MLPA -Info for Dec 9 F&G Commish Meeting

[PAL]

Friends, the first meeting of the SoCal MLPA Commission round is coming up soon, on Dec 9 in LA. The agenda is out; 2 hours are set aside for public comment.

This has been a long, hard road, and many of you have sacrificed time, money, and much of your happiness. Our hard work has kept the most popular part of La Jolla open to this point. That took incredible community effort.

For best results, we have to keep it up. If we don't show, if we don't send the letters, we may fall off the radar. We are dealing with a new set of decision makers, the 5 Fish and Game Commission members. They don't know who we are; it is time to teach them.

Ken Wiseman is no longer in charge. You can expect to be treated with respect. California open meeting laws apply. Here's the where and when:

Radisson Hotel at Los Angeles Airport
ABC Ballroom*
6225 West Century Blvd.
Los Angeles

PUBLIC SPEAKER CARDS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT 9:00 am AND MUST BE TURNED IN TO COMMISSION STAFF BY 10:10 am FOR CONSIDERATION. PUBLIC TESTIMONY WILL BE HEARD FROM APPROXIMATELY 10:15 am TO 12:30 pm

The Commission will probably not consider the South Coast MLPA issue again until February, and that meeting will be held in Sacramento. This is your best shot for quite some time.


Talking Points:
The BRTF's IPA (aka sausage) is livable in a few areas but poses huge economic and social impacts in most of SoCal. Did they listen to the you, the public? This is an appropriate time to comment on how the BRTF and MLPA staff treated you, as long as you can do so politely and respectfully.

The greater fishing community supports the RSG Workgroup 2 MPA network - YES ON TWO! This should remain the fundamental message.

The IPA La Jolla plan poses several issues, including compaction caused by unecessary book-ending. The community favors leaving the existing Scripps Ecological Reserve in its current boundaries. The proposed SMR / SMCA boundary (north LJ) cuts the pier in half, creating an enforcement problem. The SMCA north of the pier offers little conservation value and violates several MPA design guidelines (chiefly for size). It should be removed. Alternatively much of the compaction issue can be removed by allowing hook and line pelagics as well as the currently allowed coastal pelagics (bait).

Pt Dume, the birthplace of modern kayak fishing in Malibu, the area's version of La Jolla, is set for a total shut-down. The impacts are falling disproportionately on kayak anglers. We're talking all of Pt Dume and half of La Jolla. We pose little impact, but are poised to take the biggest hit of all.

In person testimony is the most effective. If you can't make it, please send a letter, email or fax.

Fish and Game Commission contact info:

Mailing Address:
California Fish and Game Commission
1416 Ninth Street
P.O. Box 944209
Sacramento, CA 94244-2090


Phone Number:
(916) 653-4899

Fax Number:
(916) 653-5040

E-Mail: fgc@fgc.ca.gov
General Comments, Questions, Requests for the Fish and Game Commission


Submit Comments on Proposed Regulations
(Please include the subject of the regulations in the e-mail subject line.)

Send Comments on the Fish and Game Commission's Web Site

I'd hoped to take off my MLPA hat by now, but I'm making the trek. I hope to see some of you there.

For more background on the Commission, look here: http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwevb/s...ead.php?t=6281