Marine Protected Areas

For decades, California’s fisheries boomed. Coastal communities enjoyed generous catches that poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the state’s economy. But by the late 1990s, several California fisheries were showing signs of depletion. Rockfish, lingcod, and sea bass populations had plummeted. Years of overfishing and the use of destructive gear like bottom trawls were taking an obvious toll on both sea life and the economy.
 
Concerned state lawmakers took aim at reversing these trends when they passed the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) in 1999. The law mandated that the state give marine life a chance to rebound by establishing a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) that limit fishing and other extractive activities along the coast. The legislation specified that MPA siting decisions had to meet rigorous scientific guidelines, ensuring enough diverse habitats for the reserve system to work for a broad array of marine species.

MPA design processes are notoriously contentious as fishermen and other resource users fight to protect their access, and this can doom the effort. So, the MPA network design process also had to take into account how communities and industries would be affected and include stakeholders in decision-making.

The ambitious marine planning effort required strong science engagement, skilled negotiations, and an inclusive public process. Recognizing the importance of the effort, the Conservancy loaned two science staff with years of marine spatial planning experience to help facilitate what turned into a seven year effort. At the time, the Conservancy had already been working with fishing communities in the Central Coast of California, and even owned a significant number of fishing permits. Early successes in that program helped to establish credibility with fishermen, scientists, and conservationists, and allowed our participating scientists to play an interested, yet impartial advisory role, in fulfilling the MLPA mandate.