Here’s some pertinent information regarding the proposed Marine Life Protection Act for your consideration. Please remember the MLPA closures affect the entire state, not just some Point Dume residents.
The intention may seem noble, but the cost is unsustainable. The governor in November 2008 placed a moratorium on funding the South Coast MLPA and it is only continuing on a large donation from the pro-environmental Resource Life Legacy Foundation. There is no guarantee that any private funding source would be there to manage and enforce this program after its establishment. At that point, the implementation is either doomed or the state will have to step in to come up with the estimated $30 million to $40 million per year. Given the current budget crisis in California I do not believe that this is the best priority to spend our scant resources. The Fish and Game Wardens Association has stated it cannot enforce the MPAs and recommends suspending the MLPA process until the state has the funds to proceed. We as sport fishermen, through our 2-plus million $40 fishing licenses, should not be expected to pay for the management of waters we have no access to. Funding should come from the State General Fund and the public as a whole. They voted for it nearly 10 years ago, and now they should pay for it!
The original intention of the MLPA was habitat protection, not rebuilding fisheries, yet these closures appear to be designed to completely shut down fishing activities based on ideology instead of reasonable protection in view of social/economic impact to the public. These closures will diminish tourism and revenue to Malibu for lawful fishing and diving purposes. Beachcombers will still beach comb, surfers will still surf, kayakers will still paddle, and pollution will still flow into the ocean, with or without the MLPA.
The number of starfish, sea slugs, anemones, and inter-tidal fish that people see in the shallows will not increase by implementing the MLPA. Water pollution, temperature change, and ocean acidification, as well as other undetermined environmental changes are responsible for the diminished sea life seen in tide pools, not from me fishing in my kayak.
The No-Take plan ignores fisheries management as an effective tool for preventing overfishing; the array of reserves should not be a surrogate for fisheries management. If there is over-fishing, then the Department of Fish and Game is not doing its job.
You want to preserve our marine habitat and enhance our local fisheries? Build more artificial reefs. Restrict the commercial catch of forage species such as squid and sardines that larger fish feed on. Lower fishermen’s catch limit and impose size/slot limits so the largest breeding females survive. Stop the pollution runoff from our storm drains into the ocean. Stop the commercial boats from leaking and spilling their diesel and pumping out their bilges in our coastal waters. And stop flicking your cigarette butts on the sand and pick up the damn trash on the beach. The MLPA addresses none of these critical issues and is, unfortunately, the wrong solution, regardless of what some may have you believe.
Scott Winner