Marine Life in Santa Monica Bay. Santa Monica Bay’s rare submarine canyons and rocky headlands produce an assortment of marine ecosystems that attract and support the abundant marine life and rich biodiversity present in the Bay from dolphins to grunion to spiny lobster. 

 

Changing Marine Ecosystems. By the late 1990’s 80% of the Southern California mainland kelp forests were gone, large predatory fish were hard to find, and the fishing industry showed signs of decline. Long-term monitoring studies of marine life in the bay show continuing changes to marine foodwebs as several fished species continue to decline.

 

The Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) directs the state to reevaluate and redesign California’s system of marine protected areas (MPAs) to: increase coherence and effectiveness in protecting the state's marine life and habitats, marine ecosystems, and marine natural heritage, as well as to improve recreational, educational and study opportunities provided by marine ecosystems subject to minimal human disturbance.

 

Science of MPAS. SMBRC supports MPAs because the science shows that the more robust ecosystem within MPAs will persist through good years and bad because the fish are bigger, more numerous, and of a wider variety. In addition, the diving is better inside, while fishing is better outside. And MPAs enhance research and education because they are examples of more natural marine ecosystems.

 

The MLPA-Initiative. SMBRC supports the MLPA-Initiative because this ground-breaking process incorporates community-based public involvement into traditional rulemaking in a way that may revolutionize policy-making across the country and even the world.

 

SMBRC is thrilled that the MLPA is finally being implemented in Southern California. There is hard work ahead, but we expect to see a new network of MPAs begin providing refuge for marine life and stability in our marine resources as early as 2011.

 

Get Involved. For more information contact Lia Protopapadakis, SMBRC staff and member of the South Coast Regional Stakeholder Group for the MLPA Initiative (310) 216-9826, or go to the MLPA website (www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa).