Darrell Ticehurst/Fisheries Issues
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Rush to a Bad MPA
Apr. 29 2009, 1:45 PM
Apr. 29 2009, 1:45 PM
The strange, tainted funding for the implementation of the Marine Life Protection Act has reared its ugly head again, and now there is big push back from the people who are supposed to be advising on this. If you can remember the ugly, camelized process that has a Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF), a Science Advisory Team (SAT), and a Regional Stakeholder Group (RSG), all of whom hold hearings and give advice so that eventually the Fish and Game Commission (FGC) can hold hearings and make it into law, then you are one of the few who is able to figure this process out. In the case in point, the RSG is supposed to make recommendations for which the SAT provides scientific evaluation. The fact is that the science is very sparse, being made up as they go, and completely tainted by the funding. The RLFF, the funding source, is also the funding for much of the marine science, and is funded by environmental groups whose agenda seems to be more focused on shutting down fishing than protecting habitat, as the MLPA dictates. So the scientists get to punch their green credentials and look good to a major funding source for their projects by lowering the science score if an MPA allows fishing, even without data. Not good for an honest scientific appraisal.
So the latest South Coast RSG plan went to the SAT, who shot it down in its entirety for reasons that don’t make much sense unless one looks at the biased viewpoint that permeates this entire process. The scientists are applying standards that are not meeting the smell test, so the RSG has rebelled. They sent a letter to the BRTF, the FGC, Governor Schwarzenegger, and to Secretary Chrisman asking that the process be paused and the SAT be given sufficient time to establish better science guidelines.
The letter states: “These are serious issues that threaten the successful conclusion of this public process. We ask: what is the penalty for waiting until we can get it right? Insisting on sticking to the timetable only serves to heighten suspicions of bias.” Bias? How right they are!
Yes the RLFF funding does distort things. Rather than get it right, they are trying to rush this through, saying that the funding will run out unless we stick to this very artificial timetable. If there were no artificial timetable, then maybe we could have the time to get it right instead of closing down fishing arbitrarily such as has happened on the Central Coast, bankrupting shops and party boats and destroying the local economy. And why the rush? Because the RLFF agenda seems to be to get as many MPAs as they can, as big as they can, as fast as they can, and it just might be that the science wouldn’t support that viewpoint if we could have the time to take a careful look. Indeed their funding sources might dry up if they weren’t able to manufacture a crisis where none exists. This is runaway environmentalism at its worst, and the RSG is right to rebel. Get rid of the public/private funding and do this with the right science and they will see a lot more support for the MLPA. Persist with what they are doing and we’ll have a $2 billion recreational fishing economy go bust for no useful purpose.
The letter states: “These are serious issues that threaten the successful conclusion of this public process. We ask: what is the penalty for waiting until we can get it right? Insisting on sticking to the timetable only serves to heighten suspicions of bias.” Bias? How right they are!
Yes the RLFF funding does distort things. Rather than get it right, they are trying to rush this through, saying that the funding will run out unless we stick to this very artificial timetable. If there were no artificial timetable, then maybe we could have the time to get it right instead of closing down fishing arbitrarily such as has happened on the Central Coast, bankrupting shops and party boats and destroying the local economy. And why the rush? Because the RLFF agenda seems to be to get as many MPAs as they can, as big as they can, as fast as they can, and it just might be that the science wouldn’t support that viewpoint if we could have the time to take a careful look. Indeed their funding sources might dry up if they weren’t able to manufacture a crisis where none exists. This is runaway environmentalism at its worst, and the RSG is right to rebel. Get rid of the public/private funding and do this with the right science and they will see a lot more support for the MLPA. Persist with what they are doing and we’ll have a $2 billion recreational fishing economy go bust for no useful purpose.
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