[CINC] Sanctuary News Clips

Tue Jan 20 16:33:24 PST 2009

Hello CINC Volunteers!
The following sanctuary news clips were compiled for our Sanctuary Advisory Council and I thought you might be interested in seeing coverage about our management plan and some other issues related to the sanctuary. 
I am looking forward to seeing you at our meeting next week on Tuesday, 1/27.
Cheers,
Shauna Bingham

Stories Included:
1.  New management plan released for Channel Islands Sanctuary 
2.  Sanctuary plan finally released 
3.  Planning the marine sanctuary's future 
4.  New rules made for Channel boaters 
5.  Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Regulations 
6.  Senate Passes Lautenberg Measure on Ocean Acidification 
7.  NOAA Grants Endangered Species Status to Black Abalone 
8.  Company wants to use ocean waves to produce electricity

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1.  New management plan released for Channel Islands Sanctuary

Santa Maria Times
CENTRAL COAST  NEWS
http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2009/01/18/news/centralcoast/news11.txt

January 18, 2009
By Times Staff

An updated management plan for the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary that has been a decade in the making was released Friday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The sanctuary, known for its rich diversity of marine life, extends six miles offshore from each of five islands in the Santa Barbara Channel, encompassing about 1,470 square miles.

The new plan, which is several hundreds pages long, changes some regulations to clarify and strengthen protections for the sanctuary’s marine habitats, water quality, sensitive species and subsea cultural and historic resources.

“We developed the new management plan with extensive community involvement, and we are proud that it charts a forward-looking course to protect the sanctuary’s rich marine ecosystems while allowing compatible, sustainable human uses,” said sanctuary superintendent Chris Mobley.

One of the local organizations that has worked closely with NOAA since it began updating the plan in the late 1990s is the Environmental Defense Center in Santa Barbara.

“Overall, we’re basically really pleased that NOAA finally released its long overdue update to the management plan,” said Shiva Polefka, marine conservation analyst for EDC.

“The new plan incorporates a vastly improved body of scientific knowledge” about the marine sanctuary, he added. “It represents quite a bit of promise for significantly improved management of the sanctuary.”

According to NOAA, the new plan includes changes aimed at:

protecting natural ecosystems from non-native species;

protecting the area’s water quality by prohibiting harmful vessel discharges;

prohibiting discharges from outside the sanctuary that enter and damage its resources;

improving habitat protection by limiting or prohibiting activities that affect the sea floor.

The plan is available online at www.channelislands.noaa.gov or by calling the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary at (805) 884-1464.

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2.  Sanctuary plan finally released

By record Staff
http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles/2009/01/18/news/centralcoast/news06.txt

An updated management plan for the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary that has been a decade in the making was released Friday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The sanctuary, known for its rich diversity of marine life, extends 6 miles offshore from each of five islands in the Santa Barbara Channel, encompassing about 1,470 square miles.

The new plan, which is several hundreds pages long, changes some regulations to clarify and strengthen protections for the sanctuary’s marine habitats, water quality, sensitive species and subsea cultural and historic resources.

“We developed the new management plan with extensive community involvement, and we are proud that it charts a forward-looking course to protect the sanctuary’s rich marine ecosystems while allowing compatible, sustainable human uses,” said sanctuary superintendent Chris Mobley.

One of the local organizations that has worked closely with NOAA since it began updating the plan in the late 1990s is the Environmental Defense Center in Santa Barbara.

“Overall, we’re basically really pleased that NOAA finally released its long overdue update to the management plan,” said Shiva Polefka, marine conservation analyst for EDC.

“The new plan incorporates a vastly improved body of scientific knowledge” about the marine sanctuary, he added. “It represents quite a bit of promise for significantly improved management of the sanctuary.”
According to NOAA, the new plan includes changes aimed at:

protecting natural ecosystems from non-native species;

protecting the area’s water quality by prohibiting harmful vessel discharges;

prohibiting discharges from outside the sanctuary that enter and damage its resources;

improving habitat protection by limiting or prohibiting activities that affect the sea floor.

The plan is available online at www.channelislands.noaa.gov or by calling the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary at 884-1464.

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3.  Planning the marine sanctuary's future

SCOTT STEEPLETON, NEWS-PRESS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
January 17, 2009 12:00 AM
http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=LOCAL&ID=565510317375881274

A final management plan for Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary was released Friday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

Designated in 1980 to protect marine resources around the islands off the coasts of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, the 1,470-square-mile sanctuary is managed by the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. 

The plan released Friday is the first major update of the original master plan from 1983. 
Officials call it a five- to 10-year road map for management intended to help achieve the goals of the sanctuary "using the best means available." 

Goals of the plan include additional multicultural education regarding the sanctuary, which encompasses Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel and Santa Barbara islands. In 2008 a program called Multicultural Education for Resource Issues Threatening Oceans earned a Department of Commerce silver medal for its bilingual outreach program for Latinos through programs such as Multicultural Education for Resource Issues Threatening Oceans. In 2008, MERITO earned a Department of Commerce silver medal for its bilingual outreach program for Latinos. 

Also included in the plan is the completion of a new sanctuary office building and education center at UCSB, "the monitoring and inventorying maritime heritage resource sites and 'greening' sanctuary operations," according to a statement. 

"We developed the new management plan with extensive community involvement," sanctuary superintendent Chris Mobley. "We are proud that it charts a forward-looking course to protect the sanctuary's rich marine ecosystems while allowing compatible, sustainable human uses." 

Some aspects of the plan don't involve regulating human activity, while others are aimed at clarifying and strengthening protections for marine habitats, sensitive species, water quality and submerged cultural and historical resources, officials said. 

Some of these changes include: 
• protecting natural ecosystems from the introduction of non-native species 
• protecting the area's water quality by prohibiting harmful vessel discharges 
• prohibiting discharges beyond the boundary of the sanctuary that enter and damage the sanctuary's resources 
• improving habitat protection by limiting or prohibiting activities that affect the sea floor. 

Drafted after years of study and public input, the plan also calls for aerial monitoring of sanctuary resources and "studying the social and biological effects of marine reserves." 

Copies of the plan are available at www.channelislands.noaa.gov or by calling 884-1464. 

e-mail: ssteepleton at newspress.com

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4.  New rules made for Channel boaters
First plan since '83 tackles issues

By Zeke Barlow (Contact)
Saturday, January 17, 2009
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/jan/17/new-rules-made-for-channel-boaters/
(also audio podcast online)

Much has changed in the natural world since the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary last drafted a management plan in 1983.

Invasive species that can alter the environment are more of an issue. Whales dying from ship strikes in the Santa Barbara Channel have became a huge concern. And then there are global warming, aquaculture, sewage discharge and myriad other challenges that have come up in the 26 years since the last plan was drafted.

A new plan, released Friday, addresses those issues and others that may pop up in the oversight of the 1,470 square miles of protected area that circle the Channel Islands.

“It’s a blueprint for how we manage the sanctuary for the foreseeable future,” said Sanctuary Manager Chis Mobley. “Since it hadn’t been done since 1983, a lot of effort went into engaging the public about what we want to do in the future.”

Though much of the document offers loose guidelines on future management — such as expanding education, restoring ecosystems and promoting more science — there are some concrete changes that affect boaters motoring or sailing through the channel.

A new regulation clarifies that any discharge of untreated sewage in the sanctuary is prohibited. Mobley said a number of boats that can carry up to 30 people only have sewage storage, not treatment capabilities, onboard.

Untreated sewage can cause marine mammals to become ill and lead to algal blooms in the ocean, which can decrease oxygen levels in the sea.

Another new regulation doesn’t allow large ships to dump gray water stored in the ballast into the sanctuary for fear it could contain exotic species such as zebra mussels.

One thing not addressed in the report is if the sanctuary could expand its boundaries in the future. But Mobley said given current financial issues, it’s a challenge to manage the existing sanctuary.

“Given that reality, we are not in a big hurry to change our boundaries,” he said.

The document also details plans for a new headquarters, which will be built in about a year on the UC Santa Barbara campus. The university also is constructing a new building, the Outreach Center for Teaching Ocean Science, which will be next to the sanctuary’s new headquarters.

On the Net

http://channelislands.noaa.gov

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5.  Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Regulations

Rotor News
Posted on Friday, January 16, 2009
http://www.rotor.com/Default.aspx?tabid=510&newsid905=60477 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published a rule to finalize the regulations for the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (Sanctuary). The regulations were revised to implement prohibitions on: Exploring for, developing, or producing minerals within the Sanctuary; abandoning matter on or in Sanctuary submerged lands; marking, defacing, damaging, moving, removing, or tampering with Sanctuary signs, monuments, boundary markers, or similar items; operating motorized personal watercraft within waters of the Sanctuary that are coextensive with the Channel Islands National Park, among other revisions. 

The revised terms take effect and become final after a review period of forty-five days of continuous session of Congress beginning on January 16, 2009.

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6.  Senate Passes Lautenberg Measure on Ocean Acidification
Bi-Partisan Bill Would Focus Research on Acidification Threatening Oceans, Marine Life

http://www.politickernj.com/paganm/26644/senate-passes-lautenberg-measure-ocean-acidification
By Michael Pagan 

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Legislation authored by Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) to focus research on rising ocean acidity passed the Senate yesterday.  Ocean acidification harms marine life and poses serious risks to the fishing industry. 
"Ocean acidification is a serious threat to our environment and to our marine life," said Sen. Lautenberg.  "Changes in ocean chemistry, caused by greenhouse gases, will affect our food supply and the health of our oceans.  But research on ocean acidification is still in its infancy.  My legislation would provide the needed research to analyze and address the environmental and economic impacts of ocean acidification."

Increased carbon dioxide emissions are causing oceans to become more acidic.  Ocean acidity has increased 30 percent in the last 100 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  NOAA also projects that, by the end of this century, current levels of carbon dioxide emissions would result in the lowest levels of ocean pH in 20 million years.

Oceans require a balanced pH to maintain water quality favorable to marine life.  If oceans become too acidic, the shells of scallops, clams, crabs, plankton, corals and other marine life begin to dissolve.  In New Jersey, sea scallops and clams are some of the state's most valuable fisheries, valued at $121 million, according to NOAA.

Sen. Lautenberg's bill, the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2007 (FOARAM), would require a committee of federal agencies led by NOAA to coordinate research and monitoring of acidification of our oceans, develop a national plan to assess the environmental and economic impacts, and recommend solutions.  The measure would also establish an ocean acidification program in NOAA - the federal agency with primary responsibility for preserving the health of our oceans and marine life.

The legislation just approved by the Senate is based on a bill from last Congress sponsored by Sen. Lautenberg and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and is co-sponsored by Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), John Kerry (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA).  
The bill has received support from environmental and conservation groups including the Marine Conservation Biology Institute, Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Marine Fish Conservation Network, the Climate Institute, Environmental Defense, Gulf Restoration Network, Ocean Conservancy, Coastal States Organization, Oceana, Surfrider Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, and World Wildlife Fund.

The bill is also supported by the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) representing 95 academic institutions and universities; the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) - the world's largest professional organization devoted to the study of aquatic science; and the National Association of Marine Laboratories (NAML) representing about 120 coastal, ocean, and Great Lakes laboratories.

In 2007, Sen. Lautenberg authored a provision in the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill to direct funds to the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study of the acidification of the oceans and how this process affects the United States.  Sen. Lautenberg has also authored provisions to research and protect deep sea corals, another habitat threatened by ocean acidification.  Those provisions became law in January 2007 as part of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006.

The measure now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration. 

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MICHAEL PAGAN can be reached via email at Michael_Pagan at Lautenberg.Senate.Gov. 

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7.  NOAA Grants Endangered Species Status to Black Abalone 
Agency also Seeks Public Input Relevant in Designating Critical Habitat 

January 14, 2009
[press release]

NOAA’s Fisheries Service today determined black abalone, an edible marine mollusk, should be listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The ruling takes effect on Feb. 13, and comes one year after the fisheries service proposed to list the species. 
Black abalone
High resolution (Credit: NOAA)

Once harvested for food, black abalone were plentiful in intertidal waters along the Pacific coast. The species was harvested early in California’s history by native Americans and peaked as a commercial fishery in the state in the 1970s. The state of California closed commercial and recreational harvesting of black abalone in 1993.

Since the 1980s, black abalone abundance has plummeted primarily from a bacterial disease known as withering syndrome. The spread of the disease may have been exacerbated by warmer coastal waters caused by factors such as long- and short-term changes in climate or from the warm water effluent of power plants. Other factors that may have led to the rapid population decline are historical overfishing, and poaching. 
Coupled with the listing decision, NOAA’s Fisheries Service is also soliciting comments and information relevant to the designation of critical habitat for black abalone. 

Public comments on black abalone critical habitat may be submitted by: 
Webform at the Federal Rulemaking Portal 
Fax:     562-980-4027, Attn: Melissa Neuman 
Mail: Chief Protected Resources Division, NOAA’s Fisheries Service Southwest Region, 501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213

View the final rule (Click on "View regular filing documents" and scroll down to NOAA).

Reference materials regarding this determination. 

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources. 

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8.  Company wants to use ocean waves to produce electricity

By Scott Hadly
Sunday, January 4, 2009

A Washington state company has asked federal regulators for a permit to study the potential of producing electricity from ocean waves five to 10 miles off the Ventura coast.

Greys Harbor Ocean Energy applied for a permit in October from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a first step in what would be a multi-year process.

Although the permit simply gives the company the right to study the area, if it is approved the company would also get priority for use of the wave and wind "field" in that location, according to officials with the federal agency.

Modeled after a wave energy facility being built off the United Kingdom coast, the Ventura Ocean Energy Project, as it is called, would also include a wind power component, according to the company's president, Burton Hamner.

Hamner said the site could produce up to 1,000 megawatts of power, although the permit indicates the Ventura project would produce about 100 megawatts during peak winter storm periods and average about 40.

What is being considered by the company is an offshore platform fixed to the ocean floor that holds an "oscillating water column." The up and down action of the waves pushes air back and forth and drives a turbine that generates electricity.

Wind turbines would augment power production. The electricity produced would be conveyed via cables on the sea floor that would come ashore near Ventura, Hamner said.

There are areas off the Channel Islands as well as just north of Point Conception that produce much larger waves and more wind, according to the Community Environmental Council in Santa Barbara. But the area identified by Hamner off Ventura is ideal because of the depth and its proximity to a city power grid.

The cost of building such facilities isn't cheap but is competitive with construction costs of nuclear power plants or clean coal power plants, Hamner said.
"Using the numbers from construction in the U.K. as a rule of thumb, their costs are about $5 million per megawatt installed," he said. "That's everything, soup to nuts."

Using his formula, the Ventura project would cost about $500 million.

In October, the company asked for permits in six other locations on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, he said. Those sites include an area off and just north of San Francisco as well as sites off Hawaii, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey.

According to Hamner, if all seven sites were developed, they could produce up to 7,700 megawatts of power, enough for 2 million homes.

Building the facilities would cost from $20 billion to $30 billion, the company estimates.

The company, formed last year, is not currently producing any power but is building a demonstration project off of Tacoma.  A public comment period on the project goes until the end of January, according to Celeste Miller of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Those comments can be made online or through the mail. To view the proposal, go to: http://graysharboroceanenergy.com/Project%20Site%20Files/GHOEC%20Project%20Site%20Ventura.htm.

To view the notice and comment go to http://ferc.gov/industries/hydropower/indus-act/hydrokinetics/permits-pending.asp. 

To comment by mail, send letters to Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St. NE, Washington, D.C. 20426.

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