State fisheries committee hears support for MLPA proposal; tribes, fishing and environmental groups push for locally generated blueprint

State fisheries committee hears support for MLPA proposal;fishing, tribes, and environmental groups push for locally generated blueprint

Tribes and local fishing and environmental groups on Friday repeated their support of a regional proposal for marine reserves along the North Coast before the Legislature's Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture in Eureka.

The hearing comes just prior to the California Fish and Game Commission's Feb. 2 meeting in Sacramento at which a series of fishing and gathering closures and restrictions along the Humboldt, Del Norte and Mendocino county coastline are expected to be adopted. The regional group that generated a unified proposal for the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative has the support of more than 40 agencies and fishing and environmental organizations. The unified proposal was the first such agreement in the MLPA process in the state.

”I know it was a major achievement, but it doesn't surprise me,” said committee Chairman Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro at the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors chambers.

The community has had to wrestle with fisheries issues for decades, the Arcata Democrat said. But issues remain about how tribal fishing and gathering will be addressed by the process, he said. Chesbro asked a number of tribal representatives to give their take on the proposal, and an alternative that alters the proposal with the intention of be more restrictive.

Yurok Tribe Chairman Thomas O'Rourke said the tribe does not accept any efforts of the state to subjugate a sovereign government by creating rules or regulations
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in tribal territory.

”This act infringes on our rights,” O'Rourke said. “We will not surrender this right. Our rights are not negotiable.”

O'Rourke said that the unified proposal is the only proposal acceptable -- if not endorsed -- to the tribe.

The unified proposal would restrict or eliminate fishing and gathering in about 13 percent of state waters in 17 different marine protected areas. The regional group, in an effort to ensure tribal fishing and gathering rights in American Indian territory, chose to keep some areas at what is considered a low level of protection, which would also allow recreational fishing and gathering in general.

But that drew concerns from some on a Blue Ribbon Task Force, which makes recommendations to the Fish and Game Commission, that the level of protection in the overall network of marine protected areas fell below guidelines. The task force came up with another alternative that would allow only areas along the shore in those marine protected areas to be available for those uses.

The tribes, however, frustrated with the process, have pushed for a legislative or administrative fix that would allow traditional uses to be separate. On Friday, MLPAI Executive Director Ken Wiseman said that he has already met several times with the newly appointed California Resources Secretary John Laird in an effort to come to some administrative solution. Laird has voiced commitment to moving quickly toward such a solution, Wiseman said.

”You have his attention,” Wiseman said.

Chesbro said that made him feel far more optimistic about the new administration's approach to the issue.

Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District consultant Adam Wagschal told the committee that the unified proposal best protects tribal rights, and added that the broad support of the proposal would be key to making the marine reserves work. Already, extensive fishing regulations, dangerous weather, a small population and rough coastline make the area far less used than others in the state. At the same time, the area has high unemployment and poverty rates, and relies more heavily on fishing than other areas, he said.

That means that local support of the marine reserves that are ultimately adopted will be key to compliance with them, Wagschal said.

”If they're not supported by the local communities, they're just not going to work,” Wagschal said.

John Driscoll can be reached at 441-0504 or Read More ...

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