Plan extends kelp harvest ban By ANNA DAVISON Published Saturday, April 7, 2001

Supporters of the Ed F. Ricketts Marine Park were celebrating Friday after the state Fish and Game Commission agreed to curtail kelp harvesting in a broad area of the underwater park. The commission adopted a final statewide kelp management plan at the meeting, but not before hearing comments from dozens of people trying to persuade the commission to ban kelp harvesting in the park altogether. The new plan, which will be in effect for five years, prohibits harvesting in the entire Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary between April 1 and July 31. Harvesting is also banned at all times in an area from the Monterey breakwater to a line extending seaward from Chart House Restaurant on Cannery Row. The commission had been poised to adopt regulations banning harvesting from the breakwater to the vicinity of Drake Avenue, but after hearing impassioned arguments against kelp harvesting in the Cannery Row area, it extended the no-take area by 100 yards. "It was a wonderful victory," said Ed Cooper, a recreational diver and one of the original organizers of the park, which extends from the Monterey breakwater to Hopkins Marine Station. Cooper was joined at the meeting by dozens of other members of the group Friends of the Edward. F. Ricketts Marine Park - among them divers, photographers, business people, environmentalists, surfers and marine scientists. "We're not quite there yet, but it really shows the direction it's going," Cooper said as he stood surrounded by supporters waving placards that read, "Save our underwater forest" and "No kelp, no otters." "What we've got here is a group of very committed individuals," said commission president Mike Chrisman. "We heard them; we really did." Though some who attended the meeting were disappointed that the commission didn't declare the entire park a no-harvest area, others were pleased that the commission expanded the no-take area at the last minute. They said the change was a victory against what they see as a powerful proharvest lobby comprised of businesses - which take the kelp to extract alginate, used as a stabilizer in everything from paint to party dip - and abalone farmers, who depend on harvested kelp to feed the shellfish. But abalone farmers said they're just earning a living. "We're the center of the abalone industry, and we should be allowed to survive," said Joe Cavanaugh, founder of Monterey Abalone Company. He said the problem is the perception that harvesters are stripping kelp beds bare. "People think the kelp forest is being clear-cut. This is a sustainable resource, and each year it's being renewed," Cavanaugh said. Speakers at the meeting stressed the importance of kelp as a habitat for countless creatures. Jim Curland, a spokesman for the national organization Defenders of Wildlife, said he was particularly concerned that the harvest endangers sea otters. "They use it as nursery grounds; they use it as foraging grounds," he said. Others talked about the economic value of the intact kelp in terms of tourism dollars. "People come to Monterey to see the sea otters," said Berkley White, a spokesman for the Cannery Row Business Association. "If the (kelp) canopy isn't there, the otters aren't there. ... Our bottom line is dependent on that area." Opponents of the harvest also questioned the amount harvesters pay to take the kelp. At the moment, they pay $1.71 per ton along with a $100 license fee - but many say that's far too low. "We must ensure that the public are not subsidizing the harvest," said Aaron King, a marine scientist with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Later, kelp lover Joanne Garden burst into song, and others joined her for a tuneful tribute to the algae. "Where have all the kelp plants gone? Long time passing ... " they sang. Anna Davison can be reached at adavison@montereyherald.com or (831) 646-4462. Copyright (c) 2001, The Monterey County Herald, 8 Ragsland Drive, Monterey CA. 93940  (831) 372-3311 A Knight Ridder Newspaper

	Top of Page Today's Monterey Herald
Index of Articles by Marc Shargel Marc Shargel’s Virtual Gallery of Photography & Digital Imagery Lumigenic Media Home Page

For information on Lumigenic Media's multimedia and web design services, email our media department.
For information on Living Sea Images photographic products from Lumigenic Media, email the photography studio.
Direct comments about this website to our webmaster.
www.lumigenic.com/photo     This page updated 4/19/01 ©2001 Lumigenic Media