There does not seem to be anything pacific about the oceans off of Southern California anymore. There is currently a battle being waged over how marine reserves are going to be established along the California coast. The competing interests from seaside companies, fishermen and environmentalists are muddying the waters.

The difficulty in this task became especially evident on Thursday, which was when the panel needed to puts its recommendation off until next the month regarding the preference for three different hotly debated plans that the Fish and Game Commission in California is waiting on regarding Marine Protected Area development located in Southern California.

Stretching from the Mexican border up to Point Conception which is located northwest of the Los Angeles area, this 250 mile long coastline is a combination of scenic coastline and urbanized coastline, and it embraces reefs and islands in waters that are prized for many purposes including research, conservation, fishing and recreation.

Chairwoman on the panel, Catherine Reheis-Boyd has said that she knows what the law states, but also the human's side of things as well. Dozens of interested parties appeared at the beginning of this hearing. After spending seven hours listening to the comments made on different elements of the plan as well as possible alterations of the plan, the panel has decided to put the decision off until November 10. Catherine Reheis-Boyd said that the preferred alternative ultimately could simply be a combination between different plans.

Environmentalists have ultimately come up with the most restrictive of all the plans, while the industry regarding fishing on the other hand is reluctantly backing a proposal that is viewed as moderating the impact on the economy. There was a third plan, as well, which was considered to be in the middle between the two.

There are hundreds of people that have a stake in this decision and all of them packed into some rather lengthy meetings that led up to the point of the decision. The decision is likely going to be affirmed when the process goes to commission in the month of December.

Some have feared that there would be extensive fishing bans, and that these bans would lead to serious consequences financially for sport fishing operators and commercial fishermen, harbor businesses as well as the tourist industry.

Environmentalists have been pushing for more stringent protections in order to protect the recent decline of hard pressured species. These environmentalists have argued that the Marine Protected Areas concept has already proven to be successful in other places in the world, and that it ultimately benefits fishing.

Differences in all of the plans have appeared small at first, but according to a representative from the fishing industry, some of the locations are going to be so significant that there will be a huge impact by making them completely off limits. All of this controversy is stemming from the Marine Life Protection Act of 1999 in the state, finding that protected areas that existed already had been established without a sound amount of scientific guidelines.

Photo Credits: Nicola Corboy

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