issues of concern

1. Continued access to CPS resources is an ongoing issue of concern to California wetfish fishermen and processors.

– Squid - A State fishery management plan enacted in 2004 included a limited-entry provision reducing the fleet from 164 to 77 transferable permits, continued statewide weekend closures, allowing squid to spawn freely, and established a maximum cap on harvest to protect against overexploitation. In addition to these restrictions, the State is implementing a network of marine reserves as mandated in the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA). Approximately 19 percent of productive squid harvest grounds in the Channel Islands were closed in reserve in 2003; additional squid grounds are being closed on the central coast in the MLPA Initiative process, and the process returns to southern CA in 2009, where more harvest areas may be placed off-limits.

– Sardine - The issue of coastwide allocation of the sardine harvest guideline generated heated controversy with the resurgence of the sardine fishery in the Pacific northwest. In 2005 the Pacific Fishery Management Council modified the allocation framework, providing a seasonal, coastwide release of the harvest guideline. This new framework offers the possibility that the summer fishery in the Pacific northwest could pre-empt the peak season late-fall sardine harvest in California when the sardine biomass enters its natural decline and the harvest guideline is reduced. The allocation framework is subject to review in 2008.

• Sardines typically migrate northward during spring and summer, returning south in the fall. The Monterey fishery usually ramps up activity in late summer-early fall to harvest larger sardines on their southward migration, and the S.CA. fishery peak harvest occurs late-fall through winter.

• In light of the cyclical nature of wetfish resources, including squid, management strategies must be flexible to allow movement between CPS resources during their periods of abundance.

• Most CPS finfish fishermen also fish squid; however, some squid fishermen do not fish other wetfish. Variation in management options between fisheries in the wetfish complex, for example incompatibility of squid and CPS fi nfish limited entry permits regarding permit transferability, creates potential hardship for fishermen who fish both squid and CPS species on one vessel. The approval of the Market Squid FMP and limited entry program in 2004, which established guidelines for permit transferability for the active fleet, alleviated problems for most, although not all, of the active wetfish fishermen.

2. Committing adequate resources to CPS research at both the state and federal level is essential to ensure that CPS stock assessments and harvest guidelines are developed utilizing best available science.

• Comprehensive biomass surveys along the entire west coast, particularly in the northwest, are essential to measure the full extent of CPS resources, particularly sardines, as management measures and harvest guidelines are based on these assessments.

California’s wetfish industry has long supported cooperative research, and has helped substantially to fund both federal and state research efforts.

3. Efforts to implement the Marine Life Protection Act, establishing a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Channel Islands and off the California coast, pose significant restrictions on wetfish harvesting,

• No-take reserves established in prime CPS harvest grounds could exact economic harm to the wetfish industry, although migratory coastal pelagic fish resources such as sardines, mackerel and squid will not benefit measurably from these site-specific “no take” zones. Unfortunately, the policies guiding implementation of the MLPA currently do not consider existing fishery regulations. (Visit the website of the California Fisheries Coalition (http://www.cafisheriescoalition.org.) for more information on the MLPA.)

4. Coastal pelagic species such as sardines are “transboundary” stocks, migrating from Mexico to Canada during their peak periods of abundance. The California CPS fishery today is strictly managed under a conservative harvest guideline, based on the population estimated in US waters and subtracting the biomass estimated to south of the border. However, currently no such consideration or cooperation is reciprocated by Mexico.

• Cooperative tri-lateral management is essential between the US, Mexico and Canada: both to insure the long-term health of the harvestable resource and to avoid penalizing the US wetfish fishery and domestic fishermen by unilaterally reducing their share of the harvest guideline.

5. California’s wetfish industry provides substantial economic benefi ts to port cities and regions in which it operates, as well as to the State as a whole. Maintaining adequate infrastructure to foster, facilitate and expand operations is essential to the long-term viability of the wetfish industry.

• With increased population and coastal development in the Golden State, the fishing industry is engaged in a continual fight to maintain access to sufficient dock space and nearby land. Despite Coastal Commission policies giving preference to port related uses and development, accommodating harbor-related growth as a top priority, continued use of prime waterfront land and potential future expansion of the fishing industry in California is in jeopardy. For example, land adjacent to Port Hueneme was rezoned in 2006 to allow residential use, and the Port of Los Angeles is proposing to relocate the historic Fish Harbor on Terminal Island to expand container shipping. Such dislocation could potentially disrupt wetfish industry commerce.

6. The cost of doing business in California is increasing, caused in large part by an increased regulatory burden from a growing list of environmental initiatives (e.g. clean water, clean air, precautionary fishery management etc.). Despite these increased costs California’s wetfish industry must operate in a global marketplace.

• California wetfish products face competition in international markets from product produced
by countries with lower operating costs and often protected by tariff and non-trade barriers. In
domestic markets, California wetfish products compete with a flood of lower priced imported
product.

• U.S. trade policies should provide an equitable balance between “free trade” and support for U.S.
producers/exporters.