EAC continues our active engagement in local and state aquaculture issues with our focus on Tomales Bay. In the spring, we participated in two Fish and Game Commission Marine Resources Committee meetings in April and June, submitting written comments in advance. The focus of these Marine Resource Committee meetings was related to the acceptance of a Commercial Marine Aquaculture Informational Report (AIR) , as well as the consideration of a temporary moratorium on the acceptance of any new state water bottom lease applications for new aquaculture projects. The AIR is a report on current commercial state aquaculture leases and related information.
We provided general support for the AIR, which will help to inform the California Ocean Protection Council’s forthcoming aquaculture action plan which satisfies Goal 4 of their Strategic Plan to promote sustainable aquaculture by developing a statewide action plan which considers such valuable concerns such as minimizing impacts to habitat, biodiversity, and wild fisheries, as well as including best practices for eliminating detrimental environmental impacts. EAC will be supporting disbursement of OPC funding for the development of the aquaculture action plan at the Ocean Protection Council’s September meeting. The California Coastal Commission’s Coastal Development Permit (CDP) Application Guidance for aquaculture and marine restoration will also help inform the action plan.
With EAC and others support, including the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s own staff, the moratorium on any new shellfish leases was adopted at the June Fish and Game Commission meeting and will be in place through November 2020.
“We support the recommendation that new leases should not be considered for Tomales Bay without additional environmental review for key considerations, including, but not limited to, shorebird, waterbird, marine mammal, intertidal habitat, and eelgrass impacts. ”
In May, we also submitted comments related to a 401 water quality certification application (required by the Clean Water Act) for Hog Island Oyster Company. Our brief comments included support for compliance with this provision of the Clean Water Act, which requires permitting for any fill and excavation within the waters of the state such as Tomales Bay.
In addition, we continue to actively monitor legislation including our opposition to SB 1093, which thankfully did not move forward this year. This bill proposed by the legislature would have taken regulatory control over aquaculture permitting away from the California Coastal Commission, which is charged with regulating aquaculture under the California Coastal Act.
A key contributor to state aquaculture oversight, we want to specifically thank Richard James (The Coastodian) for his tireless advocacy and efforts to clean up Tomales Bay and the Bay Area.
Learn more:
Read recent EAC comment letters & blog posts:
September 2020 - California Coastal Commission's CDP Application Guidance blog post
July 2020 - Comments to Senators re. Opposition to SB 1093
May 2020 - Comments to Water Board re. 401 Certification application
March 2020 - Comments to Fish and Game Commission re. California aquaculture
Agency Updates:
Read the Commercial Marine Aquaculture Information Report (pp. 20-60 of PDF), Staff Report for June Fish and Game Commission Marine Resources Committee Meeting
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