Source: LA Daily News
For much of the 20th Century Southern California was a world leader in seafood production. The once-thriving tuna fishing fleet, based at the Port of Los Angeles and in San Diego, plied distant waters for months at a time returning to local canneries that employed thousands of people.
Today, the U.S. tuna industry is a distant memory, the victim of subsidized foreign competition, unfair trade practices, government over-regulation, and in some cases under-regulation.
Historically, California’s commercial fishing industry once employed tens of thousands of people in fishing, fish processing, boat building and boat repair and allied industries. Recreational fishing has been a staple of the coastal tourism. Both have been a vibrant part of the California coastal economy, from Eureka to the Mexican border.
I fish the waters of the central California coast. Those of us who remain, men and women who work at sea and harvest many of the types of fish we find in the supermarkets and in restaurants, have to be creative, nimble, and able to adapt to a sometimes harsh natural and political environment.
It is infuriating when yet another hurdle is erected making it nearly impossible for us to practice our trade. But this time it isn’t Mother Nature, imported farm-raised fish, or some government edict. This time it is a public utility - Pacific Gas & Electric, the energy behemoth whose aged gas lines exploded and ravaged the San Bruno community in 2010.
PG&E also owns the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, on the San Luis Obispo County coast. Diablo Canyon now threatens the central coast fishing industry, the local marine environment, and the livelihood of both commercial and recreational fishers.
The “inconvenient truth†of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan caused PG&E to place plans to renew its operating license for the long controversial Diablo Canyon on hold while government-mandated studies are undertaken.
One of the required surveys includes the use of seismic surveying vessels. These vessels emit high-energy pulses into the marine environment, making fishing during this period impossible and adversely affecting the health of the marine environment, living marine resources, habitat for fisheries, and my workplace.
As nuclear plants face closer scrutiny, it is possible that further testing at the San Onofre nuclear plant in San Diego County might be required. Our problem today becomes a statewide problem tomorrow as fishermen from San Pedro to San Diego are affected by seismic surveys.
There are energy alternatives to Diablo Canyon - wind and solar power, and even natural gas - and PG&E has the resources to mitigate the legitimate concerns of the local fishing industry.
Our fishing industry and the communities and people who work hard to keep it alive should not be sacrificed for the promises and profits of PG&E.
The commissioners should stand up for the men and women of the California coast who count on a healthy marine environment for their livelihood and future. Nothing less will assure the survival of our historic fishing industry and protect the quality of life of coastal communities for ourselves and our descendants.