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MLPA Begins to Founder: Seaweed Rebellion July 2009

09 14 09 10 years after the MLPA Initiative was passed into law and 5 years after  private funding interests  took over the process, few communities on the California Coast being processed through fishery closures have felt confident of the inclusiveness or integrity of the MLPA process. "To cite an egregious example, in scoring the effect of an MPA, the SAT said that the score for a proposed MPA needed to be downgraded if salmon fishing was allowed. The stated reason was that trolling for salmon could cause interactions with bottomfish. Essentially they were arguing that trolling on the upper part of the water column could impact fish on the bottom. Just doesn't happen. So when the SAT was asked to produce a single scientific paper documenting this interaction they cited a so-called "workshop" where recreational salmon fishing was said to impact the bottom. After much effort and investigation the recreational fishing community discovered the individuals who originally testified and had them "clarify" their remarks to the SAT, and they pointed out that the SAT drew the wrong conclusion about what was said at this workshop. Even then it took more hours of testimony and many different scientific testimonies to discredit this fabricated idea. The guy who brought it up, who introduced manufactured "science" and who maintained an agenda that put recreational fishing through this was the chairman of the SAT! This was not an effort to protect habitat, it was a clear agenda to stop all fishing by some extremists, and the truth was just an inconvenience. This is just one example of the lies and red herrings MLPA principles were using to undermine fact that would have lead to a pure process and a successful habitat protection act." http://californiafisheriescoalition.blogspot.com/2009/05/mlpalies-more-lies-and-corrupted.html "Pacific Fishery Management Council has led efforts that have resulted in restoring these over-fished species. Primarily, this was accomplished by establishing the largest MPA in the world: over 10,000 square miles are off limits to fishing to insure that all California actually has enlightened and strong fishery management programs. Except for the problems with salmon which can be placed directly with politicos over the continued battle to drain the Sacramento River into the southland, there are only three fish species, all rockfish, that are even designated as over-fished in California waters." "None are threatened, none endangered." Click on image to DOWNLOAD 9 page PDF 1.13mb Or Click  HERE  for 330kb version without graphic. "Why is Catherine Reheis-Boyd, CEO and Chief of Staff for the Western States Petroleum Association, a key member of the five-member MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force that has decreed new zones where people can take no food from state waters?" asked John Lewallen of   Mendocino Sea Vegetable Company.  "Is it coincidence that the Point Arena Basin offshore from Point Arena is the area of highest oil industry interest in Northern California, and the only tract here now open to Minerals Management Service offshore oil leasing process?" Assemblyman Wes Chesbro agreed with the concerns posed by Martin, Lewallen and others. "I'm skeptical of this process," he said. "I've spent my whole time defending the North Coast and the people who are most impacted by the marine protected areas do more to restore the environment than anybody. I worry what will happen when the people who do the most to protect our fisheries and environment are gone." Chesbro said he had been part of earlier efforts directed by the Fish and Game Commission to set up the no-take zones required by the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act. Chesbro also stated that the marine science required to back the need for no-take zones was questionable or absent, so the process had been abandoned. "Now you propose to close areas to seaweed harvest, affecting the livelihood of a seaweed harvesting couple," Assemblyman Chesbro told the advocates of the "Integrated Preferred Alternative." "All I'm saying is, show me the science." People wishing to contact the Legislative Fisheries Committee with relevant information or your opinion can send your comments to: Senator Patricia Wiggins:  http://dist02.casen.govoffice.com/  or write State Capitol, Room 4081 Sacramento, CA 95814 916-323-6958 Assemblyman Wes Chesbro at:  http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a01/  or write State Capitol P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento, CA 94249-0001 916-319-2001 From The California Water News Blog by the Water Education Foundation and article by Dan Bacher  April 13, 2009: Though Senator Florez' call for an investigation into the MLPA process is very good news, his recently introduced $15 billion water bond bill, SB 301, must be opposed because it would fund "conveyance" through a peripheral canal - and more dams. Grassroots Enviros, Fishermen Protest MLPA Greenwashing at Fisheries Forum The MLPA greenwashing process was the most contentious issue during the Joint Legislative Committee on Fisheries & Aquaculture, chaired by State Senator Patricia Wiggins (D. Santa Rosa) on March 26, at the State Capitol. For more information visit: http://aquafornia.com/archives/8088 Astral Arts Mendocino registered as a Mendocino County business in the Spring of 2003. All artwork, media, audio, video, projet series names and individual titles are Copyright Protected ©2003 ©2004 ©2005 ©2006 ©2007 ©2008 ©2009 Author: Thomas DiFiore. All business logos and product line artwork, are marks with specific fonts used in the identification of goods or services as used in commerce, and are trademarks of the author or Astral Arts Mendocino.