MLPA Eureka hearing video now available

MLPA Eureka hearing video now available

by Dan Bacher

Those who missed the State Legislature's Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture hearing in Eureka on January 21 concerning the controversial Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative now have a chance to watch on-line the testimony by Tribal leaders, fishermen, environmental representatives, MLPA officials and elected officials.

The complete coverage of the event is now available on-demand on Access Humboldt's Community Media Archive: http://www.archive.org/details/AH-jcfa_1-21-11. In addition, an audio file of the hearing is also posted online: http://ia700409.us.archive.org/24/items/AH-jcfa_1-21-11/jcfa_1-21-11.mp3.

The hearing, chaired by Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro (D-North Coast), was televised by Access Humboldt and streamed live on the Web.

Held in the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors’ Chambers, the hearing focused on the North Coast Study Area of the MLPA Initiative and included testimony from MLPA Initiative staff, regional stakeholder groups, tribal representatives, environmentalists and local resource users.

During the hearing, Tribal representatives, fishermen and environmentalists gave passionate testimony regarding the unified proposal for a network of marine protected areas on the North Coast and the many flaws and deficiencies of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Marine Life Protection Act Initiative.

North Coast residents have strongly criticized the MLPA process for its violation of tribal fishing and harvesting rights, numerous conflicts of interests and corruption of the democratic process. In contrast with the Central Coast, North Central Coast and Southern California coast regions, the stakeholders on the North Coast approved a unified single proposal for marine protected areas.

Thomas O’Rourke, Chair of the Yurok Tribal Council, "said the tribe does not accept any efforts of the state to subjugate a sovereign government by creating rules or regulations in tribal territory," according to John Driscoll's article in the Eureka Times-Standard (http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_17167399).

”This act infringes on our rights,” O’Rourke said. “We will not surrender this right. Our rights are not negotiable.”

"O’Rourke said that the unified proposal is the only proposal acceptable -- if not endorsed -- to the tribe," noted Driscoll.

"The Inter-Tribal Water Commission wholeheartedly supports and advocates the sovereign right of Tribal Peoples to practice religious rites integrated in natural origins with cultural traditions that are intertwined with water, physical environments, habitat, air, and the gathering of regalia from marine ecosystems for ceremonial continuity," said Atta Stevenson, Representative of the California Indian Heritage Council and Inter-Tribal Water Commission, reading the Commission's Position Paper (http://www.itwatercommission.org). "Religious aspects are private matters that should not be governed or interrupted nor limited by the 'recreational'category currently used. The American Indian Religious Freedom Act (42 U.S.C. 1996), must be recognized and brought into any discussions that may or will infringe upon that right."

The unified proposal would close or restrict fishing and gathering in approximately 13 percent of state waters, located within 3 miles of shore, in 17 different marine protected areas. MLPA critics emphasize that the initiative has taken water pollution, oil drilling and spills, corporate aquaculture, military testing, wave energy projects and other human impacts on the ocean other than fishing and gathering off the table in its strange concept of marine "protection."

Schwarzenegger privatized the MLPA process in 2004 when he directed the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, a private corporation, to fund MLPA implementation in a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Department of Fish and Game. The perils of the privatization of conservation were dramatically demonstrated when Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, was appointed by Schwarzenegger to sit on the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Forces for the North and North Central Coast and to chair the South Coast Task Force.

The California Fish and Game Commission will hold a special meeting with the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force to receive recommendations for the MLPA North Coast Study Region on Wednesday, February 2, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. at the Resources Building Auditorium, 1416 Ninth Street, First Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814 and on the day of the meeting (for viewing or listening only) via simultaneous webcast at http://www.fgc.ca.gov/meetings/FGCmeetingsvideolinks.asp.

Public testimony will be taken following agenda item 1(F) below.

Here is the draft agenda for the meeting:

1. PRESENTATION OF THE MLPA BLUE RIBBON TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR MARINE PROTECTED AREAS (MPA) IN THE NORTH COAST STUDY REGION,
ANALYSES OF THE PROPOSALS, AND RECEIPT OF COMMISSION GUIDANCE.
(A) OVERVIEW OF THE NORTH COAST MLPA INITIATIVE PLANNING PROCESS.
(B) COMPARISON OF THE TWO RECOMMENDED MPA PROPOSALS.
(C) SCIENCE ADVISORY TEAM ANALYSES.
(D) DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS.
(E) DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION EVALUATION.
(F) BLUE RIBBON TASK FORCE PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF
RECOMMENDATIONS.
(G) COMMISSION GUIDANCE TO STAFF ON COMMISSION PREFERRED
PACKAGE AND ALTERNATIVES FOR REGULATORY AND CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) PROCESSES. (THE COMMISSION
WILL ANNOUNCE THE START OF THE REGULATORY AND CEQA
PROCESSES AT A FUTURE DATE.)

For more information, call (916) 653-4899 or go to: http://www.fgc.ca.gov