Aliance of Communities for Sustainable Fisheries
P O Box 1309, Carmel Valley, CA 93924 (831) 659-2838

August 26, 2004

Holly Price, Acting Superintendent
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
299 Foam Street
Monterey, CA 93940

Dear Holly,

We are writing in reference to the newly created Sanctuary Advisory Council (SAC) Seat that will represent recreational fishing people.

First, we would like to acknowledge and thank the SAC and the Sanctuary Administration who supported the creation of this new seat. As you may be aware the Alliance in its January 4, 2002 comment letter at the beginning of the Joint Management Plan Review process made this recommendation to add a recreational fishing seat to the Sanctuary Advisory Council. Thank you again for acting on this request.

The Alliance will make a recommendation for individuals to fill the primary and alternate fishing seat, based on the principle outlined to the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments.

We strongly feel that each SAC seat should have a clear constituency to which the representatives are accountable. This constituency is best identified by looking to the principle organizations for the stakeholder group, and working with those organizations to reach a consensus. If consensus is not possible, find the majority view recommendation for individuals to represent their group. This effort should be inclusive rather than exclusive, meaning that we would always look to including groups that want to participate in this decision making.

In the case of the recreational fishing seat we have identified several groups, in addition to our own, who represent recreational fishing interests in Central California. They are:
• Recreational Fishers Alliance (RFA)
• United Anglers
• Coastside Fishing Club
• The Salmon and Trout Project
•The Carmel River Steelhead Association

We have worked with the leaders of these organizations to identify individuals who have the time and expertise to represent the interests of recreational fishing to the Sanctuary Program. The result of our effort is to recommend that Howard Egan be named as the primary representative and Frank Emerson be named as the alternate. We request, as do the organizations we consulted, that you name these two individuals to the Sanctuary Advisory Council.
Should you have any further questions about these nominations or the process that we used, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly,

Sincerely,

Mike Ricketts, Co-Chair, ACSF

Kathy Fosmark, Co-Chair, ACSF

C: Ralph Rubio, President, AMBAG
Sanctuary Advisory Council
Recreational Fishers Alliance (RFA)
United Anglers
Coastside Fishing Club
The Salmon and Trout Project
The Carmel River Steelhead Association

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