Ocean Zone News Blog

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 2, 2009 at 7:48 am
From Dan Bacher, this commentary:

“A new groundbreaking study published in the July 31 issue of Science magazine reveals that the California Current ecosystem has the lowest fishery exploitation rate of any place in the world examined by co-authors Ray Hilborn and Boris Worm and 19 other scientists.

“The drastic reductions in harvest in California have been designed to rebuild the overexploited rockfish stocks,” said Hilborn. “At present the community of groundfish is now at about 60% of its unfished biomass, far above the 30-40% level target for maximum sustained yield.”

North Coast
by Dan Bacher
Monday Aug 3rd, 2009 6:14 PM

In yet another example of the Schwarzenegger administration’s top-down approach to controlling California’s coastal waters, an email soliciting nominations for the North Coast Science Advisory Team (SAT) gives locals barely two weeks to try to impact composition of the powerful body charged with providing scientific information on the proposed North Coast Marine Protected Area (MPA). North Coast ocean activists are protesting the August 14 deadline in a widely-criticized Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) process that is rife with conflicts of interests, mission creep and the corruption of the democratic process
Ocean Activists Protest MLPA Science Team August 14 Deadline

By Paul Rogers and Julia Scott
Mercurynews.com

Bay Area News Group

Posted: 08/04/2009 06:31:47 PM PDT
Updated: 08/05/2009 04:15:13 AM PDT

Click photo to enlarge
(Click to enlarge)«1»Three years after they banned or strictly limited fishing in 18 percent of California’s ocean waters from Santa Barbara to Half Moon Bay, state regulators are poised to extend similar restrictions today all the way to Mendocino, cementing California’s place as the national leader using marine reserves to restore fish and wildlife.

Sunday, August 2, 2009
Greenhouse Gas Legislation: Subtitle J – Miscellaneous

Summary of section
Directs the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, the Secretary of the Interior, and
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, in consultation with the Council
on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and, as
appropriate, coastal States, regional organizations
of coastal States, and relevant nongovernmental
organizations, to jointly conduct a study of the
potential for marine spatial planning to facilitate
the development of offshore renewable energy
facilities in a manner that protects and maintains
coastal and marine ecosystem health. A report is
required within six months. CEQ is then required
to implement the recommendations of the report
within four months or propose an alternate
implementation.

BLOG for the Surfrider Foundation Friday, July 31, 2009

On June 12, 2009, President Obama issued a memorandum to executive departments and agencies to establish the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. The Task Force is charged with developing recommendations for a National Ocean Policy, as well as a framework for effective coastal and marine spatial planning.

Surfrider Foundation strongly supports this movement by the Obama administration. “Our coastlines are increasingly challenged by a growing number of human use”, says Jim Moriarty, Surfrider Foundation’s CEO. “A National Ocean Policy will help promote smarter management decisions, and ensure that we prioritize the health of our ocean ecosystems and coastal communities.”