Independence Day Celebration and DFG & the MLPA

[kurtfish]

My son came down with a cold last week but we committed to bringing fish to a 4th bbq so I headed up to Carlsbad with 20 pounds of White Sea Bass in a cooler on my own. I bbqed the bass dipped in olive oil and rolled in bread crumbs. Everyone loved the fish and I enjoyed sharing my story of bodysurfing Thursday afternoon and launching my kayak that evening into the surf at La Jolla Shores. I managed to catch only 4 squid before the sun set but I noticed a group of fish on my electronics screen at 9:30pm and cast a live squid out on a very light rod and reel. In the dark I landed a 46 pound Sea Bass by 9:45 pm after untangling a couple lines and pulling the fish off the bottom. Landing through the surf in the dark was a bit challenging as well.

I feel the incredible WSB Season we have all enjoyed in 2010 should be celebrated and shared with the DFG as part of the MLPA review process on July 23rd. Sharing fishing success was fronded upon by many folks on this forum during the initial public impute rounds of the MLPA environmental review process. Now that we are in the environmental impact process with the DFG I feel sharing the incredible success we have recently experienced and the significant impacts of the gillnet ban on the WSB population is important. I have not encountered any DFG agents checking at LJ this year. I was checked once at the Shores in 2009 but the awesome 2010 results may be going unnoticed by the DFG unless they have been anchored off Crystal Pier recently.

I feel suggesting that further regulations such as one fish per day all year or daily limits of 5 WSB per day for commerical fishermen within 6 miles of shore make more sense than massive area closures. I heard the commercial price of WSB is down to $1.50 a pound as the local market is so glutted currently with commercial guys bringing in 20-40 WSB per night recently. Commercial fishermen catching WSB on hook and line at the local kelpbeds seems to me to circumvent the success of the 6 mile gill-net ban. These issues could be discussed as part of the MLPA environmental impact reveiw process. If we are going to be relegated to fishing a much restricted area of our local kelpbeds than the commercial fishing pressure needs to be regulated further to reduce the impact of condensed fishing pressure.

Today, I received the following notice via e-mail today. Most recent MLPA notices have been related to the North Coast process so many of you following this process may have deleted this one as another Northern note. I believe we should submit notes and photos of the recent WSB run to show evidence of the tremendous impact current regualtions are having on the WSB population. Public comment is now being accepted on the preparation of Environmental Impact Report. Please share your thoughts.

MLPA E-mail from 6/7/2010:

The environmental review process has begun for the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) South Coast Study Region Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). On June 29, the California Fish and Game Commission and Department of Fish and Game (DFG) together issued a Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the project. This initiates the scoping phase, during which interested members of the public are invited to help identify the range of issues and type of information to be considered in the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) that will be prepared in the coming months.
There are currently five MPA proposals under consideration for the South Coast Study Region, which extends from Point Conception to the California border with Mexico. The proposals were developed with input from a regional stakeholder group, a science advisory team and a Blue Ribbon Task Force consisting of marine experts. The currently preferred proposal, the Integrated Preferred Alternative (IPA), was selected by the Blue Ribbon Task Force. The IPA is a hybrid of the other proposals. The DEIR will also look at three alternative proposals and the no action alternative or the status quo (the current South Coast Study Region MPAs with no suggested changes).
All five MPA proposals can be found at www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/southcoastipa.asp.
The DEIR will be prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act and will analyze the five proposals. The NOP for the DEIR can be found on DFG's website at www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/regulatorydocs_sc.asp.

Anyone wishing to provide written input on the scope of the analysis to be conducted and included in the DEIR for this project may send written comments by August 3, 2010 to:
MLPA SCSR DEIR
Department of Fish and Game
South Coast MLPA Office
4665 Lampson, Suite C
Los Alamitos, CA 92679
Comments may also be e-mailed to Thomas Napoli, Staff Environmental Scientist,at tnapoli@dfg.ca.gov.
Members of the public may also provide comments verbally at a public scoping meeting to be held in Long Beach on July 23. The meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the following location:
Administration Building of the Port of Long Beach
925 Harbor Way, Sixth Floor
Long Beach, CA 90802
A map to the Port of Long Beach offices can be found at www.polb.com/facilities/maps/default.asp.
All comments submitted will be used to help prepare the DEIR, which is scheduled for completion in early August.
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Note: This e-mail account is used to distribute information to the public. Do not reply to this e-mail. Direct questions or comments regarding the information contained in this e-mail to the California Department of Fish and Game staff listed as points of contact for this subject.

My son and I made the trip up to the LAX MLPA meeting last year and he still talks about speaking in front of 500 people and fighting the environmentalists to preserve our local fisihing rights. The shoving match between the fisherman and the bald tree hugger was pretty exciting as well.