CalOceans News

Yvon Chouinard: Set Gold Standard for Ocean Health Care

Check out Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard's opinion piece in the Santa Barbara Independent reflecting on the need for marine protected areas in Southern California.

In his opinion editorial entitled "Setting a Gold Standard for Ocean Health Care," Chouinard talks about the business and cultural value of ocean protection:

...This philosophy of responsible enterprise has taught me my most important lesson as a businessman: Doing the right thing for the environment makes for good, financially sound business. At Patagonia we’ve found that every time we’ve elected to do the right thing, even when it costs twice as much, it’s turned out to be more profitable in the long run. It has allowed us to contribute to conservation organizations working on behalf of the world’s natural areas and wildlife, including the marine life in California’s coastal waters through the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA).

The ocean and the sea life it sustains are a part of our natural heritage and should be managed in trust for future generations, yet less than one percent of the ocean is protected. Each year the fish get smaller and less numerous. This is a disturbing trend we are seeing in oceans worldwide...

...The MLPA is a forward-looking law that calls for a network of MPAs along the length of the California coastline. That network has already been mapped out for the central part of the state, and the California Fish and Game Commission will make a final decision on protected areas for southern California during their meeting in Santa Barbara on December 15. Public comments will be accepted, so if you care about the future of the southern California coast, please attend and make your voice heard.

The MLPA takes us a step towards making the 21st century the Century of the Environment, as Edward O. Wilson calls for in his 2002 book, The Future of Life...

And let’s not forget the short-term payoffs: California’s coastal economies depend on a healthy ocean. According to the National Ocean Economics Program, southern California’s coastal economy employs more than 7 million people and contributes nearly $900 billion to the overall state economy. The vast majority of coastal visitors come for reasons other than fishing: they come to dive, walk the beach, surf and watch wildlife.
As legendary environmentalist David Brower once said, “There’s no business to be done on a dead planet.” Perhaps that’s a bit grim, but it reminds us that we need to overcome the sensibility that business and environmental stewardship are mutually exclusive. We can use business to inspire and implement solutions to our environmental challenges.

In other words, start close to home and see where it leads. A network of MPAs along California’s coastline will bring major ecologic and economic benefits to the state, and set a gold standard for ocean protection we can hope to replicate around the world.

• Tags:
• Marine Life Protection Act
• mlpa
• Marine Protected Areas
• patagonia
• yvon chouinard

Business leaders: Ocean protection is good for business

California businesses leaders have come together to support the timely implementation of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA). Over 130 businesses from around the state signed a letter urging the state to prioritize ocean protection, noting that the state's environmental and economic health are closely linked.
 
Patagonia, Horny Toad Activewear, Rieman Surf School, Prudential California Realty, Groundswell Technologies, Inc., Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, SEA LIFE Aquarium at LEGOLAND®, Living Sea Images, Reef Seekers Dive Co., and the K Nathan Gallery in San Diego and more than 100 other businesses urged the state to invest in ocean protection:
 
"According to the National Ocean Economics Program, the California coastal economy is responsible for supporting more than 15 million jobs in 2008 while paying more than $797 billion in wages to those in the sector.  Our coastal economy depends on abundant fish and wildlife, healthy ecosystems, and clean beaches and ocean waters.   Visitors from around the world come to experience the beautiful and bountiful California coast.  They stay in our hotels, eat at our restaurants and spend money on a range of goods and services from postcards to surf lessons.
 
With coastal economic activities accounting for 83 percent of the U.S. economy, ocean protection is good for business. A science-based network of Marine Protected Areas can help safeguard those valuable resources and support the long-term economic vitality of coastal communities."
 
-- Business leaders’ letter to the California Fish and Game Commission, October, 2010.
 
“This broad support from the business community underscores the fact that environmental and economic health go hand in hand in southern California,” said Kate Hanley of San Diego Coastkeeper.  “From tourism to hospitality, restaurants to research, the health of our oceans is critical to the health of many local industries.”
 
San Diego area businesses will present the Fish and Game Commission with over 130 letters in support of the MLPA at their October 20 meeting, and will be joined by divers, surfers, scientists, elected officials, and other ocean advocates urging strong protections for southern California’s coastal treasures.  The Commission is expected to finalize plans for the south coast Marine Protected Area network at their December meeting in Santa Barbara.
 
 

• Tags:
• mlpa
• business leaders
• patagonia
• horny toad
• mpa
• FGC