| |
Sanctuary Advisory Council Annual Report - DRAFT
October 1, 2001-September 30, 2002
INTRODUCTION
During
the past fiscal year, the Sanctuary Advisory Council (SAC) held six
regular meetings at the Jade Street Community Center in
Capitola, the
Douglas Beach House in Half Moon Bay, the National Steinbeck Center
in Salinas, the Big Sur Lodge Conference Center at Pfeiffer Big
Sur State
Park, and the Cambria Veteran's Memorial Hall in Cambria. They also
held a joint meeting in Half Moon Bay with members of the Sanctuary
Advisory
Councils of the Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farralones National
Marine Sanctuaries with staffmembers of the National Sanctuary
Program.
Sanctuary Advisory Council members participated in a number of activities
in the communities adjacent to the Sanctuary, including meeting with
local elected officials, participating in the Santa Cruz County Interagency
Local
Task Force Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the Sanctuary
Scenic Trail meetings convened by Congressman Sam Farr. and public
workshops
on the MBNMS management plan process.
They also participated in the Santa Cruz Shark Fest and Sanctuary
Birthday celebration, the Monterey Dive Clean Up, the National Steinbeck
Center,
and a subcommittee to review SAC applicants. Other activities include
the AMBAG/Sanctuary Currents Symposium, Moss Landing MarineLaboratory
forums,
Seymour Center Long Marine Laboratory forums, PISCO events, and the
SAC Chair and Coordinator meeting.
Dan Haifley, Recreation Representative, was re-elected Secretary.
Three new SAC members were sworn in at the June 2002 meeting: George
Cook,
California State Parks; Frank Degnan, Diving; and Monty Criss, Tourism.
Stephanie
Harlan was nominated for her second two-year term as SAC Chairperson
at that meeting. A special presentation was given to Rachel Saunders
who was
leaving the SAC after serving since its beginning. She was the Alternate
Representative, Education, Primary Representative, Conservation,
and was one of the leaders in the designation of the Sanctuary in
1992.
Brian Foss, Harbormaster, Santa Cruz Harbor, was sworn in as the
alternate for the Ports and Harbors seat, and a plaque was to be
sent to Jim
Stilwell, former manager of Moss Landing Harbor District for his
four years of service
to the SAC.
Many SAC members were very busy working on the various Sanctuary
Birthday events that would take place in October throughout the communities
adjacent to the Sanctuary.
WORKING
GROUPS
The Council's four working groups - the Conservation Working Group
(CWG), the Research Activity Panel (RAP), the Sanctuary Education
Panel (SEP),
and the Business and Tourism Activity Panel (BTAP) met regularly
throughout the year and provided information and advice to the
SAC and the Sanctuary
Superintendent.
The Business and Tourism Activity Panel (BTAP) chaired by Dave
Ebert (SAC Business Representative) held a total of six meetings.
The meetings
took
place in November 2001, and January, March, May, July, and September
of 2002 at locations in Monterey, Watsonville and Santa Cruz. The
BTAP received
briefings from Sanctuary staff on the Joint Management Plan Review
(JMPR) process and provided comments to the SAC and the other working
groups on
JMPR issues to be addressed and other areas of concern. The BTAP
also received specific briefings from Sanctuary staff and community
members
on issues
related to dredging, cruise ships, desalination, fireworks and
motorized personal watercraft. Working with Sanctuary staff, the
BTAP developed
content for a specific BTAP web page to be placed on the MBNMS
web site. The group
recommended to AMBAG that West Marine receive AMBAG's annual Sanctuary
Currents Conference Business Award.
The Conservation Working Group (CWG) is a working group of the
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary’s Sanctuary Advisory Council (SAC)
that meets monthly to discuss resource protection issues affecting the
MBNMS. From October 2001 through September of 2002, the Conservation Working
group met ten times and addressed a range of resource protection issues.
Throughout the year there was an ongoing discussion on proposed desalination
facilities at Moss Landing and elsewhere, as well as appropriate strategies
for MBNMS involvement in the issue. The group also discussed the periodic
review of Monterey County’s Local Coastal Program and identified
areas of potential improvement. Cruise ships were also a priority issue
for the CWG which encouraged the Sanctuary to address the threat to water
quality posed by cruise ship discharge. The CWG sought to strengthen the
voluntary compliance agreement between the cruise industry and the MBNMS
and advocated a mandatory “no discharge policy”. (The group
would later be instrumental in bringing the issue before the SAC which
voted to develop regulations to protect the Sanctuary from “harmful
discharges” in February of 2003) The CWG was also involved in identifying
the appropriate scope of the Sanctuary’s periodic management plan
review. It identified the issues that members believed to be of the highest
priority and presented them to the SAC as areas that should be addressed
in the management plan review, including MPAs, water quality, and cruise
ships. The CWG also tracked legislation such as California’s
Marine Life Management Act, followed resource protection threats
such as Naval
acoustic testing, and helped to hone the theme for the Sanctuary
Currents Symposium.
MAJOR ISSUES,
ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
The SAC began the year with a discussion of topics for future meetings
.For the next two years, the management plan review was adopted
as the top priority.
The Conservation Working Group members presented a letter with
recommendations for the fair market value topic when permits
are considered for fiber
optic cables in sanctuaries. A letter was prepared from the
SAC to the Superintendent
and appropriate NOAA contacts. The SAC also took action to
ask the Superintendent to write to the Office of National Marine
Sanctuaries
asking it to reconsider
whether the Special Use Permits are the appropriate permit
to approve fiber optic cable maintenance.
Former Manager of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
Matt Pickett gave a very useful presentation on the Channel
Islands management
plan
process to date. He discussed what had worked well including
the fact that there was a high level of awareness and involvement
by
the community
as
shown by large attendance at meetings, extensive public comments,
and a lot of media coverage. Matt discussed challenges and
lessons learned,
and
offered recommendations to us.
Sean Morton MBMMS Joint Management Plan Coordinator began his
long and difficult task of leading the SAC through the opening
stages
of the management
plan review process. The first brochure was presented, outlining
the proposed steps; the JMPR website was announced along with
the dates
of the scoping
meetings. SAC members who were interested in participating
in the scoping meetings were invited to a November 7, 2001
training meeting
in Santa
Cruz. Sean emphasized that the SAC's role is extremely important
in outreach
to the community, identifying issues, narrowing these issues,
and developing action plans.
The scoping meetings were well attended, including the meeting
Thursday November 30, 2001 in Half Moon Bay, which proceeded
the Friday December
1, 2001 SAC meeting. Sean gave summaries of the scoping
meetings and the topics identified, and there were long discussions
by the SAC members
of
these issues. The SAC requested that the public comments
be
compiled, posted on the website, and organized into priorities
with assessments
and analysis
of the topics that may be priorities, and why.
...
Pew Oceans Commission Chair, former Congressman and former
White House chief of Staff Hon. Leon Panetta gave a 90-minute
presentation
to the
SAC. He discussed the history of the Monterey Bay National
Marine Sanctuary as the Congressman representing this area.
He discussed
the designation,
the work of the PEW Oceans Commission, loss of fisheries, the
need to build
consensus and to provide leadership, and have all effected
persons at the table to find solutions to the problems.
The SAC held a special public meeting on August 1, 2002 in
Cambria to hear comments on the Joint Management Plan Review.
Over 60 people
attended the
meeting, including Morrow Bay City Council members, commercial
fishermen, representatives from environmental organizations,
and residents of
various communities of San Luis Obispo County. The SAC approved
a series of motions
at that meeting regarding priority issues, made changes to
site specific and cross cutting issues, and moved topics from
one area
to another.
OTHER ISSUES,
DISCUSSIONS, ACTIONS
The Alliance of Communities for Sustainable Fisheries Marine
Reserves Workgroup met throughout the year to develop recommendations.
The SAC agreed upon a protocol for use of the listserv.
There was a discussion of theNAPA Report, with a recommendation
that
it be
linked
with the Joint
Management
Plan Review process.
The SAC had a presentation on the Agricultural and Rural
Lands Action Plan by MBNMS staff persons Holly Price and
Katie Siegler,
Kelly
Huff of the
Coalition of Central Coast County Farm Bureaus, and Daniel
Mountjoy of the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
National Marine Sanctuary Program Director Dan Basta
addressed the SAC at the February 2002 meeting at the
National Steinbeck
Center.
He discussed
the priority-setting workshop process that has been developed,
and the planning process for the draft action plans.
Jennifer LaBarre from the
National Marine Sanctuary Program gave a report on the
JMPR document "Summary
of Scoping Comments" and discussed the next steps.
She explained the process for the Joint Prioritization
Workshop
that would
be held with the
SAC members from the Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones
National Marine Sanctuaries. The group will conduct a
prioritization exercise
for cross-cutting
issues, and than break into site-specific groups and
conduct the exercise for site-specific issues.
The joint SAC workshop was held in April 2002 in Half Moon
Bay.
The SAC had a presentation and discussion on cruise ships
visiting Monterey Bay, and potential and real impacts to
the Sanctuary.
The SAC encouraged
staff to continue their work on this issue including items
recommended by the Conservation Working Group.
The current SAC Charter expired, and action was taken recommending
that it be extended for two years with changes agreed upon
by the SAC.
Recreation Alternate Heide Tiura gave a presentation on
biodiesel fuel, and discussed her experience with its use
in her business,
Sanctuary
Cruises.
MBNMS Research Coordinator, Andrew DeVogelaere gave a presentation
on the Davidson Seamount with former SAC member Greg Cailliet
from Moss Landing
Marine Laboratories, and Randy Kochevar from the Monterey
Bay Aquarium. They discussed what was found during the
exploration
of the seamount
located 80 miles southwest of Monterey.
The SAC supported a local working group to explore options
for expanding the southern boundary or other alternatives
in San Luis
Obispo County.
|
