10/1/12

Heading toward his fifth hour of filleting, his thick rubber boots squeaking on the wet concrete floor, Glen Libby, a fisherman by trade, looks more like a beleaguered line cook than the hero of a seafood revolution.

Five years ago this month in this unspoiled fishing port immortalized by three generations of Wyeths, Mr. Libby and a half-dozen cohorts banded together to try to rescue their depleted fish stock and their profession.

The result (“after trial and error with a lot of error” in Mr. Libby’s words) was Port Clyde Fresh Catch, the country’s first community-supported fishery, now part of a burgeoning movement that tries to do for small-scale local fishermen what community-supported agriculture has done for farmers.

In the kitchen, community-supported fisheries require cooks to agree in advance to buy whatever fish or shellfish local fishermen catch. Fishermen are asked to embrace plentiful species like skate or redfish, once routinely tossed overboard. With about 80 percent of the seafood on the American plate imported and “traceability” the mandate du jour, community-supported fisheries of varying sizes and ambition are springing up around the country, from Cape Ann in Massachusetts to Santa Barbara in California. There are about 30 nationwide, including two in New York.

Port Clyde Fresh Catch was born in crisis. Fishing is woven into the warp and woof of daily life here, a place where the water seems more dominant than the land. The village’s working waterfront still resembles a Wyeth, alive with aging trawlers, lobster traps and weatherworn shacks dwarfed by evergreens.

But looks can be deceiving: Until recently, the picturesque occupation beloved by “people from away,” as summer residents are called, was on the verge of collapse. Of Maine’s 5,300 miles of coast, only 20 miles are working waterfront, with tiny Port Clyde, originally named Herring Gut, home of the last surviving ground-fishing fleet between Portland and the Canadian border.

At the time Mr. Libby and colleagues joined forces, they faced the decimation of signature New England species like cod and flounder, largely because of overfishing and nets that damaged the seabeds, including those from an increasing number of “big box” industrial trawlers that can catch up to a million pounds of herring a day.

Overfishing continues to be a major issue; the allowable catch for cod is projected to be cut up to 70 percent for next year, said Peter Baker, the director of Northeast Fisheries programs for the Pew Environment Group. The steady decline of fish resulted in increased federal regulations, including limits on the number of days at sea.

Overfishing was one factor limiting fishermen’s profits. Another was the traditional way they sold their catch: through auction houses, which set wholesale prices. “You never knew what the price was going to be,” said Mr. Libby, who caught the fishing bug digging for soft-shell clams as a child. “My best season, I made $1 an hour.”

He and his colleagues had a choice: They could “give up and work at McDonald’s,” he said, or get together and try something radical.

Joining forces was hardly an easy sell. “Fishermen are independent,” Mr. Libby said, juggling a cellphone in one hand and a pick for plucking 30 pounds of redfish from an iced bin in the other. “Maybe you don’t like people, so you want to sit out in a boat by yourself. But the whole ‘I want to be the Lone Ranger’ stuff doesn’t work when things get tight, when people are in a lot of financial pain. Then you either have to look for alternatives, or you quit.”

They eliminated the middleman, processing their fish and shellfish themselves and then selling or shipping directly to consumers. The idea came about after Mr. Libby and his family heard a farmer give a talk about community-supported agriculture. The group started with orders for sweet winter Maine shrimp from members of the Unitarian church in nearby Rockland. That eventually led to tailgate filleting demonstrations on the back of the Libbys’ pickup truck. “Nobody got rich,” said Kim Libby, Mr. Libby’s sister-in-law. “But it was a good shot in the arm for paying the fuel bill that week.”

The Port Clyde group was environmentally proactive, redesigninging their nets to allow more juvenile fish to escape. Instead of catching a high volume of a single species, the group sought a more diverse catch and received a price closer to the cost of production. That in turn allowed them to fish at a smaller scale.

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9/25/12
After hearing three hours of public comment from 45 speakers, the Humboldt County board of supervisors agreed unanimously to continue their review of the General Plan Update with a revised schedule and new staff reports intended to help the supervisors better understand what proposed changes to the current (1984) Framework General Plan mean.

Board chair and fourth district supervisor Virginia Bass began the hearing by explaining to the standing-room-only crowd that comments made by supervisors at the previous hearing were "mischaracterized" in the media to suggest that the board was about to scrap the GPU and start the process over.

A change that extreme would have to come before the board as a separate agenda item, and it has not been agendized, Bass said.

Fifth district supervisor Ryan Sundberg, whose comments at the Sept. 10 hearing triggered the misunderstanding, apologized.

"I was angry and upset last week and I didn't articulate clearly," Sundberg said. "I don't want to kill the plan and start over ... My intention was just to ask a question about how to see it more clearly."

Third district supervisor Mark Lovelace, who had sharply criticized Sundberg's Sept. 10 statements, apologized in turn to Sundberg and thanked him for his clarification. "Last week was not the high point of the year," Lovelace said.

At the end of the hearing held last Monday, Sept. 17, the supervisors unanimously agreed to resume review of the GPU on Monday, Oct. 1.

In the meantime, county planning staff will prepare the first of their new reports on Chapter 5, the Community Services and Infrastructure Element, and Chapter 6, the Telecommunications Element.

First reports will include a description of the legal basis for the element, the key issues, a comparison of how the issues were addressed in the existing Framework Plan and how they are addressed in the current GPU draft, which was approved by the county planning commission in May 2012.

The report will also include reasons for the changes - such as state requirements, public comment, and planning commission recommendations, as well listing the board's options.

After the supervisors cast their straw votes, staff will compile a second report that will include a "strikethrough" version of the draft element showing how the straw votes changed the wording.

The second report will also provide the corresponding section of the Framework Plan, a description of the differences, and a chart that shows how these changes, if adopted, will affect landowners, and the estimated cost of implementing the changes.

The supervisors agreed to postpone further deliberations on Chapter 4, the Land Use Element, which began in July. This element, which defines land use designations that in turn determine zoning on individual parcels, contains the most difficult issues, particularly regarding residential uses on agriculture and timber lands.

Environmental advocates urged the supervisors to proceed with the draft GPU rather than go back to the Framework Plan.

Scott Greacen, executive director of Friends of the Eel River, said current property owners as well as wildlife and future generations need the complete GPU, not just a "tweaking" of the Framework Plan, so that they can have a clear picture of what they can and cannot do.

If there are no guidelines, resource advocates will have no choice but to challenge property owners "project by project," Greacen said.

At the same time he admitted that there is a lot in the GPU he doesn't like but he's willing to go ahead with the existing document rather than face the chaos that would follow abandonment of the process.

Hezekiah Allen concurred, stating, "The Framework Plan has been the guiding document for nearly 30 years marked by unplanned, unregulated, and unpermitted development in rural communities. The greatest achievement of the Framework Plan was to solidify the irrelevance of the planning and building department to the everyday lives of rural residents...

"I am frustrated that the time, energy, and resources that have been invested into this plan over the last 12 years, investments made by thousands of individuals, hundreds of organizations, and the public - as represented by the county - now seem threatened by the search for a simple answer," Allen continued.

"We need a collaborative relationship built on trust... This General Plan Update process is simply the starting point to realizing our future; the work is yet to come," he concluded.

Jeff Smith, former chairman of the planning commission, assured the supervisors, "No matter what direction you go, the work done in the past is not in vain...

"None of you were on the board when the ship set sail, and I don't know if anyone could foresee what the GPU is today. No matter whether you've been on the board 15 years or 15 minutes, it's going to be your plan."

Jennifer Kalt, one of the last speakers, told the board, "If you don't [complete the GPU], you'll be remembered as the board that kept us in 1984."

The supervisors, however, seemed to agree informally to continue with the GPU. When every member of the public who wanted to speak had spoken, the supervisors' discussion centered on scheduling, particularly whether to continue working on the Land Use Element or to proceed with some of the less difficult elements.

The next GPU hearing is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 1, beginning at 1:30 p.m. in the supervisors' chambers at the county courthouse in Eureka. The agenda will include setting a revised hearing schedule and review of Chapters 5 and 6, the Infrastructure and Community Services Element and the Telecommunications Element. Oral public comment on these elements will be taken at the hearing.

To make written comments, which may be of any length, write to Kathy Hayes, Clerk of the Board, 825 Fifth St, Eureka 95501 or email her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Only one copy of written comments is required.

For more information, go to the GPU website, www.planupdate.org, or call the planning department at 445-7541.

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“because life is so cool …”

Humboldt State University's 2nd annual Biodiversity Conference is this weekend!

The Biodiversity Conference brings together educators, researchers, and conservation advocates to discuss with how their respective fields explore and protect biodiversity. Bio Conf 2012 will include a series of presentations covering a variety of ecological topics. Students and the public are invited to join an exciting weekend of learning more about the world around us, ways to get involved locally, and how each of us play important roles in the health of the ecosystems we are part of.

9/22/12

A bill authored by Assemblyman Wes Chesbro, D-Arcata, would help North Coast crab fishermen by restricting permit transfers to boats from outside of California.

”It's kind of a loophole that we're trying to close,” said crab fisherman Aaron Newman, Humboldt Fisherman's Marketing Association president.
In a press release, Chesbro said the bill is meant to “prevent a repeat of last season when large crab boats from out of state took unfair advantage of the devastation in Crescent City Harbor caused by the tsunami.”

Chesbro said he hopes the bill, AB 2363, can take effect immediately after Gov. Jerry Brown signs it -- ideally in time for crab season, which usually starts in December. The main provision of the bill would set tighter limits on emergency transfers of Dungeness crab permits to boats outside of California.

”It was something that was well intentioned that was taken advantage of by some individuals,” said Eureka crab fisherman Mike Cunningham, who helped develop the new legislation with Chesbro.

Newman said larger, out-of-state boats purchased local crab fishing permits after the March 2011 tsunami devastated the Crescent City harbor, taking an unfair share of crabs from local fishermen with smaller boats.

”There were boats that weren't even operable before the tsunami,” or not actively participating in crab fishing, Newman said. Because of the tsunami emergency, those boat owners were granted permission to transfer their crab fishing permits.

He said he hopes the new legislation will force regulators to ask some tough questions before a permit is transferred.

”Is it a bogus transfer, or is it for people that actually need it?” he said. “Some permit owners were offered a pile of money to go fishing, which is not the intent of the law.”

Cunningham stressed that the option of transferring permits is still there for boat owners, in the case of “bona fide” emergencies. But, he said, the current regulations needed more restrictions.

Another provision of the bill would allow crab fishermen to retrieve lost or abandoned crab traps at the end of the season, even if the pot is not their own. Under current regulations, fishermen can only pick up their own pots.

”This means less derelict fishing gear in the water to ensnare wildlife or to interfere with other fishing operations,” Chesbro said.

Fishermen are usually good about picking up their own traps, Newman said.

”But, they do get abandoned,” he said. “There are people that are sloppy.”

That can cost other fishermen, Newman said. If a pot gets tangled up in a boat, it can cause damage.

A final provision would allow crab fishermen to sell meat from test crabs. Each year crab size is tested to see if the crabs are big enough for the season to commence. In the past, experts have recommended that the season be delayed due to a poor crab meat-to-size ratio -- a delay that sometimes means weeks without income for crab fishermen.

Newman has been involved with the preseason testing process before, a process he called “expensive.” Fishermen have to go out and fish, and a plant has to process 5,000 pounds of crab, he said.

The test crab catch was always given away to charities, Cunningham said. Under the new provision that the catch can be sold, allowing fishermen and testers to recoup costs and still have enough crab left over to give away, he said.

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