July 16, 2021

CFSB Board Meeting Minutes - July 5, 2021

Attendance:

Chris Voss, Bernard Friedman, Garrett Rose, Harry Liquornik, Gary Burke, Paul Teall, Michael Harrington, Kim Selkoe, Mike Nelson

Absent: John Colgate

Notes:

BR Hoover

Agenda:

  1. Vote to approve monthly financial statements for 2021

  2. TNC Grant for Lobster Trap App Update

  3. USDA Grant Update

  4. Offshore Wind

  5. Harbor Commissioner Report (Mike Nelson)

  6. Other Fishery News

Kim Selkoe opened the meeting on July 5, 2021 at 3:30pm. Meeting was held at the Harbor Classroom.

1. Vote To Approve Monthly Financial Statements For 2021 (So Far)

Vote to approve the monthly financial statements has been postponed because the current statements have to be adjusted to reflect the new tax bracket for CFSB. 


Harrington suggested CFSB can change the frequency of financial reports done to save the organization some money. For our organization’s purposes, quarterly financial reports (instead of monthly), and annual journal entries (instead of quarterly) will be sufficient.


Motion made by Rose to change the financial report schedule to quarterly (instead of monthly). Unanimous approval by board members present (Present: Bernard Friedman, Garrett Rose, Harry Liquornik, Gary Burke, Paul Teall. Absent: Chris Voss, John Colgate)


Motion made by Rose to change the journal entry schedule to annual (instead of quarterly). Unanimous approval by board members present (Present: Bernard Friedman, Garrett Rose, Harry Liquornik, Gary Burke, Paul Teall. Absent: Chris Voss, John Colgate)



2. TNC Grant For Lobster Trap App Update

Background

CFSB has received a grant from TNC to 1) collaborate and develop an app to report lost Lobster Traps and 2) carry out a lost Lobster Trap clean up event. Two apps are being developed; The “Beach Walker” version, which is for reporting washed up traps from the beach, and the “On The Water” version, which is for reporting lost lobster traps spotted from a boat and is mainly intended for fishermen. The funds are to be used for staff time and any costs associated with the project, such as fuel reimbursement for fishermen who volunteer and provide their boat for beta testing the app and/or the trap clean up event.    


So far, part one of the project has been completed. Last week, Chris, BR, and Kim, along with volunteers beta tested the app at Santa Cruz island. Many traps were sighted along the beaches and reported via the app. The results are now being compiled by TNC and lobster trap “hotspots” will be created and used for part two of the project, which will be to go back and retrieve the lost traps and clean the beaches. 


Participation in the project is open to anyone who wishes to be involved. Please stay tuned for a separate email with more information regarding the clean up event. 



3. USDA Grant Update 

The USDA grant has been submitted and CFSB will hear back regarding the results at the end of August. The grant is for $100,000.  


Liquornik expressed interest in exploring government grants for the Saturday Market and asked that the board be notified if any other interesting grand opportunities come up. 



4. Offshore Wind 

Voss would like the board and CFSB to think about mitigation strategies for fishermen if the Offshore Wind project is to move forward. An idea would be to use the cable grant as a template for this mitigation. 


Voss stressed the importance of all fishermen affected to act collectively and not make one off deals with any of the companies that are bidding for the contract. Freedman agreed that If we act collectively, we will have greater bargaining power. 

Burke noted that this Offshore Wind farm is magnitudes more damaging and restrictive to fishing than the effects the Cable grant is mitigating. This specific type of wind farm is using 100s of giant windmills that are all connected to each other by cables attached to their platforms with some attached to the ocean floor. No other farm in the world is doing this at this magnitude, so there are still many questions (environmental impact etc…) that need to be answered before we will know the appropriate mitigation.

Mike Conroy at PCFFA is devoting a lot of time and resources to this issue. In the meantime, Voss suggests that CFSB attend informational webinars offered by Conroy and make sure we are staying up to date. 


5. Harbor Commissioner Report


Nelson reports on slip transfer fees. The subcommittee of the harbor commission that is addressing slip transfers is reconsidering and evaluating how slip transfer fees are calculated. One idea is basing the price off a percent value of the slip, rather than length of vessel. In regards to the ability to transfer slips (without a fee) to family members, or adding a spouse, Nelson reports that this is very unlikely to happen. 

 


6. Other Fishery News

 

Kim reports that Time Athens asks for CFSB to support A letter to express opposition to the expansion of the MPA off of San Miguel. The expansion has affected the rockfish fishery. In other MPAs, the expansions were in one direction, while in this one, it was expanded in multiple directions, covering much more water, taking away much more viable habitat. Athens asks that we ask NOAA to “Please reconsider the shape of the expansion of the area”. 


The board is in support of Athens and is willing to provide the letter.

Meeting adjourned at at 5:30PM.