Mitigating Impacts of Natural Hazards on Fishery Ecosystems

Keynote: California’s Ocean and Coastal Policy

Brian Baird

doi: https://doi.org/10.47886/9781934874011.ch1

I would like to welcome you all to San Francisco; it is a great place to hold a conference. I would like to thank my good friend and mentor, Ron Baird (University of North Carolina, Wilmington), for inviting me to this session. Ron is a real leader and he brings a unique energy to all of his work. I would also like to thank Gus Rassam (American Fisheries Society) and Terry Smith (National Sea Grant College Program) for the invitation to address the symposium.

Let me start with a rather bold statement: California is leading the nation on ocean and coastal policy. This is not a conclusion of mine, necessarily; it is a conclusion of people like Admiral James Watkins, the chair of the U.S. Ocean Commission, and Leon Panetta, the chair of the Pew Oceans Commission. Utilizing partnerships has been critical to California’s success. If there is a lesson to be learned from the U.S. Ocean Commission reports and the Pew Ocean Commission reports, it is how we can integrate our efforts with all levels of government, with academia, with industry, and with the nongovernmental organization community.

This morning, I am going to talk to you about California’s overall approach to ocean and coastal policy. I will also touch on how this relates to natural hazards. However, my comments deal more with anthropogenically induced hazards than natural hazards because a lot of what we do in ocean and coastal policy is manage people and activities rather than ecosystems. In a state like California where we have 37 million people and the seventh largest economy on Earth, that is quite a large task.

First, let me address ocean and coastal management. In 2004, California became the first state in the nation to create a comprehensive plan to address the recommendations in the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission reports. Completing the U.S. Ocean Commission report took about 3–4 years, and hearings were held during that time all throughout the United States. It was an amazing process. Now into office comes Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and he directs us to have an ocean action plan on his desk in 90 days. Let me tell you, it is tough working for a former action hero, but it is something we all have to deal with in this administration! A draft document was hand-delivered to the governor’s office at 1650 hours on the 90th day, and the governor released the final document on the shores of Point Lobos Marine Reserve on 18 October 2004.