Life Protection Act of 1999, California would be the first state on the West Coast to establish a chain of marine reserves. The parks would serve as nurseries to replenish fish and other sea life depleted by more than a century of commercial and sport fishing, state officials said Monday.
Marine reserves proposed for the state's Central Coast include rich underwater ecosystems at Año Nuevo, Pacific Grove, Carmel, Point Lobos, Point Sur and Morro Bay, according to options under consideration by a state-appointed panel.
Those spots are some of the most biologically diverse in the world, where giant kelp forests, rocky reefs and underwater canyons and spires support bountiful populations of rockfish, shrimp, Dungeness crab, squid and the prey on which they depend.
The only other extensive state marine reserve systems in the United States are off the coasts of Florida and Hawaii.
California's marine parks plan, if adopted, could set strict limits against taking any living, geologic or cultural resource, from rockfish to rocky coral and sea stars.
"Protected areas will prevent those species from being overfished and ensure that the ecological roles that they play in an ecosystem are protected as well,'' said marine biologist Mark Carr, a UC Santa Cruz associate professor who serves as a scientific adviser to the panel that will recommend proposed reserves.
The proposed protections also would attempt to offset the negative effects of coastal development, water pollution and other harmful assaults from a growing human population.
And the state is proceeding with the marine reserve program amid concerns that the state Fish and Game Department does not have the money to carry out its mission. Supporters of the program have urged Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to add funding when he revises his budget in May.
Today and Wednesday in Seaside, near Monterey, a nine-member panel appointed by the state's resources secretary will review five proposals written by groups including fisherman, scientists and conservationists and one developed at the panel's request by its own staff.
Fishing would be banned or limited in varying degrees in all of the options in the Central Coast plan, which extends from San Mateo to Santa Barbara counties. By the end of the meeting, the panel is expected to recommend about two dozen locations off the Central Coast. The final decision lies with the Fish and Game Commission, which is scheduled to make its own selections by the end of the year.
Eventually, four to six other regions of reserves will be designated along the 1,200-mile California coast, including a separate plan for the San Francisco Bay. The reserves will lie in state waters, which reach from the shore to three miles out to sea.
The coastal waters are the focal point of some of the state's richest commercial and sport catches, and representatives of the fishing industry oppose big reserves, saying the strictly protected areas would leave them with empty nets.
"I'm personally skeptical that preserving the areas will actually benefit the fish populations,'' said Rick Algert, harbor director for the city of Morro Bay, who was part of the group developing the fishermen's option. About 60 commercial fishing boats anchor in his harbor.
Algert said that under one of the proposals developed by conservationists, "if you take the best fishing areas, it will put all the fishing pressure in the areas that remain open.''
The proposal has been two years in the making during which interested parties -- including fishermen, wholesalers, processors, divers, residents and scientists -- at more than 40 meetings have thrashed out five alternate ways to protect the coast.
The alternative crafted by fishermen allows for the largest commercial and sport take among the options; a second presents a conservation option; a third is a combination of the first and second options.
The fourth option was prepared by Natural Resources Defense Council and Point Reyes Bird Observatory, and a fifth is a product of local residents and focuses on protecting the otter range. The sixth option was developed by the staff of the state panel at the panel's request. Some interest groups have criticized the panel for weighing in with its own option as well as complaining that it's either too restrictive or not restrictive enough.
California was the first state to establish marine reserves, in 1913. There are small protected areas at Año Nuevo, Elkhorn Slough, Hopkins Marine Station, Carmel Bay, Point Lobos and seven other sites. In 2003, 10 new state reserves were added around the Channel Islands.
Research from some of these sites is being used to support the argument that setting aside reserves benefits the species and the ocean.
One study by UC Santa Cruz and U.S. Geological Survey scientists suggests that existing marine reserves in central California kelp forests may help sustain exploited populations by producing adults and larvae that depart the reserves for the wider ocean.
About $4 million has been spent on designing the options for Central Coast reserves. The money comes from state agencies and private foundations.
Sonke Mastrup, deputy director of wildlife and inland fisheries division at the Fish and Game Department, praised the public-private partnership that supported the citizen involvement. But Mastrup cautioned that "there is currently no funding to implement any of the proposals on the water.''
The annual cost to manage, monitor and enforce regulations for a set of Central Coast reserves is estimated to run between $3 million and $9 million a year, he said.
Hearings
The plan will be the subject of meetings 10 a.m.-6 p.m. today and 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 1441 Canyon del Rey, Seaside. Go to www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/mlpa/meetings.html.
Proposed marine reserves
By the end of the year, the state Fish and Game Commission is expected to designate a chain of protected areas along the Central Coast. A state-appointed panel will review six proposals, including this plan mapped by its own staff, and then make a recommendation this week to Fish and Game.
State waters
From shoreline to 3 miles out in the ocean
Marine Reserve: Prohibits any taking of resources
Marine Park: Allows sport fishing but no commercial fishing
Marine Conservation Area: Allows some sport and commercial fishing
Soquel Canyon
Portuguese Ledge
Point Sur
Natural Bridges
Pacific Grove
Carmel Pinnacles
Santa Cruz
Año Nuevo
Julia Pfeiffer Burns
Point Lobos
Carmel Bay
Elkhorn Slough
Hopkins
Coho Slough
Ed Ricketts
Cambria
Estero Bluff
East Morro Bay
Piedras Blancas
Morro Bay
Point Buchon
San Luis Obispo
Pismo Beach
Lompoc
Vandenberg
Purisima
Source: California Department of Fish and Game
E-mail Jane Kay at jkay@sfchronicle.com.