 October 2007 Printer-Friendly | Back Protected Zones Now Complete In Federal Waters of Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has completed a network of marine zones in the federal waters of Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. NOAA’s action complements an existing network of marine zones established in the waters of the sanctuary by the state of California in 2003.The Channel Islands are known as the “Galapagos of North America” for their rich biodiversity and endemic species found nowhere else in the world. Recreational activities, such as sailing and diving, are very popular around the Channel Islands. “The Channel Islands marine zoning network is now the largest in the continental United States,” said Daniel J. Basta, director of the NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program. “This action was developed through an eight-year public process, coordinated closely with the state of California, the Pacific Fishery Management Council and NOAA Fisheries Service. The countless community members who helped NOAA by providing scientific information, input and advice can be proud of this important conservation accomplishment.” The federal action adds nine new marine zones, eight of which are no-take marine reserves and one limited take marine conservation area. NOAA’s action affects a total of 110.5 square nautical miles as marine reserves and 1.7 square nautical miles as marine conservation areas in the federal waters (three to six nautical miles offshore) of the sanctuary. The area of the network, including the existing state marine zones, is 214.1 square nautical miles. The two types of marine zones include marine reserves, where all extractive activities and injury to sanctuary resources are prohibited, and a marine conservation area that allows commercial and recreational lobster fishing and recreational fishing for pelagic species — all other resource extraction and injury is prohibited. In October 2002, the California Fish and Game Commission approved a comprehensive marine zoning network in state waters of the sanctuary. The state of California implemented part of the state marine zones in 2003, under the California Fish and Game regulations. In 2006, to provide protection to the seafloor and ground fish, NOAA Fisheries Service designated the federal water portions offshore of the state marine zones as habitat areas of particular concern and prohibited bottom fishing under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. NOAA’s action prohibits any other take within the offshore marine zones under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act and is a key step towards completing the marine zoning network supported by the California Fish and Game Commission, the Pacific Fishery Management Council and NOAA Fisheries Service. Some small gaps remain between the state and federal marine zones that is an artifact of squaring off the state marine zones in 2003 for enforcement and ease of recognition by boaters until the federal zones were established. The California Fish and Game Commission began the process to fill these small gaps to complete the Channel Islands marine zoning network in May 2007, with an anticipated decision in October 2007. When the gaps are closed, the total network size will be 240.4 square nautical miles that encompasses 22 percent of the sanctuary waters through 11 marine reserves and 2 marine conservation areas. Fishing in accordance with normal state and federal fishing regulations will be allowed in the remaining 78 percent of the sanctuary. The eight-year process to consider and designate the network included extensive input from the Channel Islands Sanctuary Advisory Council, relevant federal agencies, Pacific Fishery Management Council, resource departments of the state of California, and representatives of the public and stakeholder groups. Copies of the Final Rule and Regulations are available from the Channel Islands sanctuary office, attn: Sean Hastings, 113 Harbor Way, Suite 150, Santa Barbara, Calif. 93109, or by calling (805) 884-1472. The document is also available at the sanctuary’s Website, http://channelislands.noaa.gov, or by e-mail to cinmsreserves.feis@noaa.gov. NCUPS Announces International Underwater Photographic Competition The Northern California Underwater Photographic Society (NCUPS.org) proudly presents the 43rd Annual SEA International Underwater Photographic Competition, and the Bob Commer Award of Excellence in Underwater Photography. The “mail-in” underwater digital still and print photography, and underwater videography competition is open to amateur photographers and videographers from around the world. Award sponsors of the SEA2007 competition, with prizes totaling in the tens of thousands of dollars, include scuba ecotourism resorts, travel agencies, and luxury live-aboards, as well as scuba and photography equipment manufacturers. New for 2007, the Bob Commer Award of Photographic Excellence will be awarded to the SEA International Competition Best of Show. This award is in addition to a prize selection from the prize list. All media, digital still, print and video, are eligible. SEA2007 will no longer carry any 35mm slide photography categories. Slides may be scanned and submitted in digital still categories with the same specifications as images taken with a digital still camera. The SEA2007 underwater photographic competition will issue awards for the best work in categories including Macro, Wide Angle, and Underwater California categories; a traditional print category; creative categories in print and digital, a video category. In the creative categories entrants are encouraged to use any and all tools available to express their individual creativity. Also new for 2007 is the Marine Conservation Category. Underwater photographers have a responsibility to educate other divers and non-divers about issues related to the marine environment. The Marine Conservation Category is open to still images taken underwater anywhere in the world. Entries should include a maximum 75-word description about where the image was taken, the story behind the image, and why it was important to the photographer to take the image and tell the story. All entries are due by October 12, 2007. Winning entries will be announced on the NCUPS.org website in November 2007. Download Rules, Regulations, and Entry Form from the NCUPS website at www.ncups.org L.A. County Instructor Certification Course Announces Program Details Looking for a challenge? Then clear your winter schedule for the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department’s 2008 Underwater Instructor Certification Course (UICC). Started in 1954, UICC is the oldest and most respected instructor-training course in scuba today. The current UICC program, the most thorough available in diving, is a 14-week course designed to challenge and prepare candidates to safely open the underwater world to new aqua-explorers. This singularly unique program features over 150 hours of intensive training. With over 90 hours of pool and ocean training, the program also features 60 hours of classroom lecture and training featuring top experts in the science and theory of diving. The pre-test for 51 UICC will be held in mid-December with both a pool session and ocean check-out dive. The formal program begins in January at the prestigious Los Angeles Athletic Club in Downtown Los Angeles. To register and get directions to the pre-test sites, contact L.A. County Underwater Unit at (310) 965 8258 or visit at www.lascuba.com. Reaching Out Award Recipients Announced DEMA (Diving Equipment and Marketing Association) is pleased to announce that dive industry icons David Doubilet and Bob Soto are the recipients of the 19th Annual DEMA Reaching Out Awards (ROA). Given in recognition of their significant contributions to the sport of scuba diving, the Awards will be presented on November 2, 2007 at the DEMA Awards Party in affiliation with DEMA Show 2007.  One of the world’s leading underwater photographers, Doubilet has shot more than 60 stories for National Geographic magazine since 1972. Doubilet’s undersea reporting has taken him to the Red Sea, Pearl Harbor, the South Pacific and beyond. Along the way, he has captured groundbreaking images of great white sharks, flashlight fish, shark-repelling flounders, creatures of the undersea desert, florescent coral (shot with ultraviolet light), World War II wrecks and much more.Born in New York City in 1946, Doubilet began snorkeling off the coast of New Jersey at the tender age of eight. At twelve, he took up scuba diving and photography, using a Brownie Hawkeye in a rubber bag as his first underwater camera. Growing up, he spent his summers diving and photographing in New Jersey and working as a dive guide in the Bahamas. Doubilet’s honors include the prestigious Sara Prize, the Explorers Club Lowell Award and the Lennart Nilsson Award. He is an honorary fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of London and was elected to the International Diving Hall of Fame. In 2001, Doubilet was named a contributing photographer-in-residence of the National Geographic Society. Doubilet’s books include Light in the Sea: An Undersea Journey, Water Light Time and The Great Barrier Reef. Bob Soto stands out as an originator of the dive travel destination, having launched Bob Soto’s Diving in Grand Cayman in 1957, the first successful, full-service, full-time dive operation on Grand Cayman Island.  Soto, whose family emigrated from Cuba to the Cayman Islands when he was just an infant, served as a salvage diver for the US Navy during World War II. Having participated in the rescue of a US Coast Guard ship after a collision in the Atlantic, Soto was decorated by President Harry S. Truman. Returning to Cayman after the war, Soto began a journey that would evolve into one of the world’s leading dive operations.Initially starting with a homemade plywood boat, a surplus air compressor and some early scuba gear, Soto began offering dives to tourists. By 1970, Grand Cayman was known as a desirable destination and Bob Soto’s Diving Limited was well established as a major tourism component. The Cayman Island Government presented its first Marine Conservation Award to Soto for his important role as one of the country’s earliest crusaders for marine conservation laws and a system of protected underwater parks. Furthermore, Soto was instrumental in creating community awareness, championing the need for additional marine parks in the Cayman Islands, and legislation granting the development for the parks, which was successfully passed in 1986. Soto is the recipient of the prestigious Cayman Islands Certificate and Badge of Honor and the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce 1994 Business Community Award. Today, Soto remains active in conservation efforts as a volunteer Fisheries Officer and involved in diving and water sports issues with the Cayman Islands. For more information about DEMA and the Reaching Out Awards, visit www.dema.org online. © Copyright 2007, all rights reserve, by Saint Brendan Corporation, P.O. Box 11231, Torrance CA 90510, mail@cadivingnews.com. No part of this may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system/website, or transmitted in any form by any means without prior written permission of the publisher. IMPORTANT NOTICE: The contents of this publication/website are opinions of the individual writers. The publishers of California Diving News and its contributors assume no responsibility for any mishap claimed to be a result of use of this material. Diving is an adventure sport and with it comes inherent risks. Improper use of diving equipment or improper diving techniques may result in serious injury or, in extreme circumstances, death. Readers are admonished to use their own best judgement in each individual situation. |
