MBNMS SAC Meeting Minutes August 19th, 2010

MONTEREY BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY
ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING

FINAL
August 19, 2010
Marinovich Community Center
Watsonville, CA

The following non-voting members were present as indicated:

• Monterey Bay NMS: Paul Michel
• US Coast Guard: Lt Steve Arnwine

Alternates present in audience:

• Agriculture: Traci Roberts
• At-Large: Kortney Leaborne
• At-Large: Nancy Selfridge
• Business and Industry: Jim Weisenstein
• Tourism: Bob Massaro

APPROVAL OF 6/17/10 DRAFT MEETING NOTES

The advisory council passed the June 17, 2010 meeting minutes with the following additional changes:

• Remove Kortney Leabourne’s name from audience attendance
• Mark Steve Scheiblauer as absent
• Add Kurt Schnebele as attending

MOTION: (Passed)

Motion introduced by Dick Ely, seconded by Jane Parker.
(Vote: 13 in favor, 0 opposed, 2 abstentions)

The following members of the public provided public comment for items not on the agenda:

• Don Heichel

Paul Michel, MBNMS Superintendent, provided an update on items of interest related to the sanctuary. On August 17th and 18th, Paul attended the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors meeting and met individually with several supervisors regarding the sanctuary. The week of August 23rd, the BLUE Ocean Film Festival will take place in Monterey. The sanctuary is involved in several ways with the festival. Several sanctuary staff members have traveled to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to assist with cleanup efforts. The California and the World Ocean 2010 conference will be in San Francisco September 7-10. Several sanctuary staff members will be attending or presenting at the conference.

Rikki Dunsmore, MBNMS Environmental Policy Specialist, provided a presentation on the Enhanced Ecosystem Based Management Initiative.

The advisory council had several questions regarding the initiative including: roles and responsibilities of the advisory council, subcommittee, and stakeholders; inclusion of socioeconomics; and the subcommittee’s first meeting.

Steve Scheiblauer, Ports and Harbors representative, made a motion to agendize a letter (dated 08/18/10), he wrote to Paul Michel and sent to the sanctuary advisory council, for analysis and discussion by the EBMI subcommittee. PJ Webb, Citizen At-Large representative, amended the motion to advise Paul Michel write a response prior to the subcommittee meeting so the EBMI subcommittee could better analyze the letter. Paul suggested the EBMI subcommittee meet prior to the October Research Areas workshop with the focus of the meeting to discuss the EBMI and the letter.

MOTION: (Passed)
Agendize Steve Scheiblauer’s letter (dated 08/18/10), that he wrote to Paul Michel and sent to the sanctuary advisory council, and Paul Michel’s response for analysis and further discussion by the EBM subcommittee.

Motion introduced by Steve Scheiblauer, seconded by PJ Webb
(Vote: 9 in favor, 5 opposed, 2 abstentions)

Mary Gleason, The Nature Conservancy, and James Lindholm, California State University Monterey Bay, provided a presentation on the Nature Conservancy’s central coast groundfish project and trawl impact study.

After receiving the presentation, the sanctuary advisory council agreed to send a support letter for funding over the next few years. The letter would be sent to the Ocean Protection Council. Chris Harrold agreed to draft the letter and seek sanctuary advisory council member input before submitting the letter.

MOTION: (Passed)
Send a letter of support to the Ocean Protection Council for funding over the next few years for the Nature Conservancy’s Central Coast Groundfish Project and Trawl Impact Study.

Motion introduced by PJ Webb, seconded by Jane Parker.
(Vote: 16 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstentions)

Dayna Matthews, NOAA Office for Law Enforcement, provided a regular update on the meetings of the Enforcement Task Force. Dayna updated the advisory council on recent flights that Office of National Marine Sanctuaries staff has been participating in with the US Coast Guard aboard their C130. The C130 is based in Sacramento, CA.

Paul Reilly, CA Department of Fish and Game, provided an update on the California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA). Paul covered the North Central Coast implementation and monitoring; the South Coast regulations/adoption phase; the North Coast planning phase; and the Central Coast monitoring efforts.

Rich Hughett made a motion to adopt the draft salmon resolution with changes by Kirk Schmidt regarding “destruction of riparian habitats…” in the second to last paragraph. Kathy Fosmark seconded the motion. After some discussion the sanctuary advisory council agreed to delay adopting the resolution so the CA Environmental Protection Agency could review the document.

The advisory council also discussed whom the resolution would be sent to once approved. The advisory council agreed the Chair would send the resolution to appropriate agencies and jurisdictions that may be interested in or affected by the resolution. MBNMS staff can suggest agencies or jurisdictions to send the resolution to, as well as advisory council members. Some of the agencies identified at the meeting are NOAA Fisheries, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the CA Department of Fish and Game, the CA Coastal Commission, the CA Natural Resources Agency, and the State Water Resources Control Board.

Jim Harvey, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, provided an educational presentation on seals and sea lions, particularly those species found in the Monterey Bay.

Brad Damitz, MBNMS Environmental Policy Specialist, provided an educational presentation on coastal erosion in the MBNMS.

Paul Michel announced the October advisory council meeting in Cambria will mostly be a retreat. Regular advisory council business to include public comment for items not on the agenda, the draft salmon resolution, and a southern region update will be held in the morning. The afternoon will consist of retreat items to include developing a new two-year work plan and discussing advisory council member roles and responsibilities.

Dick Ely, Citizen At-Large, commented that he attended the Fishermen’s Days at the Wharf II train depot. The event had invaluable information. Fishermen were there to talk about the issues. Dick also commented that he was trying to get a shirt with a sanctuary logo on it. He talked with Dennis Long, Executive Director for the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Foundation, about working long term with the Exploration Center, but in the interim we should develop something where shirts and other logo wear could be sold.

Paul Reilly announced state offices would be closed again for furloughs. Offices will be closed the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Fridays of each month.

Mike Dawson, Citizen At-Large, also commented that the Fishermen’s Days was worth taking a look at. The exhibits will be at the train depot until August 30th.

PJ Webb announced that bill AB1998 prohibiting plastic bags in grocery stores in CA goes to the senate next week. Allegedly the governor supports it. PJ announced the BLUE Ocean Film Festival would be in Monterey the last week in August. She also noted that September 25th is Coastal Cleanup Day. PJ also announced that October 2-3 is the Harborfest in Morro Bay and will be a zero waste event this year.

Cindy Walter, Business and Industry, announced that the Ocean Protection Council (OPC) Sustainable Seafood Council will be in Monterey October 12-14 and the meeting is open to the public. She encouraged everyone to go to the OPC website to see what they are doing. The council is working on standards for sustainability to help fishermen get their fisheries certified by the state. Cindy also announced she recently went to Yosemite National Park and visited Shauna Potocky, past advisory council member. Shauna is responsible for reducing the use of plastics and styrofoam in the park by 90 percent.

LT Steve Arnwine, US Coast Guard, followed up on Dayna Matthews presentation about the C130. He stated the Coast Guard is looking to set up at least two flights a month in sanctuaries. So far the Channel Islands NMS has conducted whale and boat surveys. The MBNMS conducted some of the same surveys with enforcement added. The MBNMS tired to get word out to mariners about whale traffic in the area.

Paul Michel announced that the Conservation primary recruitment will close tomorrow, August 20th, so please pass the word.

Chris Harrold, Research/Chair, announced the Outer Bay exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium would close on October 30th for repairs. The exhibit is expected to reopen in mid July 2011. The exhibit will close in phases but the final phase will be no public access.

Traci Roberts, Agriculture, announced the event “Savor the Central Coast” sponsored by Sunset Magazine on October 13th. The event will highlight San Luis Obispo county food and wine. She also announced the Sustainable Ag Expo sponsored by the Central Coast Vineyard Team will be November 15-16.

Kathy Fosmark, Commercial Fishing, announced the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) meeting will be September 10-16 in Boise, Idaho. The agenda can be accessed on the PFMC website. In the briefing book there should be an ecosystem assessment report.

Steve Scheiblauer added more about the Fishermen’s Days exhibit and announced the Fishermen’s Fiesta. This coming Saturday there is a film sponsored by Jiri Nozicka with discussion afterwards at 1 pm. On Sunday at 1 pm is a forum that will consist of Bill Monning, Steve Scheiblauer, Richard Parrish, and Monica Gallon from CSUMB. The forum will discuss the future of fishing in Monterey Bay. Steve also announced that on Saturday there will be a woman from Sacramento swimming across the bay. Her cause is to fund schools for Afghanistan.

Steve Clark, Education, also announced the BLUE Ocean Film Festival and that the MERITO program has been working with students to submit films. MBNMS is brining 75 students to a film screening. On Monday we will have 60 students from MAOS for the Adopt a Drifter program. Steve also mentioned NOAA’s underwater habitat mission, Aquarius, will be on the Internet with live shows. Steve announced that several MBNMS staff will be participating in international partnerships in the coming months. Sonya Padron, MBNMS Bilingual Education Specialist, will be going to a Marine Protected Area manager workshop in La Paz. Dawn Hayes, Education and Outreach Coordinator, went to American Samoa. Lisa Uttal, Education and Outreach Specialist, will be going to Turkey. Steve announced that the Pacific Grove Natural History Museum will have an exhibit on bioluminescence.

Nancy Selfridge, Citizen At-Large, announced the MBNMS has a booth at the Fishermen’s Days exhibit. Also, restaurants on Fisherman’s Wharf will be making an effort to have local central coast fish on the menu during the week of August 23rd.

NEXT MEETING: October 21st, 2010 in Cambria
The meeting adjourned at 3:52 p.m.

Submitted by
Nicole Capps
Sanctuary Advisory Council Coordinator