Alaska weighs in on new federal oceans policy

With the world's oceans facing mounting threats from pollution, climate change and overfishing, the Obama administration held the first of several public hearings intended to help it draft a coordinated policy for managing the health of the seas.

During their stop in Alaska, members of the White House's Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force said they expected to have a list of priorities for improving ocean stewardship in place by mid-September. By December, officials said, they planned to set out a broad strategy for sustainably allocating natural resources among interests such as fishing, oil and gas development, shipping, wind and tidal energy, boating and wildlife preservation.

“In every ... ocean around the world, over-exploitation has led to widespread depletion and disruption, often despite good intentions,” said Jane Lubchenko, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is part of the task force.

“This is not to say we can't use the ocean,” she said. “We need to be able to use it. Just not use it up.”

New Fish and Game Commission member to vote on marine protection

On the eve of a key vote on protections for fish, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed a new member of the Fish and Game Commission, the five-member state board charged with mapping out protected areas under the 1998 Marine Life Protection Act. The government's decision to appoint Donald Benninghoven on Tuesday afternoon followed the resignation of the commission's president, Cindy Gustafson, on Friday morning.

Gustafson resigned after receiving notice from the state attorney general that her new position as general manager of the Tahoe City Public Utilities District, a local water authority, constituted a conflict of interest.

Environmental groups had voiced their support for Benninghoven's appointment, worrying that Gustafson's resignation would result in a 2-2 tie over proposed marine protections from San Mateo to Point Arena.

"Given the gravity of the votes this week, the governor's office acted quickly and was responsive," said Adrianna Shea, deputy executive director for the Fish and Game Commission.

Benninghoven served from 2007 to 2009 on the state's Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Marine Life Protection Act. On Wednesday, he will sit on the commission as it reviews the task force's recommendations on the location and strength of protections in marine areas.

The plan to establish a network of protected marine areas has been the subject of contentious debate among fishermen, conservationists and other interested parties. Conservationists say protecting certain areas is the only way to rejuvenate declining fish populations, while recreationists want to fish and boat where they please. Marine reserves have already been established in other parts of the state.

Shea said Benninghoven is "very well-versed" on marine protected areas and the Marine Life Protection Act. On other upcoming issues, she said, the commission will be "getting him caught up as quickly as we can."

--Amy Littlefield

Arctic protections proposed in legislation

There is perhaps no starker messenger of climate change than the Arctic, where an alarming reduction in the once-perpetual ice pack has opened a Pandora's box of dangers and opportunities.

Polar bears are finding themselves stranded at sea. Walruses, having to search farther for food, are falling victim to wolves and polar bears. Oil and gas development is expanding. And the newly navigable waters have opened the Arctic seas for the first time to the possibility of tourism, shipping and perhaps even commercial-scale fishing.

In an attempt to head off drastic and devastating consequences before it's too late, as well as to capture the economic potential of the Arctic where practical, U.S. Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) introduced a package of seven bills in Congress on issues in the Arctic that include oil exploration, health and diplomacy.

The proposed legislation would, among other things, coordinate the many tentacles of scientific research underway in the Arctic, set up a U.S. ambassador to the Arctic, build new operating bases for the Coast Guard and work on improving the know-how for cleaning up oil spills in inpenetrable icy waters.

"Today in the Arctic, the sea ice is melting so fast most of it could be gone in 30 years," Begich said in a Senate floor speech. "The implications of that loss are enormous. Devastating for species such as the polar bear, walrus and seals, which depend on ice for their very survival. Life-altering for Arctic residents who have depended on marine mammals for their nutritional and cultural needs for thousands of years. Literally earth-shattering for entire Alaskan Arctic communities, which are being wiped away by erosion and thawing permafrost.

"When this global air conditioner is knocked off kilter, it accelerates climatic changes we are already witnessing around the globe that neither science nor our political systems can stop."

California pressures EPA on sewage rules for ships

Ever wonder where the human waste from the hundreds of cruise ships entering California waters each year ends up?

Raw sewage can be dumped anywhere outside of three nautical miles from shore. But minimally treated waste can be dumped even closer.

Now, California legislators are nudging the Environmental Protection Agency forward on a measure that would tighten regulation on dumping human waste from cruise ships and other ocean-going vessels off California's coast.

In a letter submitted this week to EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, members of Congress from California asked the federal agency to approve a 2006 state application to prevent dumping of any sewage from large ships within three nautical miles of the California coast.

A cruise ship discharges enough sewage every week to fill several swimming pools, said Marcie Keever, director of the clean vessels campaign for the San Francisco-based environmental group Friends of the Earth.

California may crack down on poachers

California may be cracking down on poaching.

The state Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved AB 708, a bill that would set a mandatory minimum fine for some poaching violations, including hunting protected birds or hunting over the limit or out of season. The mandatory minimum fine for a first offense would be $5,000 for anyone illegally taking or trading amphibians, birds, fish, mammals or reptiles. The bill has already passed in the Assembly.

"Poaching is completely out of control in California," said Dan Taylor, director of public policy at Audubon California. Poaching violations rose to 17,840 in California in 2007, up from 6,538 in 2003. Fishing violations also rose from 8,001 in 2003 to 15,892 in 2007. Taylor said the current penalties are not strict enough to discourage people from poaching.

Cases of "extreme" poaching spiked in 2008, according to the California Department of Fish and Game. That year, a man in Gilroy was found with 335 dead birds, a Tuolumne County man was found with the scattered remains of an estimated 26 deer in his home, and two men in Monterey County were arrested for poaching 66 abalone.  

The bill weathered some adjustments in committee.  But Taylor said he remains "satisfied" and hopes it will pass the full Senate this summer. 

-- Amy Littlefield

Photo: Mallards are among the birds that have been affected by poaching in California. Credit: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Mussel plague on Lake Tahoe?

 

Conservationists believe an invasion may be coming that could change the ecology of Lake Tahoe forever.

Quagga and zebra mussels, which cluster onto boats, piers, old boots, beer cans, or anything else that lingers in the water, have infested lakes and reservoirs in California and across the West. A single quagga or zebra mussel lays 1 million eggs a year, so once one creature gets into the lake, "it's all over," said Michael Donahoe, conservation co-chair at the Tahoe Area Sierra Club. The mussels clog boat engines and gobble up fish food, and their razor-sharp shells can cut the feet of unsuspecting beachgoers. 

Conservation groups filed an injunction on Thursday against additional pier and boat ramp construction on the lake, saying that increased boating would drive up the number of potential hosts for the menacing mussels.

No quagga or zebra mussels have been spotted in the lake, said Sierra Club's Ron Grassi, a volunteer boat inspector. But Grassi said he believes a contaminated boat will likely get past inspectors this summer. The mussels latch onto boats, kayaks, wet suits, and other gear, so recreationists could unknowingly transport them.

Boat inspectors check motor boats at launch sites for the tiny larvae, but Grassi says illegal launchers and non-motorized boats escape inspection.

On the busy Fourth of July weekend, Grassi said Friday, boats are lining up 30-deep to get into the water at designated launch points.

Fearing the invasion, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power banned recreational watercraft on Klondike Lake in the Owens Valley in May.

But the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is expanding the lake's boating capacity by permitting the construction of 128 private piers and six boat ramps as part of the Shorezone ordinance passed in October  2008. 

-- Amy Littlefield

Photo: A paddle steamer carries tourists across Lake Tahoe's Emerald Bay. Credit: Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times

Whale-watching a boon for California -- and for whales?

Is whale-watching a recreational activity or a form of protest against commercial whaling? Environmentalists say it can be both.

Whale-watching generates $82 million a year in California alone, according to a new report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare. The profitability of whale-watching provides ammo in the philosophical battle against whale hunting countries like Japan, said Patrick Ramage, IFAW Whale Program Director.

"We should be shooting whales with cameras, not harpoons," Ramage said. "Clearly, living whales in their environment are worth a lot more to us than they are dead.

In California, more than 1.3 million people went on whale- or dolphin-watching expeditions in 2008, according to the report. On the sale of tickets for whale-watching boats alone, California generates more than $14 million a year. The number rises to $82 million when IFAW adds in expenses like hotel stays and food. Whale-watching expeditions now sally forth from shores in 119 countries worldwide, employing 13,500 people, Ramage said.

Only Japan, Iceland, and Norway still permit whale hunting. Their practices are currently under discussion at the International Whaling Commission meeting, which ends Friday in Portugal. More than 80 countries are meeting to determine the future of the commission, which was founded to promote commercial whaling in 1946. Whale advocates will present the IFAW study to the commission and make a case for watching whales over killing them.

Whales today face indirect threats from military sonar, which can cause the animals to panic and bolt to the surface, and from entanglement in fishing gear. Whale-watching expeditions generally don't harm the whales, Ramage said, unless operators are careless and collide with the whales with their boats.

A gray whale hung around the Marina del Rey area for about three weeks, charming locals, before resuming his journey to Alaskan waters Tuesday.

--Amy Littlefield

Photo: A blue whale swims through Southern California waters. Credit: Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times

Feds plan to loosen protections on endangered sea turtles

 

Conservation groups are challenging a proposal by the National Marine Fisheries Service to allow the long-line swordfish industry near Hawaii to kill or injure almost three times as many loggerhead sea turtles as it currently ensnares in fishing lines. Swordfish lines, which stretch up to 60 miles, can ensnare and injure sea turtles and other marine creatures as they trail through the open ocean.

Fewer turtles will reach the U.S. West Coast, as a result, environmentalists warn. Loggerhead sea turtles, which journey from nests in Japan, are sometimes seen off the Southern California coast, where they feed on mollusks and crustaceans, says Andrea Treece, an attorney with San Francisco-based Center for Biological Diversity.

Leatherback sea turtles journey thousands of miles from their nesting places in Indonesia to feed on the plentiful jellyfish supply along the coast of Oregon and Northern and Central California, says Treece.

"These are turtles that we all kind of share, and root for, and care about," Treece says.

The proposal marks the next chapter in a struggle between conservation groups and long-line fishermen to sway the National Marine Fisheries Service. A lawsuit waged by environmental groups in 1999 led the Hawaii fishery to close down from 2001 to 2004. At the time, the fishery was trapping hundreds of sea turtles a year in their lines, according to Earthjustice attorney Paul Achitoff.

In 2004, the fishery reopened with new turtle-protecting regulations in place, Achitoff says. Fishermen used circular hooks and were limited in the number of times they could cast out their lines. Under the 2004 regulations, the fishery had to shut down if it caught 16 leatherbacks or 17 loggerheads. Now, proposed changes would allow the fleet to catch 46 loggerheads before shutting down, and would do away with the limit on the number of times boats could cast lines. The number of leatherbacks that could be caught would stay at 16.

Both loggerheads and leatherbacks are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Loggerheads are classified as threatened, and leatherbacks are classified as endangered.

The public has until Aug. 3 to comment on the proposed changes online here. (Note: An earlier version of this post said the deadline was Aug. 10.)

-- Amy Littlefield

Photo: A baby leatherback sea turtle crawls for the water on the Costa Rican shore. Credit: Ken Weiss/Los Angeles Times

Arctic oil and gas reserves measured by U.S. scientists

 A full 30% of the world's undiscovered gas and 13% of its undiscovered oil are estimated to be located north of the Arctic Circle, U.S. Geological Survey researchers said in a paper published today in Science magazine.

The estimate is relatively small compared with known reserves in the major oil-exporting countries, but it is likely to greatly benefit Russia, which has the largest territory in the region, the researchers found. However, they said, the most likely place for oil in the Arctic is off the shore of northern Alaska in the Chukchi Sea.

The study, presented by Donald Gautier and colleagues, is the first detailed, peer-reviewed and geologically based assessment of natural resources in that region. Most of the undiscovered oil and gas will be found underwater, on continental shelves, they found.

The estimate comes at a time when a shrinking Arctic icecap -- due to global warming -- is making exploration more feasible. Tensions have risen between nations around the Arctic Circle as to how the resources will be exploited.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has endorsed increased exploration. But conservationists warn that plunging drilling pads into the frigid Beaufort and Chukchi seas and in Bristol Bay could open the door to a catastrophic oil spill in one of the most fragile environments on Earth.

-- Margot Roosevelt

No more smoking at California's state parks and beaches?

California's Senate today passed a bill to ban smoking at state parks and beaches. It would establish a fine of up to $100 for infractions.

Senate Bill 4 now moves to the Assembly. A similar bill failed to become law in 2006.

"Our effort is not one of punishment," said Sen. Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach), who said the ban is needed to prevent wildfires and harm to marine mammals.

According to the California Department of Forestry, smoking ignites an average of 100 forest fires and destroys 3,400 acres in the state every year. Cigarettes caused the 1999 Oakland Hills fire, which destroyed 3,354 homes and 456 apartment buildings.

The Ocean Conservancy estimates that cigarette butts, which contain 165 chemicals, and other smoking-related items account for as much as 38% of debris on U.S. beaches.

More than 100 local governments in California have imposed smoking bans in parks and beaches. This week, Maine enacted a law to ban smoking at its beaches and parks.

-- Margot Roosevelt

Photo: Topanga State Beach in Malibu. Credit: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times