There needs to be a clear way for a responsible person who has a broad overview of all aspects of the reserve to sort out legitimate permit requests, and the process needs to be obvious to all, especially in the scientific community. I wish to caution against the need of a large committee to sort out requests as this could unduly impede the progress benefits to the reserve. In particular, an immediate plan to implement a nominal user fee for commercial operations involving marine mammal watching. The funds from this revenue could help to offset the cost of keeping people employed to be manager-guardians of the island. The example of the one dollar per seat charge at Tofino was given.
Money collected by the charter boats helps in the ongoing research in the area.
The ecosystem is resilient for certain activities at various times of the year, but seasonality of events especially as they pertain to Great Race Rocks has to take top priority in determining human entry to the island and use of it's facilities. Seabird nesting in the summer, concentrated Sea lion haulout in the fall, harbour seal birthing in the late spring limit the level of human entry to the main island. It should also become immediate policy that access to the outlying islands should be exclusively by permit. The continued presence of guardian managers on the island is valued highly. Several participants were concerned that the reserve's unique biological diversity could be preserved by an MPA but only if there were immediate plans forthcoming to provide for a continued presence of guardians on the island.