07 13 09 MPA or Nuclear Waste Dump Site Last Year news was made: The Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary was added to the MPA system. "The Farallones Islands, that string of rock outcroppings 27 miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge is an important and valuable spot for area fishermen. From the beginning of the North-Central Coast process, everyone had assumed that deciding the MLPA fate of the Farallones would be the toughest, but not so." Ecotrust Marine Sanctuaries: Protected from Offshore Oil Drilling... (excerpts) Senator Dianne Feinstein 082808 You may also be interested to know that I am a cosponsor of the "Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries Boundary Modification and Protection Act" (S. 2635), which prohibits oil and gas exploration in the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Northern California. A healthy coast is vital to California's economy and our quality of life, and I am committed to protecting the coast of California from the threat of offshore drilling. (ed) Who actually thinks the oil companies are interested in drilling through or disturbing an underwater nuclear dump site? (NRDL) Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory at Hunters Point, was the military's leading laboratory for applied nuclear research. FINWDS ... Farallones Islands Nuclear Waste Dump Site a.k.a. National Wildlife Refuge http://www.sfweekly.com/2001-05-09/news/fallout/full It's been 60 years since radioactive waste was first dumped (1946-1981) at the heart of a major fishery just off San Francisco; there has been no comprehensive study or regular monitoring of the site, the fish that swim there, or the fish that have been caught there and sold for human consumption. Voluminous documentation strongly suggests that high-level, long-lived radioactive waste has been dumped in the Farallones. Dr. Thomas Suchanek found americium, an isotope that emits more radioactivity than radium, in fish collected near the Farallon Islands. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's own contractors have said the site contains material that might be transported into the food chain, or even onto beaches or into San Francisco Bay. The Legality of Dumping of Nuclear Waste http://www.law.berkeley.edu/centers/ilr/ona/pages/dumping2.htm The London Dumping Convention (LDC) first met in 1972 and prohibited dumping of high level radioactive waste, and then adopted a voluntary moratorium on dumping of low and intermediate level nuclear waste in 1983 at the LDC's seventh meeting. A decade later in 1993, the delegates to the sixteenth meeting of the LDC made the ban on the dumping of nuclear material at sea formal, permanent, and binding. The United States opposed the ban until a widely-publicized event in which Russia dumped 237,000 gallons of low level waste (LLW) into the Sea of Japan. It was an open secret that Russia had been dumping LLW into the ocean for thirty years, but it was only after Greenpeace publicized the event in the United States that the Clinton administration overruled the objections of the Navy and supported the LDC's permanent ban. The Third United Nations Law of the Sea Conference (UNCLOSIII), which met between 1973 and 1982, adopted the dumping definition of the LDC almost verbatim. The language of the treaty exhorts signatories to minimize to the fullest possible extent the release of toxic, harmful or noxious substances, especially those which are persistent. Although 145 nations have ratified UNCLOSIII, As of 2004 The United States is not among them. Subseabed disposal (SSD) remains the most promising alternative to the politically difficult process of disposing of nuclear waste on land. Though in November of 1990, contracting parties approved a proposal by Spain (the Spanish Resolution) that clearly defined SSD as dumping, and hence is forbidden. The United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union voted against the proposal and have indicated that while they consider the Spanish Resolution non-binding, they will comply voluntarily for the time being. Eleven sources were originally cited in 4 paragraphs. A Brief Farallones History 1946 Dumping of nuclear waste, & contaminated equipment around the Farallon Islands begins. January 1981 The day before leaving office, President Jimmy Carter signed the bill to create the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. The official FNMS website story/history only goes back to 1981. 1984 The ship Puerto Rican spills 1.4 million gallons of oil in the Sanctuary. 1986 Oil barge Apex Houston spills approximately 20,000 gallons of oil between San Francisco and Long Beach Harbor. At least 9,000 seabirds (including 6,000 Common Murres) are killed. 1994 Southern end of Bolinas Lagoon is restored as part of mitigation for dumping during Highway 1 repairs in 1990 (Loma Prieta earthquake) into the ocean near the Sanctuary. With new technology, radioactive barrels from the world's largest ocean nuclear dump site are located and photographed on the sea floor by a joint research project funded by US Geological Survey, the Navy, the Environmental Protection Agency and Sanctuary. Marine Life Thrives in Reserves Worldwide study points to need for protected areas: Sunday, February 18, 2001 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2001/02/18/MN144868.DTL&type=printable The world's little-known underwater parks produce bigger fish and a greater array of marine species than the waters open to fishing and other human activities, a new study has found. Scientists said the findings may help federally designated marine sanctuaries in Northern California -- Gulf of the Farallones, Cordell Bank and Monterey Bay -- win greater protections from commercial and sport fishing and sea life collecting. In the first large-scale synthesis of ecological reserve studies, released yesterday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, researchers found higher densities of species, larger organisms and a greater diversity of species. A marine protected area is designated by law to protect or conserve marine life and habitat. There are three different MPA designations: A state marine reserve (SMR) prohibits all extractive activities, including fishing and kelp harvesting;a state marine park (SMP) prohibits all commercial activities and potentially some recreational activities; state marine conservation (SMC) areas may limit recreational and/or commercial activities. Sea otter recovery continues to face challenges and many conservation tools are required to help bring this species back to historic levels. "Marine Protected Areas-like those being designed and implemented under the Marine Life Protection Act-are one tool that can help otters. Marine Protected Areas can limit human disturbance of sea otters, safeguard their habitat, help protect the food web that is so clearly important to their survival, and reduce sea otter entanglement in fishing gear," says Kaitilin Gaffney, Director of Pacific ecosystem protection for Ocean Conservancy. "By protecting the shellfish the otters eat and the kelp they use for shelter, Marine Protected Areas can directly benefit sea otters." The sea otter's voracious appetite has raised them to the status of "keystone species" in regions where they live, especially California and the Aleutians. By their mere presence, sea otters can reshape the character of an entire ecosystem. They hunger for sea urchins, which feed on kelp. By keeping the urchins in check, they help the kelp survive. Coastal areas of California with no otters are awash in urchins and devoid of kelp. Where otters live, kelp abounds and with it so do countless other species that depend on the kelp's sheltering arms.  Excerpts Ocean Conservancy Magazine, Spring 2009 Story by Andrew Myers http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/News2?abbr=bpm_&page=NewsArticle&id=12177 The California Budget Conference Committee rejected our proposed language for legislative oversight of the MLPA, and for legislative appropriation of the massive foundation money to "back-fill" the MLPA funding. There is no general fund money for any of this. There is no bond money because all of that is "in suspense." Instead, the committee welcomed private money, without any oversight, for the management of MPAs in California and went further to invite the Packard Foundation through the Resources Legacy Foundation Fund (RLFF)  to write fishery management plans, instead of the DFG. This will be a nightmare for fishermen, and fisheries. From: California Fisheries Coalition lobbyist, Vern Goehring: Please call Darrell Steinberg's office! They key staff person in his office is Kip Lipper. Senator Steinberg flipped the language into a huge victory for anti-fishing folks. His language compliments the Governor on the use of private money and private agreements for creating MPAs and encourages him to do the same for adopting Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) under the Marine Life Management Act (MLMA). It invites RLFF, who has already given nearly $34 million to create MPAs, and others to pony up the millions needed to write and adopt an FMP regulating fishing in areas outside of MPAs. Steinberg recognizes that implementing the MLPA and the MLMA are outrageously expensive ($35 million annually for MLPA), but instead of fixing the problem he says go get special interest money to restrict fishing. In other words, special interest money could be in total control of fishing throughout the state. With no effective Legislative oversight! MLPA Initiative Team Executive Director Ken Wiseman In October 2000 a strategic plan entitled "Transition to Sustainability" was adopted by the Pacific Fishery Management Council with the objective of bringing the harvest capacity of the coastal fishery in line with resource productivity. In 2002 we began work with the Pacific Marine Conservation Council on the Groundfish Fleet Restructuring Information and Analysis Project (GFR), an effort to mitigate the effects of a difficult transition to more sustainable coastal fisheries. Mitigating the effects of this transition requires systematic information about the coast-wide fishery system and the communities whose livelihoods depend upon it. The GFR project is assessing options for the reduction of fishing capacity from a coast-wide port and community perspective, in the context of important issues such as future fleet diversity, social impacts, small business viability, and potential interactions with stocks of other target species such as Dungeness crab or salmon. Ecotrust's marine strategy is to: * Apply its OCEAN tools to the analysis of social and economic impacts related to emerging marine protected area strategies coastwide from Alaska and British Columbia to California. * Apply the results of the GFR project at community and regional scales interacting with state and federal entities to affect management policies within a "3E" framework. New California marine protected areas get green light By California DFG Fri, Apr 27, 2007 In a landmark decision, the California Fish and Game Commission has adopted regulations to create a new suite of marine protected areas designed for the Central Coast of California, the first region considered for the State. This move effectively launches the state's Marine Life Protection Act Program, which was designed to better conserve marine resources for their long-term sustainability while also enhancing outdoor recreation and ocean research opportunities along the coast. "With our action today, California has embarked upon something historic and extraordinary," said Richard Rogers, president of the Commission. "With this vote, we have taken the first step to return our ocean waters to the place they used to be; an ocean full of sustainable abundance." The Commission voted unanimously in favor of its preferred alternative: 29 MPAs representing approximately 204 square miles (or approximately 18 percent) of state waters with 85 square miles designated as no-take state marine reserves along the Central Coast, which ranges from Pigeon Point in San Mateo County south to Point Conception in Santa Barbara County. The adopted network includes the following specific decisions on options in the regulatory notice: • Año Nuevo SMCA: Allowing commercial kelp harvest by hand only for the existing leaseholder in this area until the lease expires. • Soquel Canyon and Portuguese Ledge SMCAs: Allowing harvest of pelagic finfish only. • Edward Ricketts SMCA: Allowing recreational hook and line fishing (at all times in the entire MPA) and commercial kelp harvest with the limits recommended by the Department of Fish and Game (DFG). • White Rock (Cambria) SMCA: Allowing commercial kelp harvest by hand for the existing leaseholder in the area until the lease expires. The newly established Central Coast marine protected areas represent the culmination of a two-year public process with nearly 60 public meetings held for stakeholders and scientists, as well as the oversight of the Marine Life Protection Act Blue Ribbon Task Force, convened by Secretary for Resources Mike Chrisman. The Department of Fish and Game, the lead agency charged with managing the state's marine resources, will be responsible for implementing the MLPA program, including all enforcement and research and monitoring activities. The Central Coast MPA regulations will go into effect this summer after the appropriate filings with the Office of Administrative Law and Secretary of State. But the DFG will have new bosses backed by private money.