Written by Kurt Madar, The Triplicate July 24, 2009 03:14 pm
Petitions pushed to oppose more fish restrictions

Representatives from the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative fielded questions from fishermen and local officials Wednesday night about new protection areas on the North Coast as petitions were being signed outside to suspend the process.

In a packed Crescent City Cultural Center, MLPA Initiative and California Fish and Game representatives manned seven information stations and circulated through the room in an effort to educate people about the Marine Protected Area Creation process.

At the same time, representatives of the North Coast’s fishing community were outside collecting signatures on two petitions.

“Reserves aren’t necessary here,” said local fishermen Kenyon Hensel, referring to the first petition that seeks to completely halt the MPA process. “If reserves do come to the North Coast, this second petition is to keep reserves out of state waters between the mouths of the Klamath and Smith River.”

There are three types of MPAs that could be established on the North Coast.

The three levels of protection are primarily based on the severity of the take limit. From least restrictive to most, they include marine conservation areas, marine parks, and marine reserves (which would be no-take areas).

Before any decisions can be made about where and how restrictive North Coast MPAs might be, a collection of local stakeholders must be formed to develop a list of proposed sites, said initiative representatives.
The importance of fishing for the economy of the Del Norte County was demonstrated forcefully by how many local officials were in attendance at Wednesday’s open house.

From Crescent City’s mayor to representatives of the Harbor Commission and county, it wasn’t just fishermen who had questions and worries.

An example is a recent letter signed by representatives from communities all along the North Coast including the Crescent City Harbor Commission, the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors and the Crescent City Council.

The letter outlines concerns local governments, tribes and port authorities in the MLPA North Coast study region have with the way the process is being run, citing insufficient scientific data and a lack of appropriate funding.

MLPA Initiative representatives said learning of these concerns and gaining public input into the process were the reasons they were in Crescent City.

“I can promise you that no decisions have been made, there is nothing on the map,” fish and game representative Elizabeth Pope Smith responded to local fishermen Ned Burgess’ worry that specific protected areas for the North Coast might already be chosen.

“We are just beginning the process,” Pope said. “The more you interact, the more you are involved in the process, the better.”

Melissa Miller-Henson, of the MLPA Initiative, said that so far the meetings had been successful.

“Each of the two meetings before this one, in Fort Bragg and Eureka, had more than 100 people attend,” Henson said. “It’s been exciting to get so much interaction.”

The seven stations set up at the meeting covered what the MLPA legislation is and the science behind it, and provided registration opportunities for people who were interested in becoming more involved in the planning process.

Part of the planning process is to have a group of stakeholders from the study region who help design a proposal for where MPAs will be placed.

There are five study regions, and the North Coast is the second to last to go through the MPA process.

One of the stations was solely for people to make comments.

“It’s really efficient,” said Department of Fish and Game warden Dennis McKiver. “People’s comments get posted directly into the record, it really helps for developing a dialogue.”

According to MLPA Initiative media liaison Annie Reisewitz, the outreach process has just gotten started.

“We want the community to understand the process before we start choosing stakeholders,” Reisewitz said. “There will be some more outreach activities like the open houses to make sure that people get to know more about the process.”

Reisewitz said that the next step is to choose the science advisory team, which the department is soliciting nominations for by Aug. 18.

“Once the outreach portion is done we will begin the process of choosing stakeholders,” Reisewitz said. “Nominations are expected to begin by the end of this year and group members will be appointed by early next year.”