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Birth of a Marine Reserve
| by joey racano Special to Blue Edge A funny thing happened on the way to shoot Geese last year on the Morro Bay Estuary; a Marine Reserve was born. Well, of course it sounds weird- and it gets weirder; read on. As you've probably heard by now, Gov. Schwarzenegger, his powerful Ocean Protection Council, the Fish and Game Commission and the California Department of Fish and Game are in the process of creating a network of Marine Protected Areas up and down the coast of California. The idea is to allow now-depleted marine organisms to recover by setting aside areas where 'take' (killing) is a no-no. But because of the political punch packed by sportsman, one of the most important areas of all was going to get passed over for the protections it deserved- Morro Bay National Estuary. Seems the Black Brandt Hunting Club was afraid to lose their annual hunt on the estuary and so Fish and Game Commissioners were hesitant to create an 'SMR', or, State Marine Reserve, there. An SMR carries with it the highest level of protection possible, where no 'take' at all is permitted. Enter 30 of the most savvy environmental groups in San Luis Obispo County, collectively known as the SLO Coast Alliance. They and the hunting group put differences aside long enough to sign onto a letter together that won over the Fish and Game Commissioners, creating what could turn out to be the most important Marine Protected Area in the State- the Morro Bay East Estuary State Marine Reserve. Why so important? Remember the old saying, 'location, location, location'? Well, this location turns out to be a doozy! Keeping in mind that the Master Plan of Marine Protected Areas says no 'take' is allowed in an SMR, and that 'Take' is not limited to fishing, but also includes Sewage Discharge and Cooling Intakes of Power Plants, and this one's got 'em all. This could spell the end of operation of the Morro Bay Power Plant, because it has conclusively been shown* the cooling intake they use destroys between 17-33% of the estuary's larvae, a clear violation of the SMR. And just to show the wide reach of the SMR, all waterways in the watershed (aka: the Estero Bay Hydrologic Unit') lead into two creeks, Chorro Creek and Los Osos Creek- and both of those empty into the SMR! This may eventually force all development and agriculture within a 75 square mile area to bring silt, sedimentation and runoff under control. The process is so new that regulatory responsibilities are still being sorted out, and MPA's are just now being drafted for the North Coast before the process moves down south. But here on the Central Coast, the new State Marine Reserve in Morro Bay East Estuary is being viewed as the litmus test. As for the unlikely cooperation between hunters and environmental groups that made this all happen, I guess it is possible to have principled compromise without compromising your principles! The first set of MPA's took effect on the Central Coast on September 21st. joey racano *Calif Energy Commission Staff IEPR Report on Once Through Cooling, 2005 |
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