Adaptive Management Should Anchor California’s Ocean Conservation Goals

At Año Nuevo State Beach, tide pools teem with marine life. Vibrantly colored nudibranchs and starfish scour this ever-changing habitat while hermit crabs navigate millennia-old depressions in the coastal rock they call home. 

The flourishing ecosystem found in these rocky pools is indicative of its location within the Año Nuevo State Marine Reserve (SMR). This strongly protected marine protected area (MPA) is part of California’s extensive MPA network, established by the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) and finalized across the state in 2012. 

Overseen by the Fish and Game Commission (FGC) and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), this network of 124 MPAs reaches from Del Norte County down to San Diego County, and it is a crown jewel for ocean conservation on a national and global scale. In addition to its ecological benefits and worldwide recognition, the network also supports ocean-based recreational activities—such as kayaking, surfing, and diving—that enrich California’s $28 billion ocean tourism and recreation economy.

In 2022, our state MPA network celebrated its 10th birthday. As part of that milestone, CDFW released a report called the Decadal Management Review (DMR), based on its initial 10-year review of the state MPA network, in January of last year. Despite the high degree of variation associated with the dynamic marine environment and the uniqueness of each MPA, one simple truth did result from the DMR: MPAs are largely working, though improvements remain necessary. 

In the wake of the 2014–2016 marine heat wave, scientists observed that rocky intertidal systems within Central Coast MPAs were not only more stable during the disturbance but recovered faster after it. MPAs also benefit California’s booming ocean economy by promoting fish reproduction, enhancing population connectivity, and facilitating the spillover of larger specimens into fishing grounds. Despite these promising findings, the DMR recognizes that there is still plenty of room for improvement within the management of our state MPA network.

At their August 2023 meeting, the FGC decided to undertake a round of adaptive management and requested petitions for network modifications from the public by November. For context, CDFW defines “adaptive management” as a resource management strategy that emphasizes monitoring and evaluation to best inform future actions, especially in the face of scientific uncertainty.

This past December, NRDC and other interested stakeholders submitted 20 total MPA petitions, the vast majority of which aimed to achieve conservation and equity goals, such as stronger enforcement, enhanced tribal access, greater protections for climate-vulnerable kelp forests, and increased network connectivity to boost overall ocean resilience. NRDC submitted two petitions to propose new MPAs in Santa Barbara County: Point Sal SMR and Mishopshno State Marine Conservation Area. The former petition aims to conserve a relatively undisturbed stretch of our state coastline and to increase equitable access for surrounding communities, while the latter was submitted in partnership with the Environmental Defense Center and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, with the express purpose of improving tribal access and co-management.