North Coast Develops Unified Plan for Ocean Protection
Stakeholders agree on first ever unified stakeholder proposal through Marine Life Protection Act
Press Release
08/31/2010
Fortuna, CA—In a clear illustration of how the North Coast community differs from the rest of the state, area stakeholders have developed to a single unified proposal for a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) developed under the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) for a region that stretches from Point Arena to the border with Oregon.
After an initial set of MPA eight proposals was whittled down to four over the past several months, the 33-member Regional Stakeholder Group (RSG) – which includes harbormasters, divers, sport and commercial fishermen, seaweed harvesters, tribal and business leaders, and conservation representatives – found enough common ground to develop one final proposal.
"Everyone talked about a unified community proposal at the beginning of the MLPA process, but I wasn't expecting to pull it off. Sure enough though, everyone came together and we did it. It's a great accomplishment” said Adam Wagschal, Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreational and Conservation District Conservation Director.
"This unified proposal is a great step forward,” Humboldt Baykeeper Executive Director Pete Nichols said. “These MPAs were created in collaboration with many fishermen and, in my mind, work well for both the fishing community and conservation."
“Everyone made a huge effort to come together on a single proposal and the North Coast is better for it” agreed Zack Larson, Del Norte MLPA Outreach Coordinator.
Since February, the North Coast RSG has been working on marine protected area proposals with the goal of balancing ecological and economic concerns. After over 300 hours of meetings, in addition to 20 public workshops and open houses held throughout the North Coast from Casper to Smith River, the stakeholders reconciled four “Round 2” maps to create their landmark unified plan, the first of its kind in the Marine Life Protection Act process.
The Act, which calls for a network of science-based marine protected areas along the length of the California coastline, is being implemented regionally, with local stakeholders designing protected areas for their stretch of the coast. Regional Stakeholder Groups in each of the previous three regions of the coast addressed under the Marine Life Protection Act planning process concluded with three alternative MPA proposals – one supported by fishermen, one supported by conservationists and a compromise or middle ground proposal.
The North Coast RSG reached agreement on the key habitat areas that should be protected, including Pyramid Point, Reading Rock and South Humboldt Bay. There was also unanimous support for ensuring that traditional non-commercial tribal uses will be unaffected by new MPAs, as well as avoiding placing MPAs in close proximity to harbors to ensure safe access to local fishing grounds.
While the total area protected under the plan is less than in other parts of the state (the proposal calls for 13 percent of coastal waters to be protected, versus 16 to 20 percent found in other regions), conservation representatives applauded the historic effort, despite some concerns that the plan may not fully meet the scientific guidelines laid out for the MLPA process.
“Everyone made sacrifices to get to this point,” said Jennifer Savage, Ocean Conservancy’s North Coast Program Coordinator. “We started out with a number of significant differences regarding needs and desires, but ultimately our respect for each other and willingness to work together enabled us to develop a plan we can all send forward.”
The next step is to submit the plan to the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force, which will review it ahead of their October 25-27 meeting. The North Coast region will be the first to hand a single MPA plan to the Blue Ribbon Task Force for review. A full list of the upcoming meetings can be found here.
For more information visit www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa
