CS2RSTLAGOVTPRES

Agenda: 

Agenda Introductions CS2R/STLA Situation Environmental Case Economic Case Involvement Summary

Who is CS2R?: 

Who is CS2R? California Ships to Reefs (CS2R) www.ships2reefs.com Committee of the SDOF Charter Create Cultured Reefs using surplus ships along the California Coast SDOF Yukon process, experience, and knowledge-base, consolidated in CS2R

Who is SDOF?: 

Who is SDOF? San Diego Oceans Foundation www.sdoceans.org 20 year 501c3 Corp Promoting “sustainable use” of the oceans Many programs to benefit Ocean health WSB, Oceans in Motion, ARMP, Canyon Walks Project Yukon Economic Report Ecological Report

Who is STLA?: 

Who is STLA? Local Promotion of Ships as Cultured Reefs Relationship between STLA and CS2R Need for local support

Situation: 

Situation MARAD/US Navy has 400 obsolete ships. Congress has mandated their disposal.

Yukon Ecological Study: 

Yukon Ecological Study SDOF/CS2R sponsored Assessment – 2002-2004 Ecological Monitoring Monitor the Yukon – fish and fouling community development on the reef Purely a volunteer effort, SDOF provided divers to collect data (fish counts) Fish transects lines and photo quadrants The study did not: Study the impacts of the Yukon on the regional production of fish – insufficient resources *Parnell, UCSD, Scripps School of Oceanography (2005)

Ecological Treasures: 

Ecological Treasures Habitat = Fish Procreation Ocean Desert >>>> Ocean Forrest Predator Protection Spring 2001 to Fall 2003 Procreation 100 to 300 (mean, total fish per fish count) 3.5 to 8 (mean, species richness)

Economic Treasures: 

Economic Treasures Local Ship Building Industry Fill in work, reducing temporary layoffs Dept. of Labor Training work Tourism Dive Industry Hotels Restaurants Local Attractions

Economic Treasures: 

Economic Treasures Yukon* Cost $1.5M (contributions) Benefit San Diego Market benefits $4.5 Million/year San Diego Non-market benefits $1.2 Million/year 10,800 dives/year on Yukon; 6,000 from out of town Divers spent average of $95/trip on dive related activities *Pendleton (2005)

CS2R/STLA COORDINATION: 

CS2R/STLA COORDINATION CS2R Proven Success (Yukon) Identified in RAND report to Congress as the correct way to “reef” a ship Established working relationships with CCC, Cal EPA, and all other agencies required to sink a ship Established working relationship with Scripps Institute of Oceanography, for pre/post-sinking studies

STLA ACTIONS: 

STLA ACTIONS Sunken Treasures Society of Los Angeles will: solicit support from local state legislators solicit support from local community leaders STLA and CS2R will: work together to invesitagate/approve candidate Sites and Ships work together to prepare the ship for sinking (fish and diver friendly) work together to put ship down work together with research group for follow-up studies

Vision of InvolvementState Level: 

Vision of Involvement State Level CS2R will CS2R acts as the contracting agency in conjunction with state Agencies CS2R contracts the transport, cleaning, and sinking of the ships CS2R coordinates all PreSink/PostSink research and studies of ship

Vision of Involvement Federal Level: 

Vision of Involvement Federal Level Information Share CS2R is part of the greater confederacy of S2R state organizations Issue Standard for Reefing CS2R works with the Army Corp of Engineers, EPA, NOAA, US Coast Guard, US Fish and Wildlife Service Scaleable operations to meet demand

Summary: Win-Win-Win: 

Summary: Win-Win-Win Rarely is there the convergence of three special interests all benefiting from a common cause Government (cost effective ship disposal) Ecology (enhances ocean health) Economy (enhances industry: fishing/diving tourism, etc.) CS2R/STLA is the answer!