Administration Backs Coast Refuges

The Bush administration Monday threw its support behind setting aside vast swaths of ocean--including the waters around the Channel Islands off the Ventura County and Santa Barbara County coastline--as marine protected areas off-limits to fishing and other activities.

The decision came as part of the new administration’s review of Clinton-era rules that were designed to establish a series of marine refuges across the nation--the underwater equivalent of wilderness areas on land to protect wildlife.

Conservationists argue that these marine protected areas are needed to help many species recover from overfishing. But many commercial and recreational fishermen consider the reserves an unneeded, unwelcome intrusion into their livelihood and way of life.

“America must strive to harmonize commercial and recreational activity with conservation,” Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans said. “We can do both.

“This administration is committed to improving conservation and research in order to preserve our great marine heritage,” he said. “It is a national treasure. It must be protected and dutifully maintained.”

The administration’s decision is expected to have an immediate impact on the Dry Tortugas Marine Protected Area at the farthest reaches of the Florida Keys.

After a seven-year effort, Florida officials have set aside some state waters--those within three miles of land--as off-limits to fishing. A proposal to protect surrounding federal waters has been awaiting the signature of Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton.

Evans lauded the Dry Tortugas Marine Protected Area as a model for others in that it followed a well-planned process and secured grass-roots support.

Although less immediate, the administration’s position also boosts the effort to create a no-fishing zone in portions of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary off Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

Last month, after two years of negotiations, biologists, environmentalists and fishermen failed to reach consensus on a plan. Instead, two competing proposals--one to set aside 13% of the surrounding waters, the other 28%--will be presented to the California Fish and Game Commission this summer.

The commission will decide which state waters--those within the three-mile state limit--are to be deemed off-limits to fishing.

Similarly, the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, a federal advisory body, will consider which if any waters farther offshore should be closed to fishing. The council would then forward its recommendations, if any, to the Bush administration.

“The good news is that the administration is not pulling the plug,” said Warner Chabot, a vice president of the Center for Marine Conservation. “They are trying to build on the success that has been achieved in the Florida Keys and extend it to other areas.”

The Bush administration has included $3 million in next year’s federal budget to continue operating three new science and policy centers--including one in Santa Cruz--that help determine which areas might be designated as protected waters off all three U.S. coasts.

Evans said he also will review the makeup of the national Marine Protected Area Advisory Committee, which fishing industry lobbyists have criticized as being slanted too heavily toward conservation.

Monday’s announcement does not affect the fate of the proposed Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve. President Bill Clinton, during his last days in office, created the 84-million-acre reserve under an executive order designed to protect coral reefs and the endangered monk seal.

But the fishing industry has complained loudly about Clinton’s unilateral designation of a marine reserve. His decision, which was made last December and could be undone by President Bush, “is still under review,” said Jim Dyke, the Commerce Department’s spokesman.