RRI's Ocean Conservation Program is Making Waves
Greetings dear friends and colleagues,
As all of our campaigns kick into full gear for 2024, I’m excited to report that RRI’s new marine biodiversity protection program is off to a strong start.
We recently launched our inaugural project, The 64% Solution: The Campaign to End Avoidable Bycatch, to protect the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary from set gillnet fishing. This notoriously indiscriminate and wasteful practice anchors enormous nets – some as long as the Golden Gate Bridge – to the sea floor, entangling over 125 species of ocean animals in order to catch just two – halibut and white sea bass. In fact, 64% of all animals caught are thrown overboard, giving set gill nets one of the highest discard rates of any fishing method in the US. Set gillnets have been known to entangle myriad protected species including white sharks, and humpback whales.
California voters banned set gillnet fishing in 1990, but regulatory loopholes still allow 30 remaining permit holders to continue its use off the Channel Islands, an area so rich with unique sea life that it is known as North America’s Galapagos. A new bill, co-sponsored by RRI and Oceana and championed by Ventura Country Assemblymember Steve Bennett, closes these loopholes and also removes exemptions that allow protected giant sea bass and white sharks that are “incidentally caught” to be kept and sold.
If passed, the bill will finally bring an end to all set gillnet fishing off the Channel Islands, a key step toward restoring our dangerously depleted ocean food web. This bill would also end the transferability of gillnet permits in California and give the state the authority to create the first state-run observer program to improve data collection methods and increase enforcement capacity.
Campaign is led by RRI’s new Director of Advocacy and Engagement
The bill is the culmination of a months-long, multi-pronged effort spearheaded by Scott Webb, who joined RRI’s staff in September, 2023 as of Director of Advocacy and Engagement. Along with our Oceana partners, Scott galvanized over 60 NGOs and environmental interest groups to join a sign-on letter asking regulators for stricter monitoring and regulation. Working behind the scenes, he also prepared a letter signed by 19 legislators exhorting the California Fish and Game Commission and California Department of Fish and Wildlife to develop a strong regulatory package for this fishery.
Generation: Our Water - Harnessing the power of youthful engagement
Over the last several months, Scott has been helping RRI build its advocacy capacity by empowering Bay Area high school and college students from youth environmental clubs to raise public awareness, mobilize their peers, and educate decision-makers about protecting vulnerable ocean life. Student interns are learning and developing valuable relational organizing and public speaking skills to become effective grassroots leaders for this and future coastal advocacy projects with the Resource Renewal Institute.
RRI’s Rising Star in the Water World
Finally, we’re excited to announce that Scott was recently selected for the 2024 William R. Gianelli Water Leaders cohort, the Water Foundation’s highly competitive and respected leadership program for “rising stars in the water world.” Scott will join a cohort of approximately 20 mid-career professionals who all share interests in leading and shaping California’s water industry. The program is designed to deepen water knowledge, enhance leadership skills, and prepare participants to take an active, cooperative approach to decision-making surrounding water resources issues. Congratulations, Scott!
We have many more exciting announcements to make in the weeks and months to come, so stay tuned! And, as always, thank you for making this work possible.
Deborah Moskowitz, President
Resource Renewal Institute | RRI