New Campaign Exposes Million Dollar Effort by Out-of-State Interests to Kill California Ocean Protection Efforts

CLCV has launched a statewide campaign and Web site, www.somethingsfishyaboutpso.com, that unmasks the “Partnership for Sustainable Oceans” (PSO), an industry front group that is raising more than $1 million from foreign and national fishing equipment manufacturers, boat makers, and Washington, D.C.-based trade associations to torpedo California’s efforts to protect depleted fisheries and marine life off the Pacific coast — namely, the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), passed in California in 1999.

This map (scroll down), shows the network of proposed marine protected areas that will be considered by the State Fish and Game Commission on August 5th. In addition we’ve posted a 20 second video on several capitol websites. It can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/californialcv

But industry opponents hope to sink the plan. Like the now-defunct Tobacco Institute, the PSO (despite its eco-friendly name) is nothing more than a front group for an industry interested in its short-term profits — in this case, the fishing industry and boat manufacturers. Its misinformation campaign about the science of marine protected areas, and hefty campaign contributions from its backers to anti-environment candidates in California, show this industry front group’s true colors.

PSO and its financial backers have supported weakening the Marine Mammal Protection Act to allow killings of the protected California sea lion, and fought federal and state regulations to ban lead sinkers that have killed water birds throughout North America. They even opposed the Bush Administration’s minimal efforts to protect ocean life, including the establishment of the Mariana Trench National Monument and Rose Atoll National Monument off American Samoa in the Pacific.

But the truth is, our oceans are in danger and need protection. This out-of-state corporate greenwashing campaign is attempting to undermine a process that has involved thousands of anglers, conservationists, and scientists from California over the past decade. No one should be fooled by PSO’s hardball tactics, which are designed to undermine common-sense attempts to rebuild sustainable fisheries off our coast. The oceans are in crisis and this front group is not part of the solution — it’s part of the problem.

This shameless front group has taken the extreme position that state law should be suspended — an outrageous demand from an out-of-touch group of extremists. CLCV has launched a new Web site to expose PSO and their key backers.

PSO is financially supported by the fishing gear and bicycle parts company Shimano, whose U.S. operations are based in Irvine, Calif., along with dozens of other national fishing equipment manufacturers. PSO is an offshoot of the Washington, DC-based American Sportsfishing Association and National Marine Manufacturers Association, a large contributor to anti-conservation candidates, including former California members of Congress Richard Pombo and John Doolittle.

CLCV’s new Web site details the PSO backer’s anti-oceans track record and contributions by PSO backers to anti-conservation candidates. The California Fish and Game Commission has scheduled a hearing on the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) for Aug. 5, 2009 in Woodland, California.

California’s Marine Life Protection Act was enacted with bipartisan support in 1999 and calls for the creation of a science-based network of ocean protected areas with a core of marine reserves to protect sensitive sea life and habitats. Such a network can help restore the state’s ocean waters to health.

Since 1999, dozens of stakeholder meetings have been held along the California coast to designate marine protected areas. These areas would help restore ocean life by limiting some commercial and recreational fishing in limited areas, but allow for many other recreational uses, such as boating and kayaking.

Check out our new Web site and tell us what you think.