MONTEREY BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY ADVISORY COUNCIL Conservation Working Group Meeting Minutes Tuesday, March 18, 1997 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM Moss Landing Harbor District Office Moss Landing, CA Conservation Working Group (CWG) members in attendance were: Rachel Saunders, Chair (Center for Marine Conservation); Melissa Hippard (Save Our Shores); Ellen Faurot- Daniels (Friends of the Sea Otter); Jack Wickham (Sierra Club- Ventana Chapter); Daphne White (Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History); Karin Strasser Kauffman (Chair, Sanctuary Advisory Council); and Jane DeLay (Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary). I. CWG Administration The DRAFT Minutes from the February 18, 1997 meeting were approved as presented. The next meeting of the CWG will be Tuesday, April 15, 1997 from 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM at the Moss Landing Harbor District Office in Moss Landing, CA. Other meeting dates and Announcements: ˇ The next Sanctuary Advisory Council meeting will be on Friday, April 4, 1997 in the Monterey City Council Chambers. A reception celebrating the CouncilÕs third year anniversary will follow the meeting. (All working group members are invited. Please mark your calendars); ˇ The Monterey Volunteer Fair is scheduled for April 19, from 10:00 AM -4:00 PM at the American Tin Cannery in Pacific Grove. Booths and tables will be available; ˇ Monterey Bay Expeditions, a three-day sailing/marine ecology adventure company has contacted the Sanctuary office for assistance in developing an interpretive program on the MBNMS. A flyer describing the program in more detail is attached. II. Sanctuary Office Report The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Monthly Activity Report highlighting Sanctuary office activities for February is attached. III. Priorities for Management/Research To set the stage for better coordination between the three working groups of the Sanctuary Advisory Council and the Sanctuary office, CWG members were asked to begin identifying priority projects and resource management issues that the conservation community feels are important for the Sanctuary to consider. Once a list of priorities is developed, the CWG will share it with the Research Activity Panel (RAP) and the Sanctuary Education Panel (SEP) to get their input. It is also hoped that the list will stimulate the identification of future research projects. Jack Wickham (Sierra Club-Ventana Chapter), stated his concern for the impacts of man- made noise on the marine environment and requested that the issue be included in the list of priorities. Jack commented on the lack of knowledge about the impacts from man-made noise and emphasized the need for research. Given that vessel traffic is a primary producer of noise in the ocean, and that vessel traffic issues are currently receiving a great deal of attention, this may be a good time for the Sanctuary to begin pursuing studies on the impacts of noise from tanker and other commercial traffic. Other suggested priorities for management/research in the Sanctuary were as follows: ˇ Fisheries and their interaction with marine mammals (NOTE: A workshop on the subject is being planned by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Hopkins Marine Station, Save Our Shores, and others for this coming August.); ˇ Role of the environmental contaminants; ˇ Harvest and fisheries sustainability - resource utilization; ˇ Marine replenishment areas -- Ōno take zonesĶ; ˇ Kelp harvesting/kelp management/regulations; ˇ Expand the SanctuaryÕs focus to include a number of broad longer-term problems such as global climate change, and its affect on Sanctuary resources; ˇ Environmental monitoring such as water quality, fishing, kelp mapping, and fisheries/marine mammal observation and techniques (e.g. hazing). The Sanctuary needs to work more closely with other agencies who are supposed to be meeting these needs. ˇ Strategic planning for research priorities --going beyond the Research Activity Panel to broaden the horizons and bring in concerns from the outside. The Sanctuary should focus on resource protection and the research priorities should be decided upon in that context. Consider looking at the problems first and then using research to address the issues; ˇ Establish index areas within the Sanctuary that are regularly monitored to provide a network of information gathering sites. CWG members commented that this is the kind of specific program that the State Bond Act and Legislation would be able to meet. The CWG needs to have a list of ideas that are ready to implement when and if legislation provides money. The discussion led to a brain-storming session on suggestions for how and where the Sanctuary could help fill existing gaps in the regionÕs resource protection. One idea was that the Sanctuary could/should help leverage funds to help meet needs, such as obtaining greater funds for the California Department of Fish and Game. Following discussion, the CWG decided on the following action: 1. To send a letter to the Sanctuary Advisory Council (SAC) reiterating the CWGÕs concern over the lack of knowledge on the subject of man-made noise, and requesting that the RAP be directed to gather existing information on what is currently known about impacts on the marine environment. A summary of the RAPÕs study should be presented to the SAC. The information provided by the RAP could then be used as a building block to more action. 2. Ellen Faurot-Daniels suggested that the concept be taken a step further, noting that the issue with noise and our state of knowledge is similar to many other issues that the Sanctuary has been dealing with. What underlies all of these matters is that we don't know enough. Ellen suggested that a series of workshops, similar to the ones being planned for the vessel traffic study, be convened to summarize the state of knowledge about each issue, to develop strategies and recommendations, and to come up with an action plan. The SAC could then look for funding. The workshops could serve as a blueprint/model for action on a broader range/array of concerns for the future. IV. Ricketts Underwater Park There will be a Public Hearing on April 9, 1997 beginning at 7:00 PM to discuss the proposal. The sole purpose of the April 9 meeting is to take public comment. Park proponents, Ed Cooper and Kevin McDonnell, have been given time on the agenda to present their original vision of the park. CWG members were strongly encouraged to send their comments to the City Councils by March 27, 1997. V. California Coastal and Marine Legislation There are at least 30 Bills pending in the State Legislature that deal with coastal resource management. A summary of the some of the key bills will be included in the next mailing to CWG members. CWG members wishing to review the Bills can access the proposed legislation and its status via the world-wide web at: www.leginfo.ca.gov. The Sanctuary Advisory Council will review the proposed legislation at its next meeting on April 4.. VI. Brief Updates 1. Scott Kathey will be invited to the next CWG meeting to update working group members on the status of the Enforcement Plan and the new incident database that he has developed. 2. CWG members requested a presentation NOAA pilot, David Kruth, once he has drafted his plans for the use of the MBNMS plane. 3. CWG members also suggested that the planners (e.g. Jennifer Neilson at Hopkins Marine Station) of the Marine Mammals Fisheries workshop scheduled for August 1997 (as part of the American Fisheries Society Conference) be invited to a working group meeting. The meeting adjourned at 12:25 PM CWG Meeting Minutes 3/18/97 3