SANCTUARY FISHING RESTRICTED COMMISSION VOTES TO PROTECT CHANNEL ISLANDS SPECIES.

Byline: Bill Becher Special to the Daily News

SANTA BARBARA - The California Fish and Game Commission voted Wednesday to close 10 percent of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary to all fishing, creating a network of marine reserves to protect fish species and habitats.

``I think that we did something that was historic for the state of California,'' said Bob Hattoy, the newest member of the commission. ``We protected fishing for future generations. Hattoy added that the vote, which he called courageous, shows California is again leading the way in environmental protection.

``The fishing industry has been running amok and out of control for many years,'' Hattoy said. ``The fish are gone.''

Facing a red sea of shirts worn by recreational anglers opposed to the no-fishing zones, the commission, which sets fishing regulations in California, voted 2-1 to approve the plan by the California Department of Fish and Game. The commission rejected requests by environmental groups to increase the size of the reserves and pleas by fishing groups to reduce their size. The DFG also suggested an additional 15 percent of the Sanctuary under federal control also be closed to fishing.

Southern California sport fishers told the commission the new marine reserves are unnecessary, are based on insufficient science and will eliminate some of their most productive fishing water. A DFG study estimated the closures could wipe out more than 400 jobs in the Southern California commercial and sport-fishing industries.

Supporters of the no-take marine reserves say they are needed to restore depleted fish stocks and are an insurance policy against deficiencies in fishing regulation and the impact of natural events like El Nino. Kayaking, sailing and no-take diving will still be permitted in the reserves.

Scientists testified studies of 80 marine reserves worldwide show they work. The scientists said the quantity of fish typically doubles in no-take reserves and average fish size increases 30 percent. The scientists also said the reserves could provide a spill-over effect that would create better fishing outside the reserves.

A scientific group that supplied advice to the commission on the proposals had called for reserves covering 30-50 percent of the sanctuary.

The commission limited public testimony to one hour, after hearing from DFG representatives and a panel of scientists and members of the fishing community. This was the commission's seventh public hearing on the proposed reserves.

``I'm disappointed,'' said Tom Raftican, president of United Anglers of Southern California. ``This is about closures. This isn't about management.''

Raftican had urged the commission to defer action and said he will ask a committee of the State Legislature to conduct a hearing on the closures.

The commission has been considering establishing marine reserves at the Channel Islands since 1998, when a local group of anglers and scuba divers asked the Commission to set aside 20 percent of the reserve as a no-take zone to protect rockfish.

Bob Fletcher, president of the Sportfishing Association of California, said the commission should consider the cumulative negative impact of regulations on ocean anglers, including recent closures to protect boccacio and other rockfish.

Before the commission's action, less than 1 percent of California's coastal waters were in no-fishing protected marine ecological reserves. California's legislature has passed the Marine Life Management and Marine Life Protection acts that direct the DFG to consider establishing other marine protected areas throughout state waters.

The commission's action, effective Jan. 1, applies only to state regulated water at the Channel Islands.

The Channel Islands National Park was established in 1938, and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary in 1980. Despite the ``sanctuary'' name, fishing has generally been permitted within the sanctuary. California regulates the water within three nautical miles of the islands, which include Anacapa, Santa Cruz, San Miguel, Santa Rosa, and Santa Barbara Islands.

Copies of the proposed alternatives, associated maps and regulations are available at www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/channel-islands/index.html.

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(color) Fishermen protest Wednesday the proposed restrictions to fishing in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.

Bill Becher/Special to the Daily News