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They waited all day to say their article on the complexities, complications, data errors, and potentially life-changing financial threats of a 372-page report from the California Air Resources Board.
San Diego County’s sport fishing captains and the owners of California’s largest boat dock lingered Friday from 9 a.m. to nearly 7 p.m. to highlight how pending regulations regarding engine upgrades that don’t exist for their boats, as written, could batter the industry.
They each had a minute and a half, or the time it would take to get to the passage at a bank.
How do you explain to decision-makers in Sacramento the real-life breakups in the report, the generational mom-and-pop businesses that might close, and the retirement plans that would go?
The annoying reality: you can’t, at least not completely.
As the clock is ticking, discomfort and fear have turned into simmering anger.
“I don’t know of any (sport fishing) organizers or ecotourism operators that CARB has contacted to talk about … none,” said Frank Ursitti, owner of H&M Landing. “There was no contact to understand their business or implications. These are coastal economies. The ripple effect of this is enormous.
“It is incomprehensible that there is (90 seconds) to comment.”
Without delving too deep into the watery weeds, questions and disagreements swirl over data accuracy, security and stability concerns, economic and human impacts, fee increases that price disadvantaged communities, and more.
So, those who tightened their livelihoods on the line ran up and down for hours to take advantage of those 90 seconds.
Capt. Markus Medak, 49, paid out the $ 620,000 bill on the New Lo-An just last month. He has been working on owning his floating business since early 2004.
CARB pointed out at an early stage that retrofitting older boats with “Tier 4” engines – again engines that are not yet available for boats of the sport fishing class – would be impossible for many. The solution, suggested board members, would be to buy new boats.
Now the goal posts have moved and “many” is more likely “most”. The regulations threatening to tie boats to the dock would bring the stats of the crater ships to near zero, especially for bait fishing boats built specifically for San Diego’s unique fishery.
Even for the brave few willing to bear the immense cost, the bleak future of sport fishing would make applying for credit difficult at best.
“It’s not because we don’t want new boats,” said Medak. “We can’t pay that. You’re talking about $ 4-5 million. It is impossible. Most of whatever excess money my business generated I used to pay off the note.
“That was my retirement account.”
The group gathered at the Sportfishing Association of California offices on North Harbor Drive spent the hours sharing concerns and reducing frustrations.
Research by the SAC shows that among the fewer than 200 boats in the California fleet carrying seven or more passengers – nearly half of which operate out of San Diego – 80 are already using Tier 3 engines, the highest and most emission-friendly option for boats of their size.
Another 85, according to SAC President Ken Franke, are currently approved or are applying for these engines as the state relies on Tier 4 technology to catch up along the way.
The San Diego Captains watched a video that showed another worrying element of the proposed regulations.
In addition to Tier 4 engines, a so-called diesel particulate filter is to be prescribed. The demonstration went through the filter’s potential to clog and create an alarming risk of fire.
“I wouldn’t want that to happen 200 miles offshore,” said Royal Star Captain Tim Ekstrom, letting some snoring creep in. “I’m sure the Coast Guard would be fine with that.”
CARB’s estimated fee increase of $ 40 per passenger could cover impending costs, which the captains of San Diego described as absurd. That number would push the basic half-day excursions above $ 100 for the sake of reasoning – though it would undoubtedly be more.
A speaker at the CARB meeting, a retired, fixed-income man who takes his grandson fishing on California boats, said a fee hike this amount would jeopardize, if not end, those trips.
“This is the beginning of the gentrification of sport fishing,” said Ursitti. “That contradicts justice and access. We are not an industry without entry-level experience. If we price that out and make it unattainable, everything will fail. “
But the hope for compromises peers over the dark blue horizon.
Nearly 100 speakers, including those who supported the proposed plans, marched through 7 p.m. The topics were handled like a ball the size of a living room. Topics kept popping up like white hats.
There are clear indications that the avalanche of feedback resonated.
Board members talked about expanding funding, reviewing expansion processes, and improving communications, while focusing on keeping small businesses afloat as emissions standards tighten.
A stubborn door might really have been cracked.
“It was convincing,” said Franke on Saturday. “I am optimistic that I will find a solution and something useful.”
To those at stake the most, that’s all they ever asked.
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