Font ResizeOn July 21, the BRTF received presentations from staff on the Round Two proposals of the Regional Stakeholders Group (RSG). In Round One, the RSG had worked as a single group, but in Round Two, the MLPA staff decided to break them up into two separate groups, these being the Sapphire Group and the Ruby Group, each of which came up with two separate proposals.
According to the presentation made by Dr. Satie Airame, the groups were requested to make one proposal that would be science-based and one that would focus on economic goals for the region. Areas designated SMR, or State Marine Reserve, would allow no consumptive use of resources, meaning no fishing or collecting. Areas designated State Marine Conservation Areas (SMCA) would allow shoreline tribal uses with permits.
The restrictions that the designations put on the coastal area of Humboldt and Mendocino counties have been very controversial and the members of the RSG have been meeting with residents and users of the coast to try and craft proposals that will protect and enhance the resource while minimizing the socio-economic impact of restricted use. Proposals for closures at Big Flat and Petrolia have proven most controversial along the Southern Humboldt coast.
Co-leaders Bill Lemos, Brandi Easter, Bruce Campbell and Adam Wagschal of the RSG were present at the meeting and spoke about the process the two groups had followed in coming up with their latest proposals.
Lemos said that they had shifted the boundaries of some proposed closures and/or designated restricted areas out of concerns for the safety of user groups. They wanted all user groups to have access to safe harbor when needed, Lemos said. He also echoed the opinion of local fishermen that the weather along this coastline already limits access to ocean resources.
Wagschal spoke to the similarities in the proposals from the two groups. He said that there was a convergence taking place and that they were at a point where all the members understood one another.
Campbell said that they relied heavily on local environmental knowledge of the areas under consideration and took into account the fragile state of local fisheries. They sought to create a 10-mile safety zone and avoid putting large MPAs close to the ports along the coast. He said they wanted to provide easy access to fishing and make sure that boats could get back to ports in bad weather.
In regard to Big Flat, Lemos noted that the area was one of the most remote on the coast, with no vehicle access and could provide an ideal location to study marine life while still allowing off shore fishing.
The co-leaders were also in agreement that they were not happy with their facilitators, who they felt were doing too much of the talking and not leaving enough room for the participants.
The first day of the meeting did not get through its agenda, as a group of about 300 protestors, members of the Yurok tribe and their supporters, staged a march and protest outside the building where the meeting was being held. Chairwoman Cindy Gustafson asked that the doors be open and the protestors invited inside. For the remainder of the meeting, the BRTF listened to comments regarding tribal rights in relation to the restrictions imposed by the MLPA. Charges of institutional racism were lodged. Northcoast tribal representatives reminded those on both panels that they had managed the resources very well for over a thousand years prior to the white invasion, had a tradition of taking only what was needed and sharing all resources, and demanded to be recognized as a sovereign political entity.
At the end of the testimony, the meeting adjourned to the following day.
On July 22, the BRTF heard from the Science Advisory Team, in particular regarding the issue of water quality in places where sewage treatment plants interface with the marine environment. BRTF member and Humboldt County Supervisor Jimmy Smith noted that the City of Arcata is very concerned about their impact on the bay, to the extent that they have been acquiring land and working to restore riparian and estuary habitat. He hoped that their effort to maintain water quality would be recognized as the plan goes forward.
BRTF member Meg Caldwell suggested that an unintended consequence of the MLPA might be to act as a further incentive to improve water quality.
Rebecca Studebaker, speaking on behalf of the Department of Fish and Game, offered some constructive criticisms of the proposals. She said that from her department’s point of view the boundaries of the designated MPAs, SMCAs and special closures were inadequate. She said that the boundaries of areas closed or restricted ought to be easily recognized and enforceable. She urged drawing boundaries from recognizable landmarks such as bridges and named watercourses. She said that awkward shapes and wedges the RSG came up with to mitigate local impacts are too great a challenge to the public to determine what is where. She foresaw problems with enforcement of the regulations in very remote areas, such as Big Flat. She thought the Mattole Canyon MPA as proposed did not meet the science guidelines. She also thought that there shouldn’t be more than two MPAs in any given area.
Kevin Fleming from State Parks noted that 10 state and federal parks are going to be impacted by the MLPA. Most won’t conflict, he said, but he objected to the Ruby One proposal to allow duck hunting at Stone Lagoon. He said that hook and line fishing, kayaking, and canoeing were the appropriate uses at that location.
However, there is a conflict between the attitude of State Parks and the Fish and Game Commission, who, Studebaker noted, doesn’t want the MLPA to interfere with duck hunters.
He also reiterated a point made by Studebaker that the area from Gold Bluffs to Reading Rock is a popular fishing area and ought to remain open. He noted that this was not commercial fishing but subsistence fishing, people fishing to feed their families.
Following the presentations, the co-leaders of the RSG and the members of the BRTF discussed incorporating the input from the other agencies and the tribal groups into the new round of deliberations.
Caldwell urged the RSG members to document the reasons when they deviate from the guidelines.
”When you vary from the science guidelines, tell us why,” suggested BRTF member Gregory Schem.
Wagschal said he hoped they could avoid conflict between Shelter Cove and Petrolia and come up with a new design for those two communities. He also spoke about the “redundant and cumbersome regulatory environment.” It has made launching any new projects expensive and time consuming. He said that satisfying the many regulatory agencies can consume up to 40% of the budget of any project.
For Round Three, the Ruby Group and the Sapphire Group will merge to become the Emerald Group. The ideal resolution would be for the group to come up with a single proposal that everyone can live with, but if that’s not possible, multiple proposals would also be welcomed with differences clearly defined.
Dr. Airame acknowledged that the MLPA needed to make a greater effort to include tribal groups. She promised that tribal representatives would be brought in to advise the RSG members.
BRTF member Roberta Cordero noted that a member of the Yurok tribe had been proposed for the Science Advisory Team and asked that there be follow-up on that. She also reminded everyone that confidentiality was misunderstood and that tribal groups did not see confidentiality in information that would wind up on the Internet.
Near the close of the meeting, Supervisor Smith and former Assemblymember Virginia Strom-Martin gave a presentation on the recent history of fishing on the North Coast. Smith, himself a former fishermen, led the presentation.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the ocean off our coast was the target of foreign fishing fleets who used trawling nets to scoop up masses of fish, sometimes including salmon. This led to the Magnuson Stevens Act of 1976, which regulated trawl fishing off the coast. Next came factory fishing where American fleets cooperated to trawl nets of whitefish along with rockfish and salmon that were processed onboard factory ships. Now those ships must report their catches.
What was once a robust ground fishing industry declined and the government intervened, even going so far as to buy boats to discourage over-fishing. The fishing industry went from 5,000 boats to only a handful. Government support is now needed to keep the fishing infrastructure intact in hopes that the fisheries will recover.
”There’s very little economic development going on,” Strom-Martin said. “We are transitioning from a resource economy to something else. The State has not done a good job in rural areas, but the MLPA is yet another challenge that could ultimately benefit the North Coast.”
Round 3, the final round, of the MLPA on the North Coast begins with the Regional Stakeholder Group meeting on July 29 and 30 in Fort Bragg.
All the information about the meetings and the makeup of the various groups involved in the MLPA are available online.
