| The Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force is meeting on Monday, October 25 and Tuesday October 26 in Fortuna, California to approve a network of marine protected areas on the North Coast.
In contrast to the MLPA process elsewhere in California, the stakeholders from fishing groups, Indian Tribes, environmental NGOs, and coastal businesses agreed to one proposal. The proposal is supported by a number of local governments, agencies and community groups.
These include the Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino and the Cities of Fort Bragg, Point Arena, Ukiah, Willits, Arcata, Fortuna, Eureka, Crescent City and Monterey. Organizations supporting the proposal include the Recreational Fishing Alliance, Partnership for Sustainable Oceans (PS), Salmon Trollers Marketing Association and Humboldt Baykeeper.
"Even with this widespread support, we are worried that the BRTF may be interested in coming up with its own alternative," said Jim Martin, West Coast Regional Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance. "So we need lots of bodies in the room when the Task Force meets in Fortuna Oct. 25-26."
Martin said you can also visit CV Starr Center in Fort Bragg or Flynn Center in Crescent City and provide public comment from the remote location. "We need people will to cede their time on their speaker cards so your presence is important even if you do not want to speak," he noted.
On July 21, over 300 people including members of 50 Indian Nations, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, immigrant seafood industry workers and environmental activists peacefully took over the previous Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting in Fort Bragg to protest the denial of tribal rights and greenwashing that has occurred under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's MLPA Initiative.
Fortunately, each marine protected area in the single plan released on August 31 includes language to allow continued tribal uses. In certain areas, the stakeholders also included language allowing for co-management between the tribes and the state.
"The stakeholders did the best they could in respecting tribal gathering and fishing rights," said Megan Rocha, Acting Self-Governance Officer of the Yurok Tribe, on September 1. "Now this issue will go to the state of California and tribes to work it out at the next level."
Here are the details for the upcoming meeting:
Who: MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force
What: Eighth meeting
When: Monday, October 25, 2010 at 8:30 a.m. and Tuesday, October 26 at 8:00 a.m.
Where: River Lodge Conference Center1800 Riverwalk DriveFortuna, CA 95540 and on the day of the meeting (for viewing or listening only) via simultaneous webcast at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/mee...
Note that there will be two public access locations for the public to view the meeting webcast and participate in public comment: Flynn Center Multipurpose Room, 981 H Street, Crescent City, CA 95531 and C.V. Starr Community Center, 300 South Lincoln Street, Fort Bragg, CA 95437
Public Comment: "The public will be invited to offer general comments on subjects related to the work of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF) at approximately 3:00 p.m. on Monday, October 25. Speaker cards are requested and may be found at the entrance to the room. Time allotted for public comment is determined by the number of requests; submitting written comments that can be easily summarized in one to two minutes is encouraged," according to an MLPA Initiative announcement.
If you cannot make the meeting, help out by submitting written comment and support for the Unified Array - email: MLPAcomments [at] resources.ca.gov.
Fishermen, Tribes, environmentalists, seaweed harvesters and coastal residents have been very critical of the conflicts of interests and violations of state, federal and international laws that have taken place under the MLPA Initiative. Now you have a chance to put on record what you think about the MLPA process.
Please take a few minutes to respond to a scientific survey: http://www.northcoastsurvey.org. I was able to fill it out online in less than five minutes: it's a series of "radio buttons" that you click on.
For more information, contact: Jim Martin, West Coast Regional Director, Recreational Fishing Alliance, (707) 964-8326 office, (707) 357-3422 cell, P.O. Box 2420, Fort Bragg, CA 95437. |
