Environmentalists seek support for law

Alicia Robinson

Local coastal protection activists are trying to rekindle interest in

a 1999 state marine life protection law that never fully developed.

This time around, however, they want to defuse the opposition that

helped stall earlier efforts.

The Surfrider Foundation recently began canvassing local

organizations, including the city of Newport Beach, to gather support

for the Marine Life Protection Act, which was passed by the state

Legislature in 1999 but state wildlife officials never completed

their mandated task. The law was designed to create a marine life

protection program and a master plan to improve the state’s array of

marine life protected areas.

Because of funding and staff shortages, the Department of Fish and

Game suspended the process of gathering public input and developing a

master plan for marine life protection, according to information on

the department’s website.

“The thought was that we would focus on a couple areas and do what

we do best, which is the grass roots [activity], and get some

momentum going,” said Nancy Gardner, president of the Newport Beach

chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.

When it’s fully developed, the law will standardize the state’s

system of marine protected areas instead of each community making its

own rules, Gardner said. Some of the protected areas are “no-take”

zones where marine life can’t be disturbed or removed.

This provision angered members of the commercial fishing

community, who complained in a round of public meetings after the law

was passed, Gardner said.

Orange County CoastKeeper is working with Surfrider to revive

development and enforcement of the Marine Life Protection Act, but

their efforts have been muted to avoid raising the hackles of those

who might oppose the idea of more restrictions on coastal activity.

“It’s kind of something we don’t want to talk about,” CoastKeeper

program director Randy Seton said.

Some groups are afraid to throw their support behind the effort

because they don’t want to get in the middle of a fight, he said.

Surfrider’s focus is to talk to the community first to explain how

the law can benefit everyone. Once the group has gained a wide base

of support, Gardner said, it will take that to state officials to

encourage them to force development of the Marine Life Protection

Act.

“If I know that the state is coming and the state is saying this,

I figure right off the bat I’ve got to come in with all guns

blazing,” Gardner said.

“I may be more willing to listen [and] participate when I see them

reaching out to me,” she said.

Newport Beach Mayor Tod Ridgeway said he remembers how contentious

the issue was a few years ago.

As a member of the city’s Coastal/Bay Water Quality committee,

Ridgeway heard a recent presentation by Surfrider about the effort to

bring attention to the Marine Life Protection Act. Surfrider asked

the committee to send a resolution in support of its efforts to the

City Council.

In light of past objections from the fishing community, the

committee wants to invite the community into a full dialogue before

making any recommendation to council, Ridgeway said.

“In order to be fair to the process at our committee, what we’re

going to do is try to invite the commercial fishermen in,” he said

Ridgeway expected the committee to take up the issue at a meeting

later this month or in April.

“Generally that committee is supportive of environmental issues,”

Ridgeway said. “The question is making a recommendation to the

council, will the council follow the recommendation.”