Dive Boat Conception Stolen, Run Aground
The popular dive-charter boat Conception was stolen from its dock in Santa Barbara, CA at 1 a.m. on Wednesday, March 23rd. The perpetrator(s) broke into the wheelhouse, started the engines, and motored through the harbor, colliding with three other vessels, sinking one. Hours later the Conception was found grounded on a secluded beach near Point Arguello, about 50 miles north of its home port. Salvage efforts are being coordinated and Truth Aquatics remains optimistic about the vessel’s chances of being fully restored.

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Volunteer Divers Needed for Historic Ship Raising
Volunteer divers are needed to clean the hull of the historic S.S. Catalina in the early stages of her return to California and the eventual restoration of the “Great White Steamer” that served tourists to Catalina and troops in war.

Currently the steamer is sitting on her keel in 20-40 feet of water in Ensenada, Harbor, Baja, California. The heavily encrusted hull must be scrapped before raising and towing.

For more information visit www.savethecatalina.org online. Save the Catalina is a non-profit (501 C 3) organization formed to recover this historic monument.

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Aquatica Coffee Mugs
The dive charter boat Aquatica based out of San Pedro and serving the Southern Channel Islands are continuing to show their commitment to preserving the environment with the simple addition of coffee mugs on their dive trips.

“We don’t believe in making lots of plastic or styrofoam trash, so use one of our wide-based, spill-proof cups for the day,” states owner and skipper Manny Koch. “You can take one home for $5.” All mugs include the mermaid/neptune logo.

“We emphasize protection through reasonable and sensible use of the fragile marine environment, thus helping to ensure our ocean’s health for many generations to come, ” states Koch.

For more information on Aquatica’s dive trips to Catalina and the other Southern Channel Islands as well as their shark trips, call (818) 400-7439 or go online to www.diveaquatica.com.

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Central California Coastal Monitoring Begins
Reef Check Executive Director Dr. Gregor Hodgson recently announced the launch of a major citizen’s ocean monitoring initiative along California’s Central Coast. The Reef Check California program will train volunteer teams of local divers, fishermen, surfers and scientists to survey marine life on underwater rocky reefs and to develop an accurate picture of the health of California’s nearshore marine environment from Santa Barbara to Monterey. The new Reef Check California program seeks to bring together existing groups and to standardize volunteer efforts so that changes in ecological health can be tracked from year to year.

“The California marine environment has been beaten up over the past 25 years” said Dr. Hodgson. “The abalone, red sea urchins and several highly sought fish species such as the ling cod have been decimated. Just as it is important to monitor the quality of the water we swim in, it is equally important to check on the health of our living marine resources. Once we have an accurate picture of ecological health, we can then make better decisions about how to effectively manage these economically and ecologically important resources.”

A major goal of the program is to build up a network of citizens who support California marine conservation. Starting this summer, program scientists along the Central Coast will train and supervise teams of volunteers to carry out surveys of sub-tidal reefs. The teams will then submit the data to Reef Check. All data will be available to the public on a web-based Geographic Information System with charts, health rating and text analyses. This work is being made possible in part through a grant from the California Coastal and Marine Initiative of the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation.

Founded in 1996, the Reef Check Foundation runs the world’s largest coral reef monitoring program and works with communities, governments and businesses to scientifically monitor, restore, and maintain coral reefs globally. The new California program will also provide opportunities for California divers to get involved in the coral reef monitoring around the globe. Reef Check has received prestigious national and international environmental awards for its work, and is the United Nations’ official community based reef monitoring program. Now in its ninth year of operation and active in over 80 countries and territories throughout the world, the Reef Check Foundation is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization headquartered in Pacific Palisades California. For more information about Reef Check California, call (310) 230-2371 or e-mail to chrisknight@reefcheck.org.

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NOAA Organic Act Sent to Congress
The Bush Administration has sent a bill to Congress that codifies the establishment and purposes of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Announcement of the action was made at the inaugural meeting of the Cabinet-level Committee on Ocean Policy. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez, a member of the committee, said, "The transmittal of the NOAA Organic Act to Congress demonstrates the Administration's continuing support for timely passage of this bill. I look forward to working with our friends in Congress on this important measure."

The bill was originally introduced last year as part of the Administration's response to the report of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy that recommended putting a NOAA Organic Act into law.

NOAA was formed by executive order in 1970. Created as part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA has never had a statutory basis for its existence or to conduct its activities and missions. Instead, NOAA has operated under 200 different authorizations.

In its report, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy stated that a NOAA Organic Act would strengthen the agency and would help to ensure that its structure is consistent with its primary functions of management, prediction, research and education. The report said the Act would help NOAA achieve better management of oceans and coasts through an ecosystem-based approach.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through research to better understand atmospheric and climate variability and to manage wisely our nation's coastal and marine resources. More information on NOAA can be found on the web at www.noaa.gov.

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Oil Platforms Proposed as Fish Farms
Under a plan backed by the Bush administration, some 3500 unused oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico may be alternatively used for fish farms. For years now scientists and oil companies have experimented in using oil platforms for the bases of mariculture, but have not made progress because of reluctance of the federal government to open federal waters to farming. Traditionally, companies farmed in state waters because permits were easier to get. President Bush proposed to open federal waters to fish farming, something that has been encouraged in states like Texas and Louisiana, because of their high concentration of offshore oil rigs.

Ocean farming is already becoming a booming industry in Asia, specifically Korea and China. Seafood now accounts for $7 billion of the nation’s foreign trade deficit and opening the ocean to fish farming would bolster seafood production and employment among coastal communities, proponents say. Environmental opponents point to problems with current fish-farms, such as pollution, resource depletion and escaped farmed fish interbreeding with wild fish stock. Critics also worry about turning the oceans into huge feedlots, replacing cattle and poultry for fish.

For more information on the plan, go online to http://ocean.ceq.gov/.