Commission sets October as South Coast closure start date
The last week of June was a busy one on California's fish and wildlife management scene as the Fish and Game Commission continued its steady march to create unprecedented fishing closures along the California coastline and the first meeting of the California Fish and Wildlife Strategic Vision Executive Committee was held.

The Department of Fish and Game news release on the start of the closures read: "The California Fish and Game Commission today (June 29) selected Oct. 1, 2011 as the effective date for implementation of the marine protected areas (MPAs) in Southern California.

"In a 4-1 vote, Commissioners selected this day to better inform affected ocean users of the new regulations in the South Coast Study Region, which spans from Point Conception in Santa Barbara County to the U.S./Mexico border. Commissioner Daniel Richards was the only vote in opposition. "On Dec. 15, 2010 the Commission adopted regulations to create a suite of MPAs in this study region. Developed under the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) planning process, this network of 49 MPAs and three special closures covers approximately 354 square miles of state waters and represents approximately 15 percent of the region. The regulatory package is being prepared for the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) and the date selected today allows time for OAL review and approval, finalizing the lawmaking process."

Fishermen had hoped that lawsuits challenging the process that created the closure would halt implementation, but the commission's action is a clear indication the current legal efforts are not enough to stop the process. Once the OAL is approved, the South Coast fishing closure will be law.

The commission had earlier indicated that it might wait until after this fall's commercial lobster season was completed before implementation. The Southern California coastline is fully utilized by lobstermen working under a permit system. Closures that shut down most of Laguna Beach and the Encinitas coast will displace a large portion of the fleet and leave them nowhere to fish. Sportfishing fleets in Newport Beach, Dana Point and Oceanside will feel the impact from those closures, as well, while it's obvious that a 15 percent closure of the coastline will impact all Southern California ports. Kayak fishermen have pointed to closures at Point Dume and La Jolla as particularly harmful in terms of both safe access and historical and cultural benefit.

Commissioner's also took action to make the North Coast MLPA region's MPA closures a reality, passing several packages along for environmental review despite objections from wardens and Commissioner Richards over the unfunded cost of law enforcement and implementation. Still up in the air is exactly how areas vital to tribal interests will be managed as far as access and use, although Resources Secretarys Laird's submission to the commission was adopted as a guideline from MLPA staff.

And the onslaught on the fishing and hunting culture has really just begun, as evidenced by the start of the California Fish and Wildlife Strategic Vision Executive Committee proceedings. The latest legislative maneuver by environmetalists to control fish and wildlife manage, the committee is the result of AB 2376 (Huffman). Representative Jared Huffman, a Democrate whose district includes Marin and Sonoma County, has successfully pushed several fisheries management bills into law since the election of Governor Jerry Brown.

The committee is made up of cabinet-level state administrators including the DFG Director and the Secretary of Resources Laird and has already appointed a "Blue Ribbon Citizens Committee." If that sounds familiar to those who took part in the MLPA process that created the South Coast closure, it gets even more so. Applications for a stakeholder group can be filled out online until July 13.

The application includes a score of questions that point not to a vision, but a total restructuring of the Department of Fish and Game, the Fish and Game Commission and the way fish and wildlife are managed in California. Needless to say, the outcome could have far-reaching impacts on the state's anglers and hunters.

Caption: The mouth of the Smith River marks the start of one of the pending North Coast MPAs