Fish & Game to Hear MPA Proposals Dec. 8

• Interests Vow a Fight over Point Dume Revisions

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

On Nov. 10, at the end of another marathon meeting that involved testimony from dozens of public speakers, stakeholder group members and science advisors, the Marine Life Protection Act Blue Ribbon Task Force unanimously adopted a preferred marine protected area proposal for the south coast study region.
The room was packed with Marine Protected Area proponents and opponents dressed respectively in blue and black and armed with slogan-covered signs. At one point, a shoving match broke out between two speakers and security was required to break up the fight. At the end of the marathon meeting, the BRTF voted unanimously to select what is being described as a compromise plan for the region. The decision was greeted with both applause and a chorus of boos.
“We have to ground our decisions in science. We are making some major concessions to socioeconomic pressures,” BRTF member Meg Caldwell said at the conclusion of the marathon session.
“It’s not perfect,” BRTF chair Catherine Reheis-Boyd acknowledged, “but [it’s] something we hope we can live with, not just today, but that can be sustained,”
The preferred alternative plan includes both a State Marine Reserve and a State Marine Conservation Area in west Malibu, but leaves Rocky Point at Palos Verdes open for unrestricted fishing.
In the BRTF proposal, an area stretching from the western end of the Paradise Cove parking lot to Zuma Beach will receive the highest level of protection as a State Marine Reserve. The proposed SMR includes a submarine canyon off of Dume Cove described by the Science Advisory Team as a rare and vitally important habitat.
The SMR also covers a substantial portion of the hotly contested reefs east of Point Dume, including Big Kelp Reef, a favorite fishing area for kayak anglers and the spearfishing community.
The SMR would be a no-take zone that prohibits all types of fishing. However, fishing boats, including kayaks, would be permitted to transit a SMR with catch on board. Non-extractive activities would reportedly not be impacted.
“The BRTF proposal does not restrict public access or recreational enjoyment, such as boating, swimming, diving or kayaking,” Reheis-Boyd clarified in a statement after the meeting. “The plan allows existing commercial and recreational fishing to continue in the majority of the region, including at Rocky Point along the Palos Verdes Peninsula, while strengthening ecosystem protection at a number of key geographies such as Point Dume in Malibu.”
The BRTF proposal for Malibu also includes a State Marine Conservation Area extending west of Westward Beach to Lechusa Beach. The SMCA would permit limited fishing activities, including recreational spearfishing for Pelagic finfish, Pacific bonito and white seabass, and commercial take of market squid, coastal pelagic finfish and swordfish.
Maps and descriptions of the specific MPAs included in the BRTF proposal are not anticipated to be posted to the MLPA website until Nov. 19, according to a press release.
However, Malibuite and official stakeholder group member Sarah Sikich was able to shed a little additional light on one MPA boundary. In an interview with the Malibu Surfside News, she explained that an eleventh-hour decision to move the western boundary of the proposed Point Dume SMR from the eastern end of Westward Beach to the outflow of Zuma Creek had less to do with conservation issues than navigation and enforcement. “It’s more visible and easier to enforce,” Sikich said.
The mood following the meeting was one of resignation on the part of both conservationists and fishing interests. Stakeholder group member Kevin Ketchum, a spokesperson for the interests of the Santa Monica Bay marinas, called the compromise “a sacrifice,” but one that was “acceptable.”
Not everyone agreed, leading to discord at the meeting. Environmentalist and Malibuite Wes Dawson was involved in a scuffle with a kayak fishing advocate during the meeting, when the other man wouldn’t stop shouting at Ken Wiseman, executive director of the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative.
“If the fishing industry had been good stewards and policed themselves we wouldn’t be here today,” Dawson told the task force at the end of public comment.
The BRTF preferred alternative is now scheduled to be presented to the Department of Fish and Game, the agency overseeing implementation of the MLPA, on Dec. 9 in Los Angeles. The exact location has not yet been announced.
In addition to the preferred alternative, the BRTF will also submit the three final MPA proposals developed over an 18-month period by the 64 members of the official regional stakeholder group.
The commission’s regulatory process to adopt the proposed south coast MPAs is anticipated to take approximately one year. Officials say that the process will include “numerous opportunities for public input.”
More information on the MPLA process is available at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/