Heal the Bay Blog

For the last three months, I’ve been yearning to blog or write an op-ed on AB 376, the state bill that would ban the sale of shark fins in California. I haven’t been more excited about a marine conservation bill in nearly a decade.  But to be honest, having an environmental biologist like me write about shark conservation wouldn’t add much momentum to get the bill passed.

After all, nearly every major environmental and animal rights group in the nation strongly supports the bill.  Many of these groups persuaded globally known actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and January Jones to advocate for the bill via Twitter and op-eds. Even the Monterey Bay Aquarium, generally neutral on environmental bills, decided to sponsor the bill and hire well-respected lobbyists to fight for shark conservation.

The one person I know that could really make a difference in the fight to enact the shark fin ban is my brother, Jonathan.  After all, there is no food writer more highly respected nationally than Jonathan.  He’s the only food writer to earn a Pulitzer and he’s received seven James Beard Awards, the food industry’s equivalent of the Oscars.

Also, Jonathan’s writing delves into both the worlds of food and modern culture.  His writing on Chinese food is particularly distinct and well respected, as nearly every significant Chinese restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley has a copy of one of his reviews plastered on a window or framed in the lobby.

Unlike my brother, I’ve never consumed shark fin soup.  In fact, I remember threatening his physical harm at a Monterey Park Cantonese seafood palace that actually had a cart featuring the item for $30 a bowl back in the1990s.  Jonathan eagerly called the cart driver to our table just to get a rise out of me.  He thought it was hilarious.  I wasn’t laughing.

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With the world focused on the silly brinksmanship in Congress over the national debt ceiling, there hasn’t been enough focus on the ramifications of the recent California legislative redistricting process.  The final maps, created by an independent body called the California Citizens Redistricting Committee, just came out last week and the new districts are substantially different.  For the L.A. County coast, the changes are pretty dramatic.

Overall, our local coast didn’t do that well during redistricting.  Separating the ports in different congressional and senate districts is not good for San Pedro Bay and misses the opportunity to integrate environmental protection and cleanup efforts among the ports, and L.A. and Long Beach. The new state senate districts separate some of the strongest supporters of Santa Monica Mountains conservation from the actual resource.  That makes it tougher for Westside residents to help out on those issues.

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