NO-FISH ZONE PLANS POSTPONED.

Byline: Bill Becher Special to the Daily News

Plans to implement a series of controversial no-fishing zones along California's 1,100-mile coastline to protect the declining population of ocean fish have been postponed.

California Fish and Game (DFG) officials blame budget and staff problems despite the provisions of the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act that call for the DFG to present a statewide plan for the reserves to the state's Fish and Game Commission.

This is welcome news to operators of ocean sport-fishing party boats who say a widespread system of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is unnecessary and will diminish angling opportunities and hurt their businesses.

Bob Fletcher, president of the Sportfishing Association of California, said the decision is a direct result of the recent governor election. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was endorsed by many ocean-fishing groups.

``Just look at the appointments,'' said Fletcher. He cited the selection by Gov. Schwarzenegger of Mike Christman to head the state's Resources Agency, which oversees the Department of Fish and Game. Christman was the only Republican appointee on the state's Fish and Game Commission and voted against the creation of the Channel Islands Marine Reserve. That no-fishing reserve was approved by the two Democratic appointees to the commission after a series of contentious public hearings.

DFG officials say that the decision to halt work on the reserves is not politically motivated. They say they do not intend to permanently end consideration of MPAs and are looking at the possibility of using a mix of federal, state and private funds to pay for the process.

But in a Jan. 15 letter to participants, Sonke Mastrup, then acting director of the DFG, said ``the Department has decided to place the process on a permanent hold and disband the Regional Working Groups, Master Plan Team, and other project support teams.''

The DFG has twice sought and obtained extensions from the legislature for the plan, which is now due in 2005 and had placed the project on temporary hold last March.

The 1999 Marine Life Protection Act was never funded by the state's legislature. The process was started with two grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The money was used for the statewide ``stakeholder'' meetings of fishermen, environmentalists, marine scientists, divers and others under the direction of the DFG to discuss plans for the reserves.

That money has run out. A federal grant to the DFG of more than $300,000 remains and can be used when the process begins again, said DFG officials. The DFG says the meetings would cost the department between $1.7 million and $2.3 million. Under Schwarzenegger's proposed budget, the Department of Fish and Game would receive $271.1 million next year, a drop of about one percent from the current year. DFG officials say the stakeholder meetings are necessary to form a consensus, although the groups that met on the Channel Islands Marine Reserves were unable to reach agreement and the recommended plan that was adopted by the state's Fish and Game Commission was drafted by state and federal officials.

``If the governor is serious about keeping his promise to protect California's environment and economy, then he won't let this important law die,'' said Karen Garrison, co-director of the Natural Resources Defense Council ocean program. ``This is about sound management of the ocean and protecting the rich web of ocean life.''

Garrison disputed the DFG claim that it was forced to suspend the MPA process because of the budget crisis.

``There's no doubt that we have a serious budget problem,'' she said, ``but it's premature and unnecessary to just say `stop.' It doesn't take $2 million to develop a plan. Delaying implementation of the Marine Life Protection Act won't help solve the budget mess, but it will steal valuable time that we need to solve our ocean crisis.''

Other environmentalists and some anglers and ocean biologists are also disappointed by the decision and hope that the process can be restarted with private money from foundations.

Warner Chabot, a vice president of The Ocean Conservancy, said his organization is seeking grants to restart the process. John Ugoretz, a biologist with the DFG, said the department is primarily concerned over a lack of staff. The DFG's Marine Region has lost one third of its professional staff in recent years because of hiring freezes and budget cuts.

``Without adequate staff, funds will not make the process happen,'' said Ugoretz. He said that the DFG is committed to review and monitor existing MPAs and develop new information and science.

``In particular, we expect cooperative efforts at the Channel Islands to provide detailed information on how MPAs work and the effects of networks of MPAs on fish, fishing and fishermen.''

Chabot said the DFG has a legitimate point.

``They have many new tasks and a much smaller and heavily overworked staff. But the law exists and the public supports the designation of marine protected areas. His group is asking the DFG to streamline rather than sideline the process to implement the law. Chabot suggests that the department contract out some of the work to private professionals, under the direction of the Department of Fish and Game. But Ugoretz says that would not solve the problem. Another possibility is that conservation and fishing groups may propose individual marine reserves, which must be then considered by the Fish and Game Commission.

This concerns commercial and sport anglers, who are afraid the process would be done on a piecemeal basis. Environmental groups say they will try to find private funds to support the statewide process, but will propose individual reserves if necessary.

``Our first goal is to try to provide those resources to the state under their control,'' said Chabot. ``Second choice is to submit proposals directly to the Fish and Game Commission.''

State officials said that they want to continue the process of considering marine reserves, but can't pay for it now and need help.

``We are committed to finding a creative solution for MPAs, the most efficient, effective and appropriate mix of public-private partnerships,'' said Christman, secretary of resources.