Northern California ocean policies to get a rewrite

Mercury News ^ | December 4, 2006 | Paul Rogers

[calcowgirl]

Monterey Sanctuary May Grow 14%

When the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary was set up 14 years ago, banning oil drilling along 276 miles of the California coast from the Golden Gate to Hearst Castle, environmentalists were thrilled.

But other worries have risen to take oil's place -- from polluted runoff, cruise ship sewage and personal watercraft, or jet skis, to a sea otter population struggling with disease.

Now, for the first time since Congress and President George H.W. Bush established the sanctuary in 1992, federal officials are rewriting its management plan -- crafting a new rule book for Northern California's piece of the Pacific Ocean.

Among the plan's 28 proposed changes:

• New limits on where jet skis can ride.

• A ban on dumping sewage from cruise ships.

• A ban on ``shark chumming'' -- the practice by some researchers, filmmakers and thrill-seekers of spreading dead fish parts in the water to attract great whites.

• New programs to limit seawalls, polluted runoff and damage to tide pools from overzealous visitors in places such as the San Mateo coast.

• Expanding the sanctuary 14 percent by adding a circular area around Davidson Seamount, an undersea mountain 80 miles south of Monterey known for its coral reefs.

Perhaps most controversial is a proposal to move forward with a network of ``no-fishing zones'' in federal waters out to 30 miles offshore, with the goal of restoring depleted fish populations, turtles and other wildlife.

The end product will be the focus of public hearings Tuesday in Santa Cruz and San Francisco, and Wednesday in Half Moon Bay. It is expected to significantly change what would and wouldn't be allowed in the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to San Simeon for years to come.

[proud_yank]

...banning oil drilling along 276 miles of the California coast from the Golden Gate to Hearst Castle, environmentalists were thrilled.

For a cookie.... The average price of gas in CA is A) Significantly Higher or B) Significantly Lower than the rest of the United States?

Now for the bonus round.

The average SUV favored by California environmentalists and Hollywood activists is A) Caddilac Escalade B) Hummer H1 C) Ford Excursion or D) All of the above.

Extra Credit.

The private jet most favored by California environmentalists and Hollywood activists is A) Leer B) Gulf Stream C) Citation or D) All of the above.

[dhuffman@awod.com]

Sea otter epidemic? Maybe I'll get to eat abalone again. I have learned to happily substitute squid.

Either we are equal or we are not. Good people ought to be armed where they will, with wits and guns. Merry Christmas

[fish hawk]

Just had a big abalone dinner a few nights ago. I have friends that get lots of Abalone and I get lots of salmon. So, we make trades each year. You got to have a connection because you sure can't afford to buy it.

[dhuffman@awod.com]

I left San Jose when I enlisted in the Navy in '69. I had an ab' dinner at Original Joe's for IIRC $14. It might have been my last ab' dinner.

Then, many years later and after my parents retired to Capitola (Santa Cruz), I visited and was introduced to squid 'steaks.' They're good, but not ab'.

Either we are equal or we are not. Good people ought to be armed where they will, with wits and guns. Merry CHRISTmas