PANEL DELAYS CHANNEL ISLANDS PLAN MARINE RESERVES PROGRAM HITS SNAG.Byline: Bill Becher Special to the Daily News The California Fish and Game Commission has delayed hearing public comments on several alternatives it is considering for establishing a controversial network of marine reserves around the Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. . John Duffy The name John Duffy may refer to:
``The Commission has delayed the comment period while the Department of Fish and Game's biologists work to put together the final language of the proposed alternative regulations along with the environmental review of their impacts and benefits,'' said Duffy. On August 24 in Santa Barbara, DFG DFG Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Council) DFG Department of Fish and Game DFG District Factor Group DFG Data Flow Graph DFG Difference Frequency Generation DFG Diode Function Generator DFG Dog Faced Gremlin and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is a reserve area off the Pacific coast of the United States, near California. Established in 1980, the 1,252 square nautical mile (4,294 km²) portion of the Santa Barbara Channel is an area of national significance because of presented the Commission with a recommendation to protect 25 percent of the waters around the Channel Islands. The joint recommendation includes 11 state marine reserves, one state marine park and one state marine conservation area. The Commission has heard public comments from sport anglers, commercial fishermen and environmentalists. Some commercial and sport fishers are worried that their favorite fishing grounds might be closed to fishing and they claim the science behind the proposals is not complete. Environmentalists believe that the reserves are necessary to preserve fish stocks from overfishing Overfishing occurs when fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level. This can occur in any body of water from a pond to the oceans. More precise biological and bioeconomic terms define 'acceptable level'. and to provide areas for study. ``We're concerned that the Channel Islands science panel came back with policy recommendations instead of scientific analysis,'' said Tom Raftican, president of the United Anglers of Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , an advocacy group for sport fishers. ``Southern California anglers will suffer a disproportionate dis·pro·por·tion·ate adj. Out of proportion, as in size, shape, or amount. dis  pro·por burden from the proposed closures.'' Raftican's group is also concerned that decisions will be made in Sacramento, many miles from affected anglers. ``The main reason for establishing reserves is that there are alarm bells ringing,'' said Rodney Fujita, Ph.D., a marine ecologist with Environmental Defense. ``Some rockfish rockfish, member of the large family Scorpaenidae (rockfishes and scorpionfishes), carnivorous fish inhabiting all seas and especially abundant in the temperate waters of the Pacific. Rockfishes are found among rocks and reefs. species have dwindled to a small fraction of their original numbers. Although there are several factors at work, including pollution, change in climate and change in ocean conditions, we are fairly confident that fishing has played a major role in the decline. ``The reason we're confident that fishing has had an impact is that exploited species are still abundant in the few small marine reserves that have already been established off California, including one tiny reserve in the Channel Islands,'' said Fujita. ``We think that reserves are a good investment for the future of the fisheries fisheries. From earliest times and in practically all countries, fisheries have been of industrial and commercial importance. In the large N Atlantic fishing grounds off Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, European and North American fishing fleets have long as well as necessary for protecting remaining populations.'' ``There has been a lot of emphasis on the economic impact to fishermen, and deservedly so,'' added Fujita. ``However, we need to realize that fishing opportunities have been declining and will probably decline even further without strong conservation measures.'' The Fish and Game Commission is considering alternatives that were presented at its meeting Oct. 5 in San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. . Those alternatives include proposals to protect between 12 and 34 percent of the sanctuary, an alternative for no change to the existing system, and an alternative to include the Channel Islands marine reserves with the Marine Life Protection Act coast-wide process. Public testimony on the Channel Islands reserves will resume once the DFG has presented the Commission with the regulations for each alternative. The Commission tentatively has scheduled additional public comments to be heard at its meeting Feb. 8 in Sacramento as well as at its meeting March 7 in San Diego. |
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