MONTEREY BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY
ADVISORY COUNCIL

Conservation Working Group
Meeting Minutes
March 17, 1998

Conservation Working Group (CWG) members in attendance were:  Rachel 
Saunders, Chair (Center for Marine Conservation); Vicki Nichols (Save Our 
Shores); Steve Shimek (Friends of the Sea Otter); Sally Smith (SurfriderÕs 
Foundation); Ken Lundie (Coastside Preservation and Recreation); and Scott 
Kathey and Aaron King (Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary).


I.	CWG Administration

Introductions were called for around the room by the Chair.  The Chair also 
asked that Ken and Sally, as first time CWG attendees, describe their 
backgrounds and interests in greater detail.

Ken introduced himself as the new Diving SAC Representative; He is also a 
San Francisco Firefighter; He stated that he is involved with a land trust in 
Moss Beach (Coastside Recreation and Conservation) which is involved with 
further development of the coastal trail in that area;  Ken stated that he has 
been a Diver for 35 years and use to be a commercial abalone diver; Ken said 
that he was born and raised in San Francisco, and has lived in Moss Beach for 
12 years;  Ken expressed a desire to continue coming to CWG meetings;

Sally Smith introduced herself as the new Recreational SAC Member;  She 
has been involved with SurfriderÕs Foundation for some years and is a past 
President;  Sally described herself as especially involved with the Water 
Quality testing program of SurfriderÕs;  Sally said she is a past member of the 
Board of Directors (now advisor) for the Surfers Environmental Alliance; 
Finally, Sally described herself as a new business entrepreneur, having just 
opened a new business, a surf shop for women surfers.

The Chair stated that future CWG meetings for this year would be held on 
each 3rd Tuesday of every month;  The Chair stated that she would like to 
have a meeting up in the northern part of the Sanctuary sometime, and asked 
Ken for help in setting that up with her.

II.	MBNMS Office Report

The Chair then asked Aaron to give a ManagerÕs Report - Aaron read 
highlights from the recent SAC Meeting ManagerÕs report.  See Attachment 
A.

Steve asked if the MBNMS was looking for help in consolidating data on 
water quality in the MBNMS.  Rachel gave a short explanation of what the 
Sanctuary WQPP and the Regional Water Quality Control Board in San Luis 
Obispo is doing.

III.	Sanctuary Enforcement Update and Discussion

The Chair then asked if Scott Kathey would make his requested presentation 
on MBNMS Enforcement Activities.

Scott gave a short history of the Cooperative Enforcement MOU, and who 
was the potential signatories on it, including the MBNMS, the California 
Department of Fish and Game, and the State Parks Department.  Scott stated 
that the USCG initially planned to be a signatory on the MOU, but recently 
dropped out. The reasons for USCG non-participation stem from differing 
interpretations of MBNMS prohibitions as they relate to USCG training 
exercises.  The USCG declined to sign the MOU due to provisions requiring 
USCG compliance with Sanctuary prohibitions that the USCG believes would 
compromise USCG training activities.  The USCG also did not wish to delay 
implementation of important MOU provisions between the State and 
NOAA, and requested that discussions between NOAA and the USCG be 
continued to resolve outstanding issues and pursue a bilateral agreement 
between NOAA and the USCG.  Scott stated that efforts to bring in County 
Sheriffs and Highway Patrol deputies is not out of the question, but that the 
MBNMS has received little interest from these departments to conduct 
Sanctuary enforcement; that no funding is available to expand the scope of 
the cooperative enforcement plan at the present time, and that the current 
plan should be tested with a limited number of participants in order to make 
adjustments more easily.  Scott stated his desire to expand enforcement 
participation at a future date, once any bugs in the system have been worked 
out with the CDFG and CDPR deputation.

Scott also briefly described the two enforcement boats acquired by grant funds 
from Ethical Strategies;  Scott briefly described why the MBNMS is not a direct 
recipient of these funds and that funds are going to CDFG and State Parks.

Scott then stated that while a training session was held about a week ago in 
Salinas, deputation under the Sanctuaries Act for these California Peace 
Officers will not occur until the Cooperative Enforcement MOU is signed by 
all parties.  The MOU has been signed by NOAA officials and forwarded to the 
State for final signatures.  Scott stated that he was extremely pleased with the 
turnout for the training session, and expressed his belief that the thirty State 
peace officers in attendance seemed very enthusiastic about becoming 
involved in MBNMS enforcement efforts.  A decision was made to have one 
big enforcement meeting to take advantage of the synergy created by the larger 
group.  A make-up session will be scheduled in the northern MBNMS for 
peace officers who could not attend the primary training session.  Two 
recently scheduled training sessions for State Park interpreters in the 
southern Big Sur area were canceled due to road closures from winter storms.

A question was asked if trainings are open to the public.  Scott stated that it 
was the desire of the MBNMS to keep these sessions closed to the public so 
the enforcement officials present will interact freely and to safeguard 
confidential information discussed during the course of training.

Scott then described the status and function of the two enforcement patrol 
boats purchased for CDFG under the enforcement grant from Ethical 
Strategies.  One of the boats is to be based in Santa Cruz and the other in 
Monterey, but both are able to be trailered and can be relocated quickly to 
other areas.

The conversation that followed first focused on what the general public was 
going to do in the event of witnessing a violation of the MBNMS Regs, such 
as Jet Ski violations.  Scott stated that he was working with the 911 dispatch 
offices in each County to allow MBNMS violations to be sent into them.

Scott stated that one of his top priorities at present is to complete a ÒPenalty 
Schedule" (schedule of fines) so that tickets can issued in the field.  He is 
working with NOAA General Counsel to do this.

Scott then described what happens to any fines that are collected under this 
system.  Fines will be deposited into a special SRD account which can be used 
for certain functions by the MBNMS Superintendent.

The Chair asked if the CWG could get a list of MBNMS Deputized folks and a 
finished copy of the MOU and a hierarchy chart for new CDFG Marine 
Resources region.  Scott explained that while many of these requests could 
easily and legally be filed, that committee members respect the sensitivity of 
enforcement related information (including non-confidential information) 
and only request information on a need-to-know basis.  The MBNMS office 
does not want to compromise its positive relationship with the enforcement 
community by appearing as a sieve for release of enforcement related 
information.

Hot issues that Scott expects a fully functioning MBNMS enforcement effort 
to be dealing with include Elephant seal harassment; Unlawful MPWC 
operation; Unlawful overflights (finalized agreement with FAA - WeÕre 
changing our regs to reflect the fact that flying below 1000 feet constitutes 
harassment.  Should be discussed at next SAC meeting);  Coastal disposal of 
debris; Unauthorized construction (e.g. sea walls);  Disturbance of historical 
artifacts;  Abandonment of ships;  Orphan Spills; and Collection of substrate 
for aquaria (large and small).

The Chair suggested that the CWG should have someone from CDFG Marine 
Region come to a future CWG meeting to give a presentation on the new 
CDFG Marine Region to be located at Fort Ord.

IV.	Sea Otter Recovery Team Meetings

Steve Shimek reported on developments at the Southern sea otter recovery 
team (SSORT) meeting, March 19-21.  The SSORT was convened by the 
USFWS to revise the Southern sea otter recovery plan (SSORP) as dictated by 
the ESA.  The SSORT meeting was preceded by an ad hoc meeting of 
'technical advisors'.

The technical advisors essentially churned over criteria for delisting the otter  
-- no consensus was reached.  The SSORT meeting began with presentations 
of the latest census data, followed by reports on disease and incidental 
entrapment.  SSORT consensus was that otter numbers are stable or possibly 
declining, a high incidence of disease is contributing to mortality (but there is 
no baseline data on incidence of disease), and entrapment in fish traps may be 
a very serious problem.  A 'white paper', by FSO, outlining needed sea otter 
research was presented to the Team with the recommendation that the white 
paper be incorporated into the plan.

The final Southern Sea Otter Recovery Plan will be issued sometime this 
summer.

Steve handed out a number of charts and graphs.  See Attachment B.

Suggestion that MBNMS fund heavy metal/TBT analysis in Sea Otters as part 
of its WQ program.

The Chair asked for a copy of the FSO White Paper.  Steve said he would get 
her one.  

Because of possible interactions between the Sea Otter and the live fish trap 
fishery, discussion ensued as to the need for regulation on the growing live 
fish fishery.  Lundie expressed his interest and concern for his position as the 
Diving Rep on the SAC.

V.	Issue/Program Updates

Sea Lion/Salmon Update by Aaron - Aaron briefly informed the group of the 
activities of the Pinniped/Salmon Interaction Steering Committee.  Plans are 
to have an ÒInvitational Workshop of Stake HoldersÓ on April 4 at the MBA.  
About 20 people have been invited, including about 8 environmental 
organizations, 7 fishery organizations and 5 agency/academic entities.


The meeting adjourned at 12:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,


Aaron King