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01/14/2010: "Council Responds To NOAA With MRC Report"

(Jonathan White of the MRC urges CC to send report)

The County Council has sent off a report with a cover letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), in which they reaffirm their “opposition to the ‘No Go’ zone outlined in the proposed regulations for the west side of San Juan Island”.

The report was published in September of last year by the SJC Marine Resources Committee (MRC) on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) proposal to limit use of the waters on the west side of San Juan Island.

The MRC report was intended to give guidance to the County Council, The report states it:

• Provides comments and recommendations for the proposed vessel rule
• Identifies areas of agreement
• Offers a path to guide navigation through those areas where the community appears to be
divided.
• Sketches out a proposal that integrates education, regulation and funding that will protect
the whales from vessels and which works for the community.

While the report was intended by the MRC to be a “draft or work in progress, rather than a completed set of recommendations,” it was decided by the Council to be complete enough to forward on to NMFS and NOAA.

The Cover letter from the Council follows:

Barry Thom, Acting Regional Administrator
Protected Resources Division
National Marine Fisheries Service
7600 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, Wa 98115

Re: Input to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Proposed
Regulations to Protect Killer Whales from Vessel Effects in the Inland Waters of
Washington.

Dear Mr. Thom,

Please accept this letter as an addendum to our comment letter dated January 5, 2010.

The San Juan County Council considered several sources of information while deliberating its response to the NOAA proposed regulations to protect Killer Whales. Among these sources was an extensive report prepared for us by the San Juan Marine Resources Committee (MRC) dated September 28, 2009 (see attached).

As stated in our letter of January 5, the Council remains firm in its opposition to the “No Go” zone outlined in the proposed regulations for the west side of San Juan Island

We emphasize the need to protect the whales’ food supply and to eliminate the sources of toxins that accumulate in their blubber. We also emphasize the importance of enforcement. Regulation without local capacity for enforcement, no matter how effective in print, will have little effect on the water.
Respectfully submitted,

County Council
San Juan County, Washington

The full MRC report can be down loaded by clicking HERE (pdf 1003\k file)