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Sanctuary Advisory Council Annual Report
October 1, 2002-September 30, 2003
INTRODUCTION
Meetings:
The Sanctuary Advisory Council (Advisory Council) met seven times. It
met at the Community Church of the Monterey Peninsula in Carmel Valley,
the Half Moon Bay Lodge in Half Moon Bay, the Watsonville Elks Lodge
in Watsonville, the Big Sur Lodge in Big Sur, the Best Western Beach
Resort in Monterey and the UCSC Inn & Conference
Center in Santa Cruz. Several of these meetings were multiple
days long and the July meeting in Santa Cruz included a rigorous public
comment session.
Members:
Dan Haifley, Recreation primary, was reelected as the Advisory Council
Secretary. Several new
Advisory Council members were sworn in: Mike Laffen and Meg Delano,
Citizen At-Large seat; LT Deborah Darminio, Coast Guard representative;
Berkely White, Diving alternate; David Vincent and Phil Jenkins, CA
State Parks and Russ Jeffries and Eric Gobler, CA EPA.
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 Advisory Council
and the Sanctuary Superintendent.
The
Conservation Working Group (CWG) is a working group of the Monterey
Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council that meets monthly
to discuss resource protection issues affecting the MBNMS. From
October 2002 through September of 2003, the Conservation Working group
met ten times and addressed a range of resource protection issues. In
2002 the CWG had advocated the development of a regulation that would
prohibit all cruise ship discharge in the Sanctuary. In February
of 2003, the CWG brought the issue to the Advisory Council, which voted
to recommend that the MBNMS develop regulations that would prohibit “harmful
cruise ship discharges” within the Sanctuary. The CWG also
tracked and supported state cruise ship legislation that restricted discharge
in state waters and in marine sanctuaries. The CWG also made development
of an action plan for invasive species a priority issue. Due to
resource constraints, the MBNMS was unable to include invasive species
as a topic for action plan development as part of the Sanctuary’s
management plan review. The CWG agreed to help develop a framework plan
with the input of regional stakeholders and experts. In addition
to developing the invasive species action plan, CWG members were heavily
involved in many of the other working groups convened by the Sanctuary
to develop issue specific action plans. CWG meetings
would include a regular discussion of the progress of these groups and
of specific concerns to be addressed in the work group setting. The
CWG also worked to support a CA Sea Otter protection bill that would
allocate federal funds to needed sea otter research. Other
topics that were discussed by the CWG include Sanctuary boundary modifications,
visitors’ center location, and Sanctuary Currents Symposium themes.
The
RAP (Research Activity Panel) meets eight times a year and the major
items of interest covered in 2003 were: Regional
Ocean Observing Systems including building pilot programs through CI-CORE
and CIMT; discussions and support for developing an Ecosystem Model
of Monterey Bay; support of JMPR Process through review and direct
participation; organizing, planning, and participation in the Sanctuary
Currents Symposium and in contributing to Ecosystem Observations; and
finally, integrating all of the above and other science through the
SIMoN web site.
Patricia
Clark-Gray continued to serve as the Sanctuary Education Panel (SEP)
Chair and Jamie Alanzo as the Vice-Chair. Further development of the
MBNMS Education Plan was temporarily halted to allow for the development
of the Joint Management Plan Review (JMPR) with the intent that it
would produce an outline for the Education Plan as it evolved. Membership
of the SEP was reviewed by the group to assess where potential gaps in
representation were and the SEP made suggestions for new recruits in
the k-12 teacher categories. The primary focus for the SEP and it members
was the JMPR, with members attending working groups to help develop education
programming for the majority of the draft action plans. The SEP
was introduced to the new office in Half Moon Bay in July. Six
meeting were held around the sanctuary (MBNMS office in Monterey, UCSC,
MBARI, Half Moon Bay, Elkhorn Slough and at the Monterey Bay Aquarium).
SEP members from 5 agencies and institutions are participating in the
Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail interpretive planning effort, now
a Monterey Bay-wide project. The “Educator of the Year” award
was given to Dr. John Pearse, professor emeritus from UCSC for his long
time work with the development of a student intertidal monitoring program. This
program is now a sanctuary program, supported by all 5 west coast sanctuaries.
The
Business and Tourism Activity Panel (BTAP) chaired by Dave Ebert
(Advisory Council Business Representative) held a total of seven
meetings. The November 2002 meeting took place in Seaside, while
the January, March, May, July, August, and September 2003 meetings
were held at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. During the meetings
the BTAP focused a majority of its time on the Joint Management Plan
Review (JMPR) process. Individual BTAP members participated on the
following JMPR working groups: desalination, tidepool protection,
special marine protected areas, Davidson Seamount, and fishing related
research and education. The BTAP discussed the draft action plans
as they evolved and kept abreast of the review process. The group
shared concerns with sanctuary staff and the SAC regarding the language,
tone, and policy roles outlined in the National Marine Sanctuary
Program’s “white paper” on regulatory coordination
between the program and NOAA Fisheries. The BTAP also sent a letter to
the Sanctuary Superintendent about the protocol for writing letters to
the Superintendent and to the Advisory Council; this issue was ultimately
clarified through modification of the Advisory Council charter at the
Advisory Council’s April 2003 meeting. At the May meeting the BTAP
received a briefing from the Sanctuary Superintendent on the Sanctuary’s
past and present relationship with the business and tourism community
and the group discussed the potential for future collaborations. The
BTAP held a special meeting in August to review the Advisory Council’s
recommendation on the proposed location of the MBNMS interpretive center,
to hear public comments and to develop a BTAP recommendation on the citing
of the center. The BTAP sent a letter to the Sanctuary Superintendent
supporting the Santa Cruz Beach sites as the preferred center sites.
In response to the recruitment of a new Advisory Council Tourism alternate
seat (Monty Criss resigned during this period) the BTAP took action and
wrote a letter to the Sanctuary Superintendent recommending Mike Bekker
(Cannery Row Company) be selected and identifying Rick Johnson (Old Monterey
Business Association) as an alternate choice. The group recommended to
AMBAG that the Seaside Company receive AMBAG’s annual Sanctuary
Currents Conference Business Award. The group also spent time discussing
the need for and challenges of expanding and maintaining a consistent
and active membership.
MAJOR
ISSUES, ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
The
Advisory Council spent most of their time engrossed in the Joint
Management Plan Review (JMPR). In October 2002, the Advisory
Council had the opportunity to sign up for any working groups they
wanted to participate in. In December 2002, staff presented
the Advisory Council with the structure of each working group,
as well as the decision-making protocols produced by a subcommittee
of the Advisory Council.
In
June the Advisory Council met for two days to hear presentations
from the MBNMS staff on the results of the many working groups.
In
July they held a five and a half hour long public comment period
on the Proposed Action Plans and held a two-day meeting afterwards. The
Advisory Council forwarded to staff 504 of the strategies and activities
as proposed by the working groups or internal teams. They were
able to reach consensus on 64 modified strategies and activities and
only needed to take a vote on 4 modified strategies and activities. The
Advisory Council tasked the Special Marine Protected Areas and Motorized
Personal Watercraft working groups to reconvene and answer some specific
questions. Both of these groups met and came back to the Advisory
Council, which accepted each of their recommendations.
OTHER
ISSUES, DISCUSSIONS, ACTIONS
The
Advisory Council sent a letter to the Regional Water Quality Control
Board asking they factor in and consider the efforts and recommendations
from the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Agricultural Plan as
they adopt their Total Maximum Daily Load program.
The
Conservation Working Group presented a letter regarding Krill Harvesting,
Cruise Ships and Invasive Species. The Advisory
Council voted to have the CWG produce a framework on invasive species
for the JMPR.
The
Conservation Working Group presented a resolution on cruise ship
discharges to the Advisory Council at the February 2003 meeting. The
Advisory Council accepted the resolution as presented, with some modifications,
recommending that the MBNMS develop a regulation prohibiting harmful
discharges within Sanctuary waters.
Holly
Price, Resource Protection Coordinator, clarified the fishing “white
paper” written and released by NMSP Headquarters regarding coordination
on fishing issues. Holly reiterated that the MBNMS would continue
to work with existing fishing management agencies to address fishing
issues impacting the ecosystem. The Advisory Council agreed to
send a letter to the Secretary of Commerce Don Evans, NOAA Undersecretary
Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher and National Marine Sanctuary Program
Director Dan Basta stating the “white paper” would make it
more difficult for the Sanctuary to work with the fishing community,
that the Advisory Council did not want the “white paper” to
replace or supersede the language found in the MBNMS designation documents
and that the Advisory Council wanted to be involved in reviewing and
clarifying the fishing language in the management plan through a public
process involving stakeholders.
The
Advisory Council endorsed a written resolution from the Association
of Monterey Bay Area Governments supporting the Sanctuary Scenic
Trail with a modification stating the Sanctuary Scenic Trail will
provide a critical link to the California Coastal Trail.
The Advisory Council agreed to send a letter, written by Deborah Streeter,
Citizen At-Large primary, to the National Marine Sanctuary Program Director
Dan Basta urging the allocation of more GS (general schedule) positions
to the MBNMS or increased funding so contractors can be provided benefits.
In
April 2003, the Advisory Council made both substantive and housekeeping
changes to the Sanctuary Advisory Council Charter & Protocols.
For
more information, view other sections of the Advisory Council website
or contact Nicole Capps, Sanctuary Advisory Council Coordinator at (831)
647-4206 or nicole.capps@noaa.gov
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