Gordon Colvin, Director of Marine Resources of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), briefed the Council on final action taken by the State Legislature on marine resource-related bills that the Council had previously discussed.  He reported that the following bills have been passed and either signed by the Governor or are awaiting his signature:

• S07284/A0849 – authorizes the use of mechanical hauler when retrieving clam rakes
• S1365D/A7893D – Peconic Bay Region Watershed Protection Act.
• S7868/A11803 – allows a shellfish diggers license to be endorsed to a specific vessel and gives DEC broad regulatory authority over hard clams
• S8052/A11523 – establishes a task force within DEC to prepare a plan for the conservation, protection and restoration of seagrass
• S8153/A11171 – designates the striped bass as the official marine fish of New York State
• S8380/A10584B – creates the interagency New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Council and charges it with developing an ecosystem-based management plan for New York's marine and Great Lakes resources

At an earlier meeting, the Council had expressed strong support for a multi-faceted DEC program bill aimed at enhancing outdoor recreation opportunities and conserving fish and wildlife habitat.  The Director of DEC's Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources, Mr. Gerry Barnhart, informed the Council that, its support notwithstanding, this initiative did not progress far in the recent legislative session.  The various elements of the original program bill were ultimately introduced as individual bills: creating a habitat conservation stamp; a public access incentive program for private land owners; a prohibition on the sale of fish caught under to a recreational fishing license in freshwater; expanding the coverage of state law that protects landowners from liability suites from people whom they allow to use their land for recreational purposes, etc..   Mr. Barnhart stated that he expected many of proposals will be brought before the Legislature again in the future. 

Mr. Colvin observed that the Council might profitably start thinking about legislative initiatives for the 2007 legislative session, and specifically addressing current marine resource-related laws that are due to sunset in 2007 or soon thereafter.  One good example is the section of the Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) that stipulates commercial fishing license eligibility restrictions and numerical caps.

A question came up from an audience member concerning eco-system based management and what it meant.  Chairman Wise explained that the concept of ecosystem-based management has a core essence that is relatively straight-forward to understand.  He noted that some stakeholders are very skeptical of the concept while others welcome it.  Chairman Wise said there are a number of good articles that describe what eco-system based management is.  While he is not personally endorsing any of these descriptions, he will circulate them to the Council for its information and education.  He noted that there will be a process undertaken in the State to try to come to a consensus as to how our marine management and Great lakes management will change in an eco-system based management context.

 

Page last modified Sunday, September 24, 2006 by George E. Carroll