The MENDOCINO COUNTRY Independent 8/12/10

North Coast Assemblyman Calls for Delay in MLPA Process

            On August 9, North coast assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D-Arcata) announced that he is calling for a six month delay in the implementation of the Marine Life Protection Act on the North Coast.

            Chesbro, the chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, has asked California resources secretary Lester Snow to delay the controversial process for at least six months to “ensure that environmental protection is balanced with traditional access rights.” Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Snow as Resources Secretary on February 1, 2010 to replace former secretary Mike Chrisman.

            A private corporation called the MLPA Initiative has been authorized to impose provisions of the Marine Life Protection Act of 1999 on the California coast from Mexico to Canada, after political considerations delayed implementation for 10 years. The North Coast Region is the last to be brought to heel, and it is proving more difficult to control than the other three regions to the south that  have been conquered and pacified.
             Fishermen, Indian tribes, recreational seafood divers and seaweed harvesters have generally resisted the restrictions.

            Scientists agree that species by species, fish stocks are declining worldwide both in the near shore environment and in the deep sea. The are adamant in prescribing linked ecosystem-wide zones excluding or restricting human harvesting of wildlife, called Marine Life Protection Areas.

             Failure to take those measures have resulted in the crash of multiple species, as on the Canadian Grand Banks. Fishermen vote and their causes are often adopted by politicians. Fish do not, however.

            In a process used by MLPAI along the entire coast of California, local people on Regional Stakeholders’ Groups are encouraged to create proposed maps of areas of the ocean to close or restrict fishing, diving and seaweed harvesting.  A Science Advisory Team then gives feedback to the RSG — through MLPAI staff — on how the maps meet the science guidelines. Then a Blue Ribbon Task Force, makes the final recommendation based on the work of the RSG, and also weighs in throughout the process.

            Some arrays have been presented by certain North Coast RSG members on the marine map computer program provided by the state, but are yet to be vetted by the whole committee. They can be seen online at www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/mpaproposals_nc.asp.

            The fraction of coastline proposed to be closed off by the two groups ranges from 2.8 percent to 7.2 percent, while statewide, the closures in the other regions range from 10 to 12 percent.

            RSG members complained in their last Fort Bragg meeting on July 30 that the Initiative staff had manipulated the process in order to impede them from submitting coordinated proposals for the Mendocino coast. The same process is supposed to coordinate MPLA arrays for the  Humboldt and Del Norte county coasts as well.    
        Opposition to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s MLPA Initiative by a diverse coalition of groups has mushroomed into the largest grassroots political movement of any kind on the North Coast since Redwood Summer of 1990.

            On July 21, over 300 people, including tribal members from 50 Indian nations, immigrant sea urchin industry workers, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, seaweed harvesters and grass roots environmentalists, peacefully took control of a meeting of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force in Fort Bragg in defense of tribal gathering rights and against the MLPA’s domination by oil industry and other corporate interests.

            Chesbro is calling for Joint Legislative Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture hearings on the MLPA Initiative this Fall.

            A new problem emerged in the North Central Coast Region, (Point Arena south to Marin). There, the process entirely closed a strip of private property that Native Americans had historically used for traditional  seaweed and shellfish gathering.

            That necessitated the California Fish and Game Commission to reopen that region’s finalized maps and converting that particular area from maximum to minimum protection. Doing so shifted other offshore protection arrays northward in such a way that pressure is being put on to create more closed areas on the North Coast region. This pitted Native Tribes against majority fishermen here.

            The MLPAI process is supposed to result in  final array proposals by the end of August. The final Regional Stakeholders Group meeting is planned for Aug. 30 and 31 in Eureka, where RSG members will get two full days to work, with no scientific presentations planned, with a third day of meetings offered that week. MLPAI staff also offered to schedule a mid-August meeting. \

            At the end of August, RSG recommendations are to move to the Blue Ribbon Task Force, which will use those suggestions to compose their final recommendation to the California Fish and Game Commission, which actually creates the new fishing restricted areas and closures.