Sacramento Hearing to Discuss South Coast MLPA Initiative
by Dan Bacher
Fishermen, environmentalists, Tribal members and the public will have to chance to speak to the Legislature about their concerns regarding the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative on the South Coast during a special hearing at the State Capitol in Sacramento in Room 4202 on Thursday, February 17 from 10 a.m. to noon.
Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D-Arcata), the chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture, said the hearing will focus exclusively on the South Coast Study Region.
“This is an opportunity for everyone who has an interest in the Marine Life Protection Act on the South Coast to talk to the Legislature,” Chesbro said. “The Joint Fisheries Committee will be meeting its responsibility to provide oversight of the Marine Life Protection Act.”
The hearing will start with brief presentations by staff of the MLPA Initiative and the California Department of Fish and Game. Public testimony will follow.
The hearing follows by a day the Committee’s 38th Annual Fisheries Forum, scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 16, at the State Capitol, also in Room 4202.
The Feb. 16 forum will include an update and public comment on the MLPA statewide.
The Feb. 16 forum and Feb. 17 hearing follow a Jan. 21 hearing the Committee held in Eureka on the MLPA’s North Coast Study Area.
For more information, call Tom Weseloh, Legislative Fisheries Committee consultant, (707) 445-7014, Andrew Bird, Chesbro communications director, (916) 319-2001.
Source: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/201...0/18671695.php