MBNMS SAC Meeting Minutes April 17th, 2009

MONTEREY BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY
ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING

FINAL
April 17th, 2009
Moss Landing Chamber of Commerce
Moss Landing, CA

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) Advisory Council met on Friday, April 17, 2009, in Moss Landing, California. Public categories and government agencies were present as indicated:

The following non-voting members were present as indicated:

• Cordell Bank NMS: Dan Howard
• Monterey Bay NMS: Paul Michel
• US Coast Guard: LTJC Brittany Steward

Alternates present in audience:

• Samuel Hale - Business & Industry
• Rexford Keyes - Recreation
• Kortney Leabourne - At-Large
• Bob Wilson - Gulf of the Farrallones NMS Liaison

I. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, WELCOME, APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Michele Gideon, Moss Landing Chamber of Commerce President, welcomed the advisory council to Moss Landing.

APPROVAL OF 12/12/08 DRAFT MEETING NOTES

The advisory council passed the December 12, 2008 meeting minutes with the following substantive change:

• Section IX: add a sentence stating what the motion was.

MOTION: (Passed)
Motion introduced by Russ Jeffries, seconded by Robert Frischmuth (Vote: 15 in favor, 0 opposed, 2 abstentions)

Paul Michel, MBNMS Superintendent, swore in Stephany Aguilar, AMBAG primary.

Paul Michel introduced Carolyn Skinder, MBNMS Southern Region Program Coordinator. Carolyn has been with the MBNMS in different capacities over the last few years, but has recently been hired to work in the San Simeon office.

II. PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA

Bonnie Van Hise, Scheduler for Congressman Farr, provided several updates regarding Congressman Farr and his staff. His staff is currently working on the planning efforts for Capitol Hill Ocean Week in early June. Bill HR366, The Ocean Research Exploration Enhancement Act, passed as part of the 2009 Public Lands Omnibus, HR146. Congressman Farr coordinated a letter to the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee requesting $5 billion in funding to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Congressman Farr also requested funding for the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries PAC and ORF accounts, as well as the MBNMS Visitor Center. Congressman Farr is sponsoring the following bills: Oceans-21 and HR556.

Bob Wilson, Gulf of the Farallones NMS Advisory Council liaison, provided an update on the April 16th GFNMS advisory council meeting. When GFNMS was going through their work plan they asked themselves if the joint MBNMS/GFNMS meetings should continue. They determined the joint meetings should continue and have asked the MBNMS advisory council to consider keeping these meetings.

Robert Frischmuth, MBNMS At-large alternate, also mentioned there was discussion on including the Cordell Bank NMS Advisory Council at the joint meetings.

Rex Keyes, Recreation alternate, alerted the advisory council to issues that may be of interest to the advisory council, particularly wave energy.

Steve Scheiblauer, Monterey Harbormaster, voiced concern to the advisory council as to how the council operates. The agenda on the website was substantially different then the agenda in front of the advisory council members. We do not have materials before us in advance to be able to make informed decisions.

III. NATIONAL PROGRAM UPDATE

Daniel Basta, ONMS Director, provided an ONMS program update. One major initiative highlighted was the Ocean for Life program. This program will bring together 30 children from the Middle East with children from the United States to learn about the ocean and how they connect us all. One of the camps will come to Monterey for several days.

Questions and comments from advisory council members followed. Topics included: a national opinion poll on ocean resource management; ONMS added value; program’s posture on alternative energy projects; new management plan funding given the uncertainty of the budget; management plan reviews; the “Our Challenge” Basta paper.

IV. EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATION: CALIFORNIA’S INTRODUCED SPECIES STRATEGY

Amy Vierra and Dr. Devin Bartley, California Resources Agency, provided a presentation on the State of California’s strategy on introduced species.

Questions and comments from advisory council members followed. Topics included: more explanation about the eradication program for Caulerpa taxifolia; regulations and rules and enforcement; Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project and other projects; research exemption; why would we ever want non-native species in sanctuaries for aquaculture?

V. MANAGEMENT PLAN PRIORITIZATION

Paul Michel provided an update on the management plan prioritization and how the staff and advisory council will assist with the process. A staff presentation on Action Plan Priorities will follow at the June SAC meeting.

VI. SAC SUMMIT AGENDA REVIEW AND DISCUSSION

Chris Harrold reviewed the agenda for the SAC Summit in Alpena, MI in May.

Chris Harrold was tasked by the advisory council to ask his counterparts at the SAC Summit the following three questions: Have other sites had the accountability of Citizen At-large members raised?; Have other sites experienced concerns about management being too close to the advisory council selection process and the view that stakeholder groups should select their own representatives?; Does Dan Basta’s vision through his challenge piece match up with what is in the National Marine Sanctuaries Act?

VII. LUNCH

VIII. PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA

No public comment.

IX. UPDATE: MARINE PROTECTED AREA (MPA) PROCESS

Kirk Schmidt, Advisory Council Vice Chair, provided an update on the last MPA subcommittee meeting. He commented that the presentation was for information only and no action was required. Mr. Schmidt’s powerpoint presentation may be viewed here.

Questions and comments from advisory council members included: Why are there single institutions elsewhere on the list of stakeholders, but Tourism, Education, and Local Government only have one shared seat?; There is a question as to whether consensus for the items presented was actually achieved; The gap analysis needs to be done before the selection of the various stakeholders are made.

Paul Michel recommended the information gathered today would be incorporated into a staff report for the advisory council’s recommendation in June. Any comments from advisory council members can be sent to Paul prior to the June meeting.

X. UPDATE: ENFORCEMENT WORKING GROUP REPORT

Mike Eng, MBNMS Resource Protection Coordinator, provided an update on the most recent enforcement working group meeting.

XI. CLIMATE CHANGE MESSAGING

Cynthia Vernon, Monterey Bay Aquarium, provided an update on the climate change messaging that resulted from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums conference.

Ms. Vernon’s powerpoint presentation may be viewed here.

Questions and comments from advisory council members followed. Topics included: other aquariums and climate; traveling exhibits; different species available when temperatures change; the movie “A Sea Change” about ocean acidification and how climate change is affecting it. Could this movie be condensed to a shorter version to be shown at the Monterey Bay Aquarium?

XII. MLPA UPDATE

Paul Reilly, California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), provided an update on the MLPA process.

Mr. Reilly’s powerpoint presentation may be viewed here.

Questions and comments from advisory council members followed. Topics included: Richard Parrish’s review of the monitoring plan and his opinion that five years from now we won’t be able to detect any effect MPAs have; an impact analysis summary; the official numbers that CA Fish and Game has come out with for implementation are not in the $40-$60 million dollar range. This has shown in the press, but is not from the department.

XIII. MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Deborah Streeter, At-large primary, invited everyone to the Pacific Grove Natural History Museum on Tuesday, April 28th for the opening of the Underwater Parks exhibit.

Paul Reilly commented that he would be giving a talk at the Sanctuary Currents Symposium on April 18th about the history of recreational and commercial fisheries in the sanctuary area during the past 25 years.

Dan Howard, Cordell Bank NMS Superintendent, commented that he attended Secretary Salazar’s hearing in San Francisco on oil and gas.

Michael Bekker, Tourism primary, encouraged everyone to attend the exhibit at the Pacific Grove Natural History Museum. He also complimented Chris Harrold regarding the Monterey Bay Aquarium exhibit.

Paul Michel reminded everyone that the Sanctuary Currents Symposium is April 18th.

Cindy Walter, Business and Industry primary, informed everyone about a program Passionfish just used to evaluate their energy usage. All of the restaurant’s lights were evaluated. The organization doing the evaluation has a grant and her upgrades are going to cost half the price. The energy savings on her electric bill is $120 a month. They installed two new pieces of equipment and reduced their gas and electric bill by $1,000 a month.

Steve Clark, Education alternate, announced that the Sanctuary Education Panel (SEP) lost Shauna Potocky, Education primary, to Yosemite National Park. The next SEP meeting will be to evaluate the role of the SEP, how it works with the SAC and teachers/educators. They are excited to have Carolyn Skinder working in San Simeon. He announced that the MERITO program received some grants. The National Marine Educators Association with be meeting at Asilomar from June 29-July 2. Some SEP members are presenting at the conference and the MBNMS has an exhibit.

Amy Vierra announced that there is an Ocean Protection Council (OPC) meeting the following Thursday, April 23rd, in Sacramento. There will be a presentation by Peter Glick from the Pacific Institute on sea level rise. There will also be presentations on the OPC’s ongoing efforts to address marine debris and the Thank You Ocean campaign.

XIV. REVIEW WORK PLAN AND UPCOMING AGENDA ITEMS

Nicole Capps, Advisory Council Coordinator, reviewed the advisory council workplan with the advisory council to determine future agenda items.

Some suggestions were: beach closures, Larry Breaker’s presentation on sea level rise, a presentation by Peter Glick, a presentation on REPOG

XV. ADJOURN

NEXT MEETING: June 19th, 2009, in Carmel Valley
The meeting adjourned at 3:51 PM

Submitted by
Nicole Capps
Sanctuary Advisory Council Coordinator