Sept / Oct KFASC Newsletter

[KFASC]

Kayak Fishing Association of Southern California
Dedicated to preserve and expand kayak fishing opportunities
www.kayakfishingassociationsocal.org

September / October 2005 Newsletter


MLPA UPDATE – It’s Full Speed Ahead to CenCal Closures
Ugoretz Says DFG Will Force Through Reserves that Comply with Science Team Guidelines / MLPA Initiative Calling for Alternative MPA Proposals /
Central Coast Regional Working Group’s “Unanimous” Goals Look Bad for Kayak Anglers, and Not So Unanimously Approved /
Reserve Maps Finally to Go Public Beginning in October /
Coastside’s Legal Challenge to MLPA Funding Still Pending /


It’s been one ominous development after another for the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) these past few weeks. Most of the action has centered on the Central Coast Regional Stakeholder Group. The group is charged to produce a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) for state waters extending from Pigeon Point to Point Conception. DFG staff is threatening to force large-scale closures, independently of whatever the working group recommends. So what, is the Central Coast Working Group just for show? It sure looks like it, as DFG PR staff is mischaracterizing dissension within the Working Group as unanimous agreement. That’s bitter news for us, because the goals and objectives adopted by the Working Group couldn’t be worse for kayak anglers. More and more the process looks like it is racing towards a predetermined conclusion that will lock down many of our preferred fishing spots. And at this point, no help is on the way.

Ugoretz Lays Down the Law
According to a report published in the September 16 edition of Western Outdoor News, the DFG’s Nearshore Ecosystem Coordinator and Senior Policy Adviser to the MLPA, John Ugoretz, implied that if the MPA network recommended by the Central Coast Regional Working Group doesn’t result in a system of large no-take marine reserves, the DFG will force them through using the Nearshore Fishery Management Plan. Ugoretz also said that the DFG will use the MPA design guidelines specified by the MLPA Science Advisory Team (SAT). The SAT calls for reserves that extend from 3 to 12 or even more miles along the coast, with no more than 31 to 62 miles between reserves. These numbers are based on controversial theories of fish larval dispersion that aren’t universally accepted even within the SAT.

DFG Invites Third Party Groups to Submit Alternative MPA Network Proposals
In an email released on September 19, the DFG invited third party groups to submit alternative MPA network proposals.

The Central Coast Regional Stakeholder Group (CCRSG) will be the primary source of alternative marine protected area proposals to the MLPA Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force, but the MLPA Initiative is an open process and it is possible others will submit MPA proposals to the task force and the CCRSG.

Suggestions for single MPAs and groups of MPAs within the central coast region (Point Conception to Pigeon Point) are welcomed through October 15, 2005.

The KFASC doesn’t have the resources or the necessary scientific acumen to submit an alternative proposal, however, we will comment on how the major proposals could impact our use patterns.

Central Coast Regional Working Group Adopts Goals and Objectives – Unanimously? Not a Chance
Kayak anglers were staggered earlier this month when the Central Coast Regional Working Group adopted the goals and objectives that will guide how MPAs are designed. Several goals and objectives point MPAs right at our heads. The DFG would have the public believe the Central Coast Regional Working Group unanimously agreed with the results. KFASC sources within the fishing community strongly deny the state’s glowing PR claim. Instead, the picture they paint is one of strong dissent from the fishing community, which was steamrolled in a series of motions. It seems the architects of the Working Group packed the panel with pro-closure representatives. In other words, the concerns of the recreational fishing community can be disregarded without imperiling the process. We’d have fairer odds with the carnies on the midway.

Excerpts from the Adopted Provisional Regional Goals and Objectives Package:

To the extent possible, site MPAs adjacent to terrestrial federal, state, county, or city parks, marine laboratories, or other "eyes on the water" to facilitate management, enforcement, and monitoring.

Virtually any beach launch is within a park of some kind.

Include within MPAs the protected lee of major headlands that may act as collection points for water and larvae.

Many of our most sheltered beach launches and fishing grounds are within the protected lees of major headlands such as Big Sur’s Lopez Point.

Ensure some MPAs are close to population centers and research and education institutions and include areas of traditional nonconsumptive recreational use and are accessible for recreational, educational, and study opportunities.

We live in population centers too.

Include within MPAs the following habitat types: estuaries, heads of submarine canyons, pinnacles, upwelling centers, and larval retention areas.

Places MPAs in some of the most productive areas for fishing. Posters at the NorCalKayakAnglers.com website fear the goals and objectives will result in closures near Moss Landing, in Monterey Bay, and in Carmel Bay.

Break Out the Maps – Alternative MPA Networks May be Revealed at Next Central Coast Regional Working Group Meeting
At the next meeting of the Central Coast Regional Working Group (October 5-6 in Monterey), the Group will break out the maps and start debating where to place MPAs. Third party plans may also be made public. We’ll be watching with bated breath.

Coastside’s Legal Challenge to Biased Private MLPA Funding Still Pending
The Coastside Fishing Club, a large and influential organization in Central and Northern California, sent a letter to the state on August 18 that challenges the MLPA funding mechanism. A large portion of the funds come from a private source, the Resources Legacy Trust Fund Foundation, a special interest organization generally believed to favor widespread closures. Since this arrangement was announced, plenty of people have wondered if the RLTFF is buying undue influence over the rollout of the MLPA. In their August 18 letter, an attorney for Coastside informs the state that the club will file suit to challenge special interest funding of the MLPA if the arrangement is not terminated within ten days. The fishing community is still waiting for Coastside to make its move.

Paul Lebowitz


Just Say No to Gillnets


The Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) is on the verge of approving exemptions to a ban that closes a large area of our ocean to commercial gill netting. Brown and Associates explains why recreational anglers should oppose the PFMC plan to allow limited commercial gillnetting:

DFG, Hubbs Seaworld, United Anglers of Southern California and local California fishing clubs are spending millions of dollars and volunteers are spending millions of hours trying to re-establish white seabass populations and commercial gillnets kill them. Gillnets also injure and kill large numbers of endangered sea turtles, sharks, billfish, and dolphins, whales, seals and other marine mammals.

In 2001, NOAA Fisheries also closed waters off Monterey Bay, California, and in the vicinity north to the 45° N latitude intersect with the Oregon Coast from August 15 through November 1 5 in response to the threat of a lawsuit. The region north of Point Conception had recently been closed during El Nino years as the result of another lawsuit in 2002 to protect loggerhead turtles, another species facing threat of extinction due to mortality caused by industrial fishing.

Gillnets are known as "curtains of death" because they catch and kill everything in their path. Large gillnets (also known as driftnets) were banned by the United Nations on the high seas in 1991. This year, 1,007 scientists from 97 countries and 281 non-governmental organizations from 62 countries delivered a letter to the United Nations urging it to implement a moratorium on industrial longline and gillnet fishing in the Pacific.

There is no excuse for taking a step back on restricting the use of gillnets or longlines. Let’s support the efforts of RFA, UASC and other alliances to ban gillnets.

I hope this publication, RFA and UASC help keep gillnets out of these areas and let us know what time to show up at these meetings.


Thanks and Happy Fishing;

Larry Brown
Playa del Rey.

The issue may be decided when the PFMC meets in San Diego from October 30 to November 4. Refer to http://www.pcouncil.org/events/future.html for additional information on the meeting.

Thanks to KFASC Advisory Board member Jim Sammons for bringing this issue to our attention.


Your Help Wanted

The KFASC needs your help to attend or otherwise monitor upcoming meetings of the Central Coast Regional Working Group. Meetings are held during business hours in Central California. If you'd like to help, please write news@kayakfishingassociationsocal.org for more information.


Who are the KFASC?

You! Our rank and file members are the heart of the organization. We need your backing to act more effectively. Please help us recruit more members by spreading the word amongst your fishing buddies and friends. As always, anyone who wants to do more is welcome to contact us at news@kayakfishingassociationsocal.org. We could use the help.

The KFASC staff is:

Paul Lebowitz, Director
Keith Martin, Webmaster

The KFASC Advisory Board is drawn from prominent members of the Southern California Kayak fishing community. Additional information is available at our website.