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Health & Fitness

To Celebrate World Ocean's Day: California Completes Nation's First Statewide Underwater Parks System

On June 6th, California made history when the Fish and Game Commission voted to complete the United States' first statewide network of underwater parks.

 

No one knows better than those of us who live here the extraordinary beauty of our coast—and this is the time to celebrate.

 Five years ago, the Central Coast made history with the adoption of a science-based network of new underwater parks. These marine protected areas were designed to safeguard our region’s amazing ocean habitats and diverse sea life.  Whereas the long-cherished Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary protects a wide swath of our coast from oil drilling and pollution discharges, these new state protected areas target smaller ecological hotspots. And they include additional protections to important habitat and marine life.  Around the globe, marine protected areas are a proven tool, restoring and conserving ocean wildlife and habitats from Australia to Zanzibar. 

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In California, iconic coastal spots like Natural Bridges, Año Nuevo, Elkhorn Slough and Point Lobos are now part of a network of underwater parks that stretches the length of our coast, thanks to the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA). This visionary law, championed by Santa Cruz County Treasurer Fred Keeley during his days in the state Assembly and long supported by Secretary of Resources John Laird, called for a new approach to ocean management, including enlisting local fishermen, scientists, business and tribal leaders and conservationists to plan science-based protections for their part of the state.  Ocean scientists from UCSC, Stanford, Moss Landing Marine Labs and other local agencies and institutions have been critical to the MLPA – providing advice on how best to design effective ocean protections and also monitoring the new areas. 

June 6 marked the completion of this historic planning effort: The state Fish and Game Commission approved a community-designed marine protected area plan for the North Coast – from Mendocino to the Oregon border. Once those protections go into effect in 2013, California can proudly claim the first statewide network of ocean parks in the nation.

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Marine protected areas, designed to keep sea life and habitats thriving, are also popular with beach goers, divers, kayakers, surfers, tide-poolers and birders.  With summer upon us, it’s a great time to take your family or friends and head to the beach or tide pool near you.  Take a whale-watching trip or rent a kayak or Stand Up Paddle Board. Get out and enjoy our beautiful ocean. And know that California is doing its part to make sure our coast will be healthy and beautiful in the future.

For more information about California’s marine protected areas, check out www.caloceans.org or www.californiampas.org

For information on rules, regulations and boundaries of marine protected areas, go to: www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/

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