Anonymous
By the Northern Chumash Tribal Council
On Tuesday May 9, Congressman Salud Carbajal (CA-24), U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, and a group of 12 other Members of Congress from California urged the U.S. Department of Commerce to prioritize completing the designation process for the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary off the central coast of California.
The lawmakers wrote, “As you know, the people of the Central Coast of California have pursued this sanctuary designation for decades, and celebrated the decision to move the nomination forward in 2021. It has now been more than a year since the public scoping process concluded, and it is crucial that this momentum toward designation continues without delay, with the publication of the draft designation documents this spring and a final designation this year.”
According to an analysis of comments submitted to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and posted on regulations.gov, the 83-day public comment period resulted in more than 30,000 people expressing their support for the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.
Violet Sage Walker, the Northern Chumash Tribal Council Chairwoman, applauded continued support by Rep. Carbajal and other members of Congress. In 2020, Carbajal, Feinstein, and then-Senator Kamala Harris successfully secured an extension of the proposed sanctuary from the Trump Administration, keeping the process alive for enough time for the Biden-Harris Administration to move forward with the designation process in 2021 without needing to review a new proposal.
“Successfully designating the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary will protect ocean life, sacred Chumash sites, strengthen Indigenous communities and serve as a model of environmental justice…Establishing a tribal-led ocean conservation sanctuary with tribal collaborative management will demonstrate that the United States is a leader in advancing environmental justice and equity,” Chair Walker stated. Fred Collins, the late Tribal Chair and Nominator, had a lifelong vision for establishing the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary to conserve precious life and cultural sacred sites in heritage waters. “Grandmother Ocean has been providing life to the Chumash Peoples for over ten thousand years, now is the time for all communities to work together and assist her in rebuilding her Vibrant Thrivability for all future generations,” Collins said before he passed into spirit on October 1, 2021.
Democratic lawmakers agree, “These abundant waters are essential to the heritage of ocean-going First People of the Pacific Coast…Through the application of traditional ecological knowledge, we can better understand climate change and build resilience to protect the biodiversity, cultural values, and economy of the Central Coast of California.”
The letter was signed by Carbajal, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, and Representatives Julia Brownley (CA-26), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11), John Garamendi (CA-8), Jared Huffman (CA-2), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Barbara Lee (CA-12), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Grace Napolitano (CA-31), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Katie Porter (CA-47), Adam Schiff (CA-30), and Mark Takano (CA-39).
Visit chumashsanctuary.org to learn more about the proposed sanctuary and how you can support it.
This is a step towards closing the entire area to any sport or commercial fishing too, for everyone, including Native Americans.
Yes, a good thing for everyone. Ocean life needs a sanctuary, which improves fishing in adjacent open areas and preserves breeding stocks. But, as an armchair “aquatic biologist”, you should know that.
You’re drinking a lotta California Cool-aid, and no I’m not an armchair. I have a degree or two in this area. Boxing off areas of the ocean hasn’t proven any good if you look at what little (poor-quality) research exists for this. Let me guess, you want to talk about the California MPA’s? Shabby attempts at ‘science’ to support these. In fisheries science, the things that have mattered are stock and size limits, seasonal closures, and catch and release. That’s about it. I don’t want to be a pain, but I think a lot of people who are well-meaning like you want to protect our ocean resources. Guess what? So do most fishermen, at least in this country. It does no one any good for people to say let’s close off massive areas of the ocean, and then they’re going to look for a nice sushi or other seafood dinner in town here. Hypocritical? Yeah. Food has to come from somewhere.
You know what you call someone who just barely passed their exams?
“Doctor”
And yet, you can’t even figure out how to comment online, and frequently post comments containing demonstrably false armchair “expertise”.
Basic, so are you a fan of long lining, drift netting, trawling?
90% bycatch okay with you?
You literally said nothing in your post other than “fishermen want to protect our ocean resources.”
You’ve said absolutely nothing about the impacts to the fishing industry related to instituting this. Do you even know or are you just knee jerk spouting? Surely with your numerous degrees in the field you can provide some sort of informed opinion, right?
BI excretions have more to do with politics than facts.
Does this mean no HORRIBLE Off-Shore Wind Machines…?
Luckily, that’s never been proposed. Nice to get rid of the truly horrible oil rigs though.
COAST – no. Take a look at the map provided with the article. The cleaner than oil and gas energy project will continue and is embraced my most.
Psshhh, No. They make money! No Fishing or drilling etc… You might catch an artifact I guess.
Some facts:
https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/environmental-impacts-wind-power
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/wind/wind-energy-and-the-environment.php
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/marine-life-distress/frequent-questions-offshore-wind-and-whales
https://ourworldindata.org/safest-sources-of-energy
4:04 – Great links with some great facts! This is a good one: “At this point, there is no evidence to support speculation that noise resulting from wind development-related site characterization surveys could potentially cause mortality of whales, and no specific links between recent large whale mortalities and currently ongoing surveys.” – https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/marine-life-distress/frequent-questions-offshore-wind-and-whales
Also, this one: ” Overall, using wind to produce energy has fewer effects on the environment than many other energy sources” – https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/wind/wind-energy-and-the-environment.php
And again….. “The impact of wind turbines on wildlife, most notably on birds and bats, has been widely document and studied……. The NWCC concluded that these impacts are relatively low and do not pose a threat to species populations” – https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/environmental-impacts-wind-power#references
Sacjon…My post is not hateful; it’s simply critical of ongoing attempts to make up for other peoples avarice and racism/ evangelism. Your post seems a little hate filled, and no one will ever forget the Chumash as long as you drive through Santa Ynez. You seem to be hate filled for my having an opinion contrary to your own.
FEWTILE – ugh another one of you poor white victims. Yep, no one likes people who complain Native Americans have had “too much airtime.” Hate of racists is a good thing. Your time is over. Go cry on Parler.
Long lining, gill netting, and trawling are really rough on the ocean. No, I’m not a fan of these Alex. Our local, and by local I mean the men and women who fish in the area covered by this new NMS area, absolutely do care about our resources and aren’t looking to make a quick buck and trash their fisheries.
To answer your next couple questions, the reason I’ve said nothing about what the impacts will be to our local fishermen is because I don’t know. Do you? If so, I’m listening. The article says nothing about it. I believe based on our experiences as a longtime fishermen here in CA dealing with the then DFG (know known as DFW) along with various other environmental groups during the MPA process that went down around ‘00 is that they’re ready to rope off as much ocean as possible to not be touched whatsoever, without even considering the impacts to our state’s economy, jobs, and recreational activities all related to ocean fishing, whether it be commercial or recreational.
Here’s a current example, which you may or may not be aware of. It’s called 30×30. Ever heard of it? It’s a massive political effort from our president and governor (both democrats, just a fact) to close off 30% of our country and state’s waters. Sounds good right? We need conservation. I get it. We need to protect our natural resources. I get that too. The problem is when you start shutting things down you won’t get them back. Jobs, recreation, and local incomes are lost. And I don’t think any of it’s based on real science. Look, there’s tons of stuff out there on the internet about this. I like to fish. I believe local fisheries are sustainable with decent management. Don’t be naive and think you can shut down local stuff and then go out to Costco or a local restaurant and order fish from halfway across the world where they DO thrash the environment, and think you’re doing right. That’s my point.
I’m not an expert, but you Alex asked for an explanation of my point of view, so there it is.
Or, to sum up the entire message of the 7:38 post: “Money is all that matters.”
Basic, I thought you said that this ‘would be the first step in ending sport fishing for everyone”.
No?
That implies that you know what the impact of this will be. Right?
Now you’re saying that you don’t know what the impact will be.
Which is it?
Beyond that, don’t assume you know what kind of fish I buy or where I get it. In fact, I ONLY buy locally sourced fish, because I feel comfortable that our LOCAL fishery is being well managed and I KNOW that the fisheries around the world that provide cheap foreign fish are not.
So funny that you assume I would “go out to Costco or to a local restaurant and order fish from halfway around the world where they do thrash the environment, and think you’re doing right”.
You have literally zero clue what I do or don’t do, your assumptions are ridiculous.
Plenty of hatred towards Natives still exists, I see..
Me thinks the “Chumash” are getting a little too much airtime these days, for a group of descendants numbering a few hundred. And, look at what a nice eyesore they planted in Santa Ynez. Besides, do we really need another layer of administrative bureaucrats sipping, largely, on tax dollars; I do miss the abalone though!
WTF, Fewtile, if you don’t like it change the channel bud.
FEWTILE – So just forget the Chumash, huh? Maybe less “airtime” should be given to hateful people like you. Gross.
And he *still* can’t figure out how to conduct a conversation on the internet. Instead we get staccato, disjointed spewings.