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Chumash marine sanctuary would be best for SLO County

Fred Collins, the tribal administrator for the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, is advocating for a marine sanctuary off the Central Coast, from the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to the Channel Islands.
Fred Collins, the tribal administrator for the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, is advocating for a marine sanctuary off the Central Coast, from the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to the Channel Islands. Joe Johnston jjohnston@thetribunenews.com

I want to see the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary designated because a marine sanctuary alerts us to problems off our coast and brings funding and experts to work on the problems. A sanctuary brings resources to bear to help with the solutions at a level beyond what we can do locally with our current resources.

The CHNMS will not regulate fishing. Fishing is already regulated by state and federal agencies, which will continue to do so.

There is no new oil drilling allowed in a sanctuary. There is no dumping allowed. Funds can be brought to bear to mitigate existing problems. Sanctuary regulations, by design, exclude harbors and existing commercial and public facilities. And they can help ensure that proposed renewable energy projects are done correctly and do not cause adverse impacts to the coastal environment.

Harvey Cohon, San Luis Obispo

This story was originally published May 28, 2016 at 8:50 PM with the headline "Chumash marine sanctuary would be best for SLO County."

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