12 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY July 11-17, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com In October 2016, as a tugboat was towing a derelict drydock, YFD-70, from a shipyard in Puget Sound to Ensenada, Mexico to be recycled for parts, YFD-70 began to list. Off the coast of Half Moon Bay and less than a mile into the northwestern border of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the crew of the tugboat cut loose of the drydock, which then sank into Pioneer Canyon, just off the continental shelf. Earlier that same year, marine scientists, using an ROV, had identified a diverse array of deep sea corals, sponges, sea pens and sea whips in the canyon, among other species. A subsequent damage assessment conducted at the site in 2018 estimated a minimum loss of 1,713 to 3,672 organisms (fish and invertebrates), of which 646 to 1,305 were estimated to be corals. As marine life in a marine sanctuary is a public trust resource, MBNMS was required to repair the “injury” caused by the incident; a legal settlement stemming from it paid out $8.7 million to the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries to do so. But it was decided that trying to repair the injury at Pioneer Canyon was infeasible—the slope was steep, the water very deep, and salvaging the drydock would be too dangerous and cost prohibitive. So ONMS set out to find “compensatory” restoration projects, which culminated in two prongs: Over $6 million would go to removing target objects from the seafloor at up to 150-feet depth, and $2.5 million to restoring coral by transplanting up to 300 corals from healthy colonies. Over the past year-plus, Sanctuary officials narrowed the locations to outplant coral to three potential locations within MBNMS—Ascension Canyon and Ano Nuevo Canyon, west of Santa Cruz, and Sur Ridge, west of Big Sur. The point of controversy, however, with that proposal is that MBNMS wanted to prohibit bottom-contact fishing gear—pots, traps—to protect the coral plants. Once the local fishing community caught wind of the proposal last year, they were largely dismayed—with the cancellation of the salmon season for the second consecutive year, the recent closure of the near-shore groundfish fishery to protect quillback rockfish, and the months-long curtailment of the crab season due to the presence of whales in the bay, fishermen are reeling. Sanctuary officials brought their proposal to the Pacific Fishery Management Council for a vote at their June meeting. It was contentious: nearly all of the public comment advocated to reject the closures. Those opposed included Thomas Nyugen, who submitted a comment on behalf of a group of VietnameseAmerican fishermen in Moss Landing, writing, “We have become 100-percent dependent on black cod for our livelihoods,” adding that closing those northern canyons would increase fishing concentration elsewhere. After much discussion and debate, the council voted 7-6 on June 9 to close only Sur Ridge to bottom-contact gear, where coral outplanting has already been successfully underway in recent years, and which hasn’t been fished in years. Making Amends Officials sought to close off areas in local waters to bottom-contact fishing gear. Fishermen fought back. By David Schmalz An octopus hanging out among deepsea corals, at a depth of 6,473 feet, in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. NEWS “We have become 100-percent dependent on black cod.” NOAA/MBARI PETER B'S BREWPUB PRESENTS SUMMER MUSIC SERIES Join us every Thursday from 6PM to 9PM Indoors at Peter B’s Brewpub or Outdoors in our pet-friendly Beer Garden* 7.11 RYAN SESMA 7.17 TIMOTHY HUTTEN 7.25 DJ FREDO 8.1 RYAN SESMA 8.8 DJ FREDO *Outdoor dates subject to weather conditions. LOCATED BEHIND THE PORTOLA HOTEL & SPA | COMPLIMENTARY PARKING (831) 649-2699 | PETERBSBREWPUB.COM Prevention•Education•Treatment•Recovery Preventing alcohol and drug addiction by offering education, prevention, treatment and recovery to individuals and families regardless of income level. “Prevention is important to me because I’ve experienced how mental illness can lead to drugs and alcohol and how it’s affected my family and I don’t want anyone else to experience that kind of struggle.” -Leyah, STEPS Student Youth Leader from Soledad High School Support youth prevention services! www.SunStreetCenters.org
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