MBNMS SAC Meeting Minutes December 9th, 2010

MONTEREY BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY
ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING

FINAL
December 9th, 2010
Pacific Grove Community Center
Pacific Grove, 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:

• At-Large: Kortney Leabourne
• At-Large: Nancy Selfridge
• Conservation: Lauren Gilligan
• Education: Steve Clark
• MBNMS: Karen Grimmer
• Recreation: Robert Chatham
• Research: John Hunt

Mayor Carmelita Garcia welcomed the advisory council to the City of Pacific Grove.

APPROVAL OF 10/21/10 DRAFT MEETING NOTES

The advisory council passed the October 21, 2010 meeting minutes with the following substantive changes:
-Chris Harrold asked that the language of motions (letters and resolutions) be added to the minutes to make it easier to see what was approved.

MOTION: (Passed)

Motion introduced by Charles Lester, seconded by Michael Dawson
(Vote: 13 in favor, 0 opposed, 3 abstentions)

The advisory council reviewed the 2011 advisory council meeting schedule. No changes were made to the schedule.

No members of the public were present to provide comments.

Paul Michel, Superintendent, provided updates on several important sanctuary related items such as the Sanctuary Exploration Center (SEC) groundbreaking, the Coastal Conservancy grant for the SEC, and the West Coast Governor’s Agreement on Ocean Health (http://westcoastoceans.gov/) has been hosting workshops on the west coast to get proposals for marine spatial planning.

Steve Scheiblauer asked if the office report could be added to the website in advance of the meetings.

Lauren Garske, Nancy Foster Scholar, provided a presentation on her graduate dissertation, Sanctuary Advisory Councils and the use of science. Ms. Garske’s powerpoint presentation may be viewed here.

Rikki Dunsmore, MBNMS Resource Policy Specialist, provided an update on the Ecosystem Based Management Initiative (EBMI). Ms. Dunsmore’s powerpoint presentation may be viewed here.

Karen Grimmer, Deputy Superintendent, reviewed the draft agenda calendar/schedule that was developed at the October advisory council meeting. Advisory council members provided possible presentations they would like to receive over the next two years.

Karen will work with John Hunt to find contacts for a presentation on chemicals of emerging concern.

The advisory council agreed this version of the calendar was a good representation of topics they would like to learn more about over the next two years.

PJ Webb, At-large, announced there is a potential program starting in the southern end of the sanctuary. There have been preliminary negotiations with CA State Parks and the Sanctuary regarding a docent harbor seal program at the harbor seal rookery in San Simeon. Docents would educate people to stay away from harbor seals, particularly when having their pups. This could help turn around the 25% pup abandonment rate. San Luis Obispo County has been named as on of the happiest places to live, according to some popular publications and Oprah Winfrey.

Mike Bekker, Tourism, stated the Monterey peninsula is doing fairly well in tourism. High end dining is starting to creep up and fast food is still doing well

Gary Pezzi, Recreation, stated that Santa Cruz is on a short list of other spots in the world to be designated as a surfing reserve area. There has been an effort by surfing groups in Santa Cruz to make that designation happen. The designation has been approved at the county level.

Paul Reilly, CA Department of Fish and Game, asked the advisory council if they would like to continue the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) updates that he provides at every other meeting. The advisory council requested to keep updates.

Lynn Robinson, AMBAG, expressed her appreciation for the conversations between AMBAG and the MBNMS on how these two groups will work together.

Chris Harrold, Research, announced the Research Activities Panel and MBNMS will host the annual Sanctuary Currents Symposium on April 9th at CA State University at Monterey Bay. The theme is research going on in our own backyard and how it is rippling throughout the world. The title for this year’s symposium is, “Ripple Effects.”

LT Steve Arnwine, US Coast Guard, announced there is an allocation for C130 flight hours in October. The Coast Guard has plenty of hours for the sanctuary to utilize the C130 aircraft for any sanctuary needs.

Steve Scheiblauer, Harbors, thanked the MBNMS for fixing the weather kiosk at the Monterey Harbor. The technician stated the kiosk receives about 100,000 hits per month.

Kathy Fosmark, Commercial Fishing, stated the Dungeness crab fishery was exceptionally good this year and stated it is not always doom and gloom.

Lauren Gilligan, Conservation, announced that Save Our Shores (SOS) will be hosting another film screening of the movie “End of the Line.” The screening will be December16th in Half Moon Bay. SOS is just coming out with calendars for monthly beach cleanups in Santa Cruz and Monterey. Cleanups are the third Saturday of the month in Santa Cruz and the second Saturday of the month in Monterey.

Nancy Selfridge, At-large, announced that she has traveled to Lan Koran, Asha Rajan, a city that is a new sister city to Monterey. Monterey and Lan Koran both started as fishing villages. All fish in Lan Koran is sold locally. Lan Koran has a huge agricultural industry. Lan Koran is looking to form some infrastructure after oil and gas money is gone so they want to promote tourism to sustain them. The sturgeon population is being overfished. She took a lot of material from MBNMS to Laku and Lan Koran. They paid for two Monterey City Council members to travel to their country. They hope to bring a delegation to Monterey at some point in the future.

Nicole Capps, Sanctuary Advisory Council Coordinator, asked for volunteers to serve on the recommendation subcommittee for the current advisory council member recruitment.

Michael Dawson, At-large, announced the Monterey Whalefest will take place on January 22nd. There will be a variety of events going on all day long on the wharf.

Paul Reilly announced there has been an unprecedented white seabass sport fishery in Monterey Bay. Most people were catching fish. Most fish were 25-40 pounds. The white seabass are following the squid.

Simona Bartl, Education, announced that Moss Landing Marine Laboratories will have their annual open house April 30th-May 1st.

The advisory council reviewed the draft language provided by PJ Webb for a letter to Dan Basta asking for an increase in staffing budget for the MBNMS to allow allocation for the Coastal Discovery Center in the southern region. After making a few modifications to the draft language the advisory council approved the letter of support.

Motion introduced by Steve Scheiblauer. Seconded by Mike Dawson.
(Vote: 14 in favor, 0 opposed)

The advisory council reviewed the draft language provided by PJ Webb for an open letter supporting the efforts of the Marine Interest Group (MIG) and inviting local community members to support the MIG. After making a few modifications to the draft language the advisory council approved the letter of support.

Motion introduced by Randy Herz. Seconded by Kirk Schmidt.
(Vote: 14 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention)

Andrew DeVogelaere, MBNMS Research Coordinator, provided a presentation on the SCID/EcoViz. Dr. DeVogelaere’s powerpoint presentation may be viewed here.

Paul Reilly provided an update on the MLPA. Mr. Reilly’s powerpoint presentation may be viewed here.

NEXT MEETING: February 10th, 2011 in Half Moon Bay
The meeting adjourned at 4:30 p.m.
Items for next meeting:

Submitted by
Nicole Capps
Sanctuary Advisory Council Coordinator