CFSB Board Meeting Minutes - April 9, 2024
Attendees: Kim Selkoe, Chris Voss, Mike Nelson, Randy Hughes, Blake Hermann, Shane Robinson, Andy Rasmussen, Harry Liquornik, Jason Woods, Jeff Hepp, Adrian Stimson, Marco Farrell, Ben Hyman, Ray Kennedy, Gary Burke, Garrett Rose, George Hawkins, Tony Luna
Notes: Ava Schulenberg
Agenda:
MPAs
AB2220 (Gillnet Phase Out/Observers)
Lobbying cost - PCFFA $6,250 6 month contract
Seasketch update
Ocean Collective
Urchin Removal Project
SpaceX update
Salmon
Sarah Schumann meeting review
Trap Cleanup this Saturday 4/13 8:30AM
More Mesa/Goleta Slough
Hope Ranch/Hendrys we are still waiting for sand to come in so we can drive trailer, more to come on the plan for that stretch soon
Other
TVSB membership renewal? $150 12 month membership
Ava being added as a signer on the US Bank account, remove Stephanie?
Operation Clean Sweep - Waterfront Dept. needs volunteers (divers specifically)
Saturday Market
Cable Grant $12,000
Nick Tharp stepping down - Board seat replacement, Jason Woods, official vote
Harry, new alternate selection (if necessary)
Chris Voss starts the meeting at 4:01PM upstairs in the harbor classroom.
Agenda:
MPAs
Blake is a commercial fisherman out of Channel Islands harbor and is here today to talk about the MPA comments submitted specifically his petition that asks for highly migratory species to be fishable in MPAs
Blake started asking questions a couple years ago, there were 21 petitions, 18 were to expand, and 3 that want to open some areas
Of the 18 petitions that want to expand, the one that will impact our fleet the most is petition 33 (based on 2016 kelp being blown out) wants to expand the point conception closure a few miles towards SB and another wants to close the whole southwest area of Santa Rosa island, also proposing a closure around Pt. Sal (north and south of the point 3 miles out), also Carp Reef would be the biggest closure in southern CA (all of Carpinteria, 3 miles out) not including the channel islands closures since those are in federal waters
Blake’s petition is about opening MPAs for highly migratory species/pelagic finfish; Believes closures should be specific to what we want to protect, not just blanket closures
All petitions were submitted in November, accepted in February and now that the commission has accepted them they’ve referred them to the department for internal review for 6-9 months and then there will be a 2 month comment period and then ultimately there is a 5 man majority vote; There is already a couple that the commission said they would cut down but changes are possible at any time
Blake’s will probably take the longest because opening anything in CA is difficult
Andy asks if this is tied to 30x30,
Kim said she heard from commission staff that they're not supposed to be filling 30x30 with this initiative but it’s up to commissioners to decide? So it’s not official, but there’s a chance that it could contribute on a case by case basis
They’re trying to create a section of petitions that are low hanging fruit that they could push through in the next 12-18 months and then there would be a 2nd phase of the more complicated petitions, but commissioners in general have said they are not trying to create new reserves but NGOs have jumped on the opportunity to submit something
Blake agrees that there’s an extremely long petition submitted just about kelp restoration
Kim asks what the revision process is?
Blake says there is currently a tentative plan for MRC meetings to take place to address problems that arise and amendments that need to be made
In regards to Carp Reef, the city of Carp has already written a letter to the commission saying that it’s a terrible ideal. That petition is the only one that had a previous petition for the same thing submitted in 2020, same group under a diff org name came to the commission and asked on the basis of great white shark nursery grounds, now they’re saying the same thing but added the elements of tribal inclusion (the group is NRDC)
Ray brings up the Gull Island reserve
Blake says that’s petition 33, the border shoots north and goes east, they want to shoot the line all the way up to the island adding about 1.5sq miles to the closure
Ray says there’s so much kelp there he drives around it and Kim says they might try to protect it for that very reason
Ray says as a fisherman of 34 years, we see cycles, when he started fishing you could walk across a kelp bed from the harbor to the wharf and these cycles are out of control
Blake says this is the largest counter argument that all fishermen are making
Ray says most fishing doesn’t even affect kelp and Blake says they’re trying to argue it gets killed in props/haulers
15% of state waters are already closed so it’s important that the Commission hears from all stakeholders against these petitions that are implying more spatial loss
Adrian asks about how kelp was addressed at the decadal review meetings last year - Chris says it was a mixed bag. The notes from these meetings can be reviewed here (search command F “kelp”).
Blake asks that when keystone petitions come up that will impact us, he will contact us
Ben says Wild Local submitted a letter of support to Blake’s petition and Blake says that was included in his petition
Marco asks where we can view all the petitions - All petitions can be viewed here (click link in far left, first column).
Gary says all highly migratory fishing gear types should be allowed in MPAs, not just harpooning (get clarity on this?)
Blake says they’re aiming
AB2220 (Gillnet Phase Out/Observers)
Lobbying cost - PCFFA $6,250 6 month contract ($25K total)
Lisa Damrosch reached out to us to contribute to their lobbying cost but Gary says there’s potentially other funds that could contribute; Gary says we should wait and see how much we get and then we will circle back with Lisa and let her know
Andy says he is committed to $500, Jeff also says he will
Gary says we’re going to meet with the analyst this Thursday at 3:30 (Jason will send the Zoom to Ava to distribute) and then we’ll have to arrange our strategy of how many people we want to testify on the 22nd; Gary plans on sending his letter specifically to all committee members
Gary says Nick Gugliemo says raise $10-15K, PCFFA said if we hire their lobbyist Andrew, they will kick in $10k, and the cable committee can contribute some extra money
We have yet to decide which lobbyist we will land on
Garrett says whoever the wetfish lobbyist is, we should use them - Chris says it’s Mark Fina
CFSB’s position is in opposition to the bill entirely
We have a draft letter of opposition that we will submit by the deadline tonight (please reach out to Ava for questions/comments)
No amendments have been made yet
Gary says observer costs of $700-800 a day will deter the state from approving this
Ray says if this bill goes through, CA seafood consumers will get their halibut and Sea Bass from where? Everyone answers in unison, Mexico
Jeff says we need to make a plan of organized attack for the Sacramento meeting
Andy says we’re on the agenda on the 4/19 meeting
Jason says what’s really scary about this is that the gillnet permits are mandated in this bill as non-transferable which sets a precedent for what’s next? Sea cucumbers? Other fisheries that are in jeopardy? We don’t want to see more permits made obsolete
Seasketch update
We’re almost done with this survey, it’s been a big success of collecting data and coming up with a process to keep it secure
We met with Ocean Rainforest (“OR”) to see what they wanted from us; We will show them a zoomed in area of the spot which is similar to the VSE spot, basically it seems like the next step is to identify the fisheries that are most impacted from that spot
OR wants to organize a stakeholder meeting to discuss ways to minimize impact of that 2000 acre zone; We haven’t gotten their final map yet
We got $24K on this and that’s helped pay for some of our staff time too
Ocean Collective
SB City College has asked us to engage a design firm (SBCC is paying for that), our MOU is being held up by us having to show SBCC we have higher insurance coverage; Boosting our policy will cost about $450
Ray makes a motion to approve this cost, Harry seconds, unanimous approval 5-0-0 vote stands
Other potential partners
Dos Pueblos Institute (owner of the ranch) is interested in helping us. She went out there with SBCC because they are interested in intertidal classes, etc. for curriculum (marine and regenerative agriculture). Kim says the owner, Roger, is very interested in being a part of the collective. We are working on figuring out whether they could accommodate boat, gear and cold storage there.
Cal State Channel Islands has reached out with great interest. We are working on helping them get a grant from a Cal State funding source to run a workshop about curriculum development
UCSB also invited us to collaborate on a pitch to Senator Padilla’s office for federal appropriations in the millions to create a blue economy center on campus. UCSB has a building it needs to finish up with the funds, and would house blue tech research like bioplastics but also engage our industry on research like kelp restoration.
We put in a letter of support but have no idea if they will get the funding.
We’ve also been offered the opportunity to collaborate on putting together a UCSB summer symposium focused on coastal fisheries and climate change.
Kim’s goal is to make sure fisheries careers are incorporated above all else
Shane says this whole “blue economy” hasn’t done anything for fishermen and we shouldn’t be a part of it
Ray says you have to consider what they’re offering and consider our involvement which is critical as our representation is already minimal across the board
Urchin Removal Project
Kim submitted a 1 page proposal to a philanthropist and they’re reviewing it in efforts to replicate what they’ve done on the north coast with the Nature Conservancy at Noyo harbor, Albion, and Ft Bragg to pay commercial Divers to remove urchin and monitor for kelp growth on these urchin barrens
It’s moving along well; Kim met with Rincon consulting whos doing the abalone planting and they gave some good advice
Kim wants everyone to know that this is going on and if you want to help guide site selection (1 at the islands, 1 on the coast), please reach out to Kim or Ava directly
This whole project is a nod against the MPA expansion petitions because this approach will help restore kelp concerns without having to add another MPA
SpaceX update
We submitted a letter of opposition against the number of launches and we feel we should track this carefully
Harry says if they’re private launches they have to pay
Chris says that it’s a mix of military incorporation for launching and Elon Musk’s private launching for Starlink
Harry asks Garrett what impacts he’s seeing
Garrett says he’s been kicked out a bunch
Harry says he should find the rundown of the launch schedule; Garrett says it’s complicated because sometimes they’ll clear an area and then not even launch, it’s very frustrating
Ben says ask Steve Escobar because he might get kicked out of there too
Garrett says guys from Avila are most affected
Jeff says it will impact salmon
NOAA boats are going out there - Jeff says his dad’s old crew guy’s son runs it
The Commission has already responded to our letter with an addendum which is a good sign
Salmon
Ben says all of a sudden it’s become a recent priority for salmon fishermen to get paid because Newsom has been in such hot water
Ben says there’s 3 alternatives:
Alternative 1 4500 fish, no more than 40 fish a week, it takes 87 fishermen catching 40 fish to kill the quota, so a max a trawler could make is 80 fish a season which doesn’t even cover costs
Alternative 2 is worse, 3500 fish no more than 30 a week, 60 fish total for the season
Alternative 3 is the best option of complete closure of the season, we don’t want breadcrumbs
Apparently processors will get 43 cents a pound for every pound of salmon they purchased over the past couple years (this is a rumor, not sure how much exactly)
Ben says another rumor is that salmon fisherman might get an average of 5 years but not confirmed
Ben says we’ll get a final answer on the 11th, so more to come soon
In CA, in-port management is not up to par, so it behooves us to close it completely
Jeff brings up the truck that got tossed over and salmon died and some escaped into the wrong river
Sarah Schumann meeting review (if you are interested in contacting Sarah, please do so directly at [email protected])
Sarah/her org, Fishery Friendly Climate Action Campaign have no funding, some of their researchers have been funded by sea grant
It will be impossible to self fund our own energy transition so we need to be strategic about where we get funding from
Fishing industry is not cookie cutter, it's difficult to adapt
Need a fully developed menu of options for fishermen to choose from
Need outreach and education, demonstration projects
Props are probably the lowest hanging fruit in terms of easy optimization; Andy says he's getting a new prop in a couple days and they are 10-20% better so it's much more efficient; Sarah says if fishermen could get some kind of prop consultation and funding for a prop replacement, it's a very easy way to make your vessel more efficient
Andy says we should look into grant money to fund this through CFSB, maybe look into inflation reduction act
Sarah says look into FEF or other funding like that because DERA and other aforementioned won't fund this
Prop prices range
Toroidal props?
Kim and Ava will look into grants for this like Carl Moyer, SB County Fish & Commission (Jeff Maassen is on the board), Air resources board?
Trap Cleanup this Saturday 4/13 8:30AM in partnership with Channelkeeper
More Mesa/Goleta Slough
Weather dependent, we don’t want more than 10 knots it will be a nightmare so we are going to wait until Thursday to make the call
Chris actually won’t be able to come but Ben says he can help if Chris can’t
Ben says we can use his flatbed truck too
Hope Ranch/Hendrys we are still waiting for sand to come in so we can drive trailer, more to come on the plan for that stretch soon
Ray says we can access the east point but can’t bring trailer, have to use his truck and maybe a couple other trucks that are 4WD (Randy says he can help)
Ava will help plan this for May
On a separate note, Ray talked with David Coats who is a new warden, he says it’s a felony to harvest trap tags and CDFW will not take it lightly if people are caught
Ray says David might come and speak at a meeting; We might want to utilize his expertise
Other
TVSB membership renewal? $150 12 month membership
Ray makes a motion to approve this cost, Harry seconds, unanimous approval 5-0-0 vote stands
Harry approves CFSB to pay this and then for the Sat Market board to make a decision separately
Ava/Chris being added as a signer on the US Bank account, remove Stephanie?
Ray makes a motion for Ava and Chris to be a signer and to remove Stephanie Mutz, who is no longer a member of CFSB,
Harry seconds the motion, unanimous approval 5-0-0 vote stands
Ava will bring these minutes to the bank to show this has been approved
If there’s no limit, add Harry
Operation Clean Sweep - Waterfront Dept. needs volunteers (divers specifically)
Chris Voss will volunteer to help move garbage from dock to the dumpster, boat can be used as well with the hoist system
Harry will ask around the diving community
Jeff will ask Henry if he can dive
Adrian will help but is not able to dive
Saturday Market
Cable Grant $12,000
This money is intended to use for a new market manager and for marketing/advertising purposes; We will have another separate meeting to discuss how this money will be used
Shane asks why Ava is stepping down from this role
Ava has to focus on other responsibilities in her Assistant Director role (e.g. advocacy, grants, etc.) and does not have the bandwidth to still manage the market and there is a woman named Milan who has expressed interest in taking over the role
CFSB expressed gratitude to Jeff and Gary and everyone the Cable Committee for this grant
Nick Tharp stepping down - Board seat replacement, Jason Woods, official vote
Harry, new alternate selection (if necessary)
Shane Robinson will be Harry’s new board member
Jason runs a 22ft Anderson out of Oxnard and he sells at the Ventura Market since 2002
Ray makes a motion to make Jason an official board member, Harry seconds, unanimous approval 5-0-0 vote stands; Jason accepts
Ava will update the website per these changes accordingly
Chris Voss ends the meeting at 5:59PM.