Sovereignty eyed as fish limits discussed

A group that is partially responsible for deciding where marine protected areas will be placed along the North Coast is meeting in Crescent City on Thursday.

The Blue Ribbon Task Force is responsible for deciding which proposal for marine protected areas will be recommended for final approval to the California Fish and Game Commission, and it will have its first meeting in Crescent City at the Elk Valley Rancheria starting at 8 a.m..

This is the second meeting for the North Coast study region, which is the fourth of five to start the process.

“They oversee the process,” said MLPA Initiative representative Annelore Reisewitz, referring to task force members. “They are there to make sure that the process is transparent, that everyone is heard, and to bring together the diverse community interests.”

The MPA proposal for the North Coast that the task force will ultimately recommend can be generated two ways, either by the joint efforts of a stakeholder group and science advisory team, or by an organization or individual external to the MPA process.

Either way, the task force is the second-to-last hurdle before an MPA plan for the North Coast is adopted.

That already happened in one of the other regions where the MLPA process  has been completed, according to tribal representatives.

The Pomo tribe of Sonoma County lost all of its harvesting rights, which has fueled North Coast sovereign nation’s fears of a similar fate.

Three types of MPAs could be established on the North Coast.

The three levels of potential protection are primarily based on the severity of the take limit. From least restrictive to most, they include marine conservation areas, marine parks and marine reserves (which would be no-take areas).

The no-take areas are what have both the local fishing community and tribes worried about the future.

“It’s one of the largest challenges coming forward to the tribe in a really long time,” said Smith River Rancheria tribal administrator Russ Crabtree at a recent Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting. “I see this as a challenge to tribal sovereignty.”

Thursday’s meeting will also explore the science of MPAs and provide an update on public outreach and education, staffing and the 2008-2011 MLPA Initiative budget.

Public comment is welcome and people will be able to address the task force starting at 12:45 p.m.

“Time allotted for public comment is determined by the number of requests; submitting  written comments that can be easily summarized in one to two minutes is encouraged,” a MLPA Initiative press release states. “Speaker cards are requested and may be found at the entrance  to the room.”

The meeting begins at 8 a.m. and is being held in the Elk Valley Rancheria Community Center,  2332 Howland Hill Road.