Marine Life Protection Act Background Information

In 1999 California passed the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA). This state legislation is designed to “sustain, conserve and protect” that state's marine resources through a series of designations called marine protected areas (MPAs), including no-fishing areas called marine reserves, which extend three miles from shore.

There are three types of MPAs that can be established under the MLPA:

• State Marine Reserves, which prohibit recreational fishing and all other forms of recreational and commercial “extraction”. The area is to be maintained as an undisturbed state as much as possible, so access like boating or diving may be prohibited as well.
• State Marine Parks, which places limits on recreational fishing and bans commercial fishing.
• State Marine Conservation Areas, in which only certain activities that compromise the integrity of the area might be limited.

The state began implementation shortly after passage of the law, but the effort stalled due to the lack of financial resources. In 2004, the implementation resumed with an infusion of funds from the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation. Implementation of the MLPA poses serious questions about the future of sportfishing in California and presents a serious challenge to sportfishing because:

• The MLPA and the various designations made under it is a complex process making it difficult for anglers and the public to understand;
• Statewide, anglers are not coordinated to oppose large unwarranted closures;
• Environmental groups supporting closures under the MLPA are well-funded and some have invested in a state/private partnership to fund the implementation of the MLPA;
• Environmental groups supporting closures have invested heavily in media campaigns; and
• Angler groups have not presented a message that is coordinated or clear.

Phase I - Central Coast
The MLPA is being implemented in phases by the California Department of Fish and Game under the MLPA Initiative. The California Fish and Game Commission approved MPA designations for Phase I – which encompasses the central coast region from San Mateo County to Santa Barbara County – in April 2007. These designations become official in September 2007. The result is the designation of 29 MPAs equaling approximately 204 square miles (or 18 percent) of state waters. Eighty five square miles, representing about 50 percent of the best fishing spots in the area, were designated as no-take state marine reserves. These designations – located from San Mateo County to Santa Barbara County – went into effect officially on Friday, September 21, 2008. The state budget crisis has recently resulted in the suspension of funding for baseline scientific studies in these areas.

Phase II - North Central Coast
Implementation of the MLPA is currently at the end of its second phase, which focuses on the north central portion of the coast. This area extends from Alder Creek in Mendocino County south to Pigeon Point in San Mateo County. The goal was to have a recommendation to the California Fish and Game Commission by May 2008. On April 24, 2008, the North Central Coast Blue Ribbon Task Force voted to recommend four different MPA alternatives to the Fish and Game Commission, including an "Integrated Preferred Alternative" (IPA) created by the Task Force, and three alternatives created by the Regional Stakeholder Group.  The Blue Ribbon Task Force officially presented these recommendations to the Fish and Game Commission in June 2008. However, due to a variety of delays, consideration of the proposals and the accompanying regulations did not begin until May 2009.

On August 5, 2009, the California Fish and Game Commission voted to impose regulations that place 20 percent of the North Central Coast's prime fishing and boating coastal areas in marine protected areas. By a 3-2 vote, the Commission approved the IPA proposal, a more restrictive plan than Proposal 2XA, the conservation-oriented proposal submitted by recreational anglers and boaters. However, the hard work put in to the process by the recreational and boating community did have an impact, as more than two-thirds of the IPA reflected Proposal 2XA.

The MPAs that have been formally adopted by the Commission under the IPA are expected to take effect on April 1, 2010.

Phase III - South Coast
The third phase – the South Coast (SC) Study Region – formally began in summer 2008. Phase III encompasses southern California from Point Conception (just above Santa Barbara) south to the Mexico border. The South Coast Regional Stakeholder Group (RSG), Science Advisory Team (SAT) and Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF) have been meeting regularly since August 2008. The RSG recently completed its second round of proposed arrays and sent six alternatives to the SAT and BRTF for evaluation. The RSG is expected to submit its final recommended MPA arrays in September 2009.

The South Coast planning process has been plagued with a lack of science and concrete guidance to the RSG from the BRTF and SAT. Due to a lack of funds, a project intended to provide habitat data for the study area did not include habitat in waters shallower than 30 meters. Given that this is where most recreational fishing occurs, the angling community is extremely concerned. In addition there has been a great amount of confusion regarding the amount of kelp habitat to be included in evaluations and the BRTF has failed to provide clear and certain guidance on the consideration of military areas in the study region. As a result 20 members of the RSG signed a letter asking for a “pause” in the process to allow for the science and data to catch up.

Despite numerous concerns, three draft MPA proposals were developed by the RSG. The recreational fishing and boating community supported Proposal 2, a proposal drafted in part by recreational and commercial fishermen and that provided significant additional conservation for California’s ocean resources while minimizing the economic impact of lost fishing opportunity. The BRTF met October 20-22, 2009, to review the three proposals, including Proposal 2, to be forwarded to the FGC for consideration during its December meeting in Los Angeles. At that meeting, the BRTF voted to advance all three proposals to the FGC. The BRTF met again on November 10 to finalize the development of an integrated preferred alternative that would include elements from the other three proposals.

The BRTF formally submitted all four proposals (three RSG proposals, and its Integrate Preferred Alternative (IPA)) to the FGC in December. In April, the FGC decided to only draft regulations for the IPA – all but ensuring its passage. Draft regulations and draft environmental impact review are scheduled to be published for public review and comment by mid-July, with a final vote scheduled for October.

Phases IV and V
The South Coast will be followed by the North Coast (Alder Creek north to the Oregon border), and finally the San Francisco Bay.  Members to the North Coast BRTF and RSG have been appointed and meetings are underway. Work has not begun on the final phase, San Francisco Bay.

The goal remains to have the planning stages complete by the end of 2010.

Additional Actions in California

Under a separate Act, California designated 175 square miles of state water within the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary as no-take marine reserves completely closed to sportfishing. And the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently designated an additional 148 square miles of federal waters as a marine reserve that prohibits all take. That’s a total of 323 square miles of water off the coast of the Channel Islands closed to sportfishing.

In addition:

• Governor Schwarzenegger of California is leading the effort to establish a ‘legacy’ of MPA’s for the entire continental west coast including coastal waters of the United States, Canada and Mexico.
• Well funded anti-use environmental groups are aggressively and successfully promoting the MPA philosophy to government and the public. They are advocating for MPA’s to be established beyond state coastal waters to extend to the 200 mile federal nautical limit.

Goal and Purpose of the California Campaign

At $336 million, California earns more state and local tax revenues from sportfishing than any other state. At $2.7 billion, sportfishing retail sales are equivalent to the value of the state's grape harvest. This is not insignificant.

The goal of California's sportfishing advocates and anglers is to protect the marine environment while minimizing unwarranted closures California’s coastal waters to recreational fishing.
The purpose of pursuing this goal is to:

• Maintain and improve the conservation of California marine fisheries and associated marine resources so as to improve the overall health of the ocean;
• Assure that the process for future closures or designations under California's Marine Life Protection Act relies on biological and economic information in a balanced fashion; and
• Increase sportfishing opportunities in California from their current economic and participation levels.

California Saltwater Recreational Fishing Facts

• Generates $2.3 billion annual economic output
• Generates $1.3 billion in retail sales
• Generates $161 million in State and local income taxes
• Pay $737 million in California salaries, wages, and business profits
• Over 760,000 saltwater anglers

The American Sportfishing Association (ASA), the sportfishing industry’s trade association, and its partners, are working to ensure that anglers' and boaters' voices are heard as marine and aquatic management plans are developed. Please donate to financially help ASA with this process.