Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the California South Coast Study Region

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the California South Coast Study Region

On December 15, 2010, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) certified the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR, SCH# 2010071012) for marine protected areas (MPAs) in state waters within the southern California coastal region and adopted a regulatory package implementing those MPAs. The Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) south coast study region, extending from Point Conception (Santa Barbara County) to the U.S.-Mexico border (San Diego County), is the third of five regions in the state to undergo the MLPA planning process. Passed by the California State Legislature in 1999, the MLPA directs the state to redesign its system of MPAs to function as a more cohesive and effective network to protect marine life and habitat. Rather than designing and implementing regulations for MPA network for the entire state at one time, the MLPA planning and implementation process has been broken down into a series of independent regional processes across five geographically defined study regions. Once implemented, the south coast MPAs will join the MPAs currently in place for the central and north central coast study regions, to form a network ranging from the California border with Mexico, to Alder Creek near Point Area in Mendocino County. The Commission will receive recommendations for the north coast study regions (the fourth study region) from the north coast Blue Ribbon Task Force in February 2011, which will marh the start of the formal regulatory process. The public process for San Francisco Bay, the fifth and final study region, has not yet begun.

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