Coast protection to go into effect

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A network of marine protected areas encompassing more than 200 square miles of state waters along the Central Coast between San Mateo and Santa Barbara counties will go into effect this Friday.
The 29 sites will extend protections for marine life including rockfish, abalone, kelp, marine mammals and seabirds, as well as safeguarding migration corridors for salmon. Although the protected zones will either limit or prevent commercial and recreational fishing, 90 percent of Central Coast waters will remain open to fishing, officials said.

“These new marine protected areas will help us preserve some of California’s most biologically significant marine habitats while also allowing for recreational and commercial fishing,” Secretary for Resources Mike Chrisman said in a statement.
The first of five MPA networks planned for California’s 1,100-mile coastline, the Central Coast Region includes 15 zones that limit recreational and commercial fishing, 13 “no-take” zones, and one area that restricts recreational fishing. Marine wardens from the Department of Fish and Game will patrol and enforce the new zones and continue to monitor fishing throughout state waters, which extend three miles from the shoreline.
Scientists hope the protective zones will serve as research sites to study how marine life interacts with little or no human disturbance.
“We are now developing a long-term monitoring system to better understand MPA effects and to help inform how they are managed over time,” said Dr. Amber Mace, executive director of the California Ocean Science Trust. “MPAs can help the state’s most important marine ecosystems to thrive, while potentially enhancing other uses such as wildlife viewing and fishing.”
The Central Coast network resulted from a unanimous vote of approval by the California Fish and Game Commission in April and a two-year public process that began in February 2005. As the network goes into effect on Friday, it effectively marks the launch of the Marine Life Protection Act, designed to conserve marine resources for long-term sustainability while enhancing recreational and ocean research opportunities.