Establishing state reserves is key for marine life

Jane Kay
San Francisco Chronicle
10/19/2007

In 1960, California officials established the first underwater reserve in the United States off Point Lobos on the Big Sur coast south of Carmel.
The idea was radical: No fishing, no crabbing, no abalone hunting, no quarrying granite and no collecting animal life, seashells or rocks.
In the four decades since then, many of the Pacific Ocean's rockfish species have been fished out from other areas of the California coast. Fish across a range of species are fewer in number and generally smaller.
But at Point Lobos State Reserve, divers and scientists report incredible underwater scenes: 70-foot kelp forests shelter huge lingcod, red-lipped tree fish and scorpionfish. Rocks are thick with anemones, purple snails and other sea life that is so strangely beautiful that those fortunate to see it compare it to the richness of the vast Caribbean reefs.
And that's what has made the Point Lobos reserve a model for California's groundbreaking law passed in 1999 to create a chain of protected areas along the 1,100-mile coast. The California Fish and Game Commission is working on establishing the chain of reserves and other sensitive areas, which will receive varying levels of restrictions depending on their ecological value and the demands for commercial and sport fishing.
California is the only state with a law requiring a statewide reserve network. Florida has several federal marine sanctuaries and parks. Hawaii has established some state reserves along an outer chain of islands west of Kauai. Oregon is considering a state system.
Protections for the first link of 29 spots between San Mateo and Santa Barbara counties went into effect Sept. 21. The new protected areas include 15 spots where sport and commercial fishing is limited; 13 reserves covering 85 square miles where no fishing is allowed; and one spot near Morro Bay where some sport fishing and waterfowl hunting is permitted.
Now under public review is the coastline from San Mateo County north to coastal waters off Mendocino County, including Half Moon Bay, the Point Reyes headlands, the Farallon Islands and Bodega Bay.
Fishermen, both commercial and recreational, including owners of chartered party boats, are expected to resume their fight to ensure access to some of the richest fishing holes. Environmental groups pressed for the reserves in the mid-1990s, among them Bolinas-based Commonweal, Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense.
"We were seeing alarming declines in the number, size and diversity of ocean life. To have any hope of reversing those declines, it was clear we needed to give the fish a break and create safe havens where they could thrive," said Karen Garrison, co-director of Natural Resources Defense Council's oceans program.
Proponents of the state reserve program cite the results of some 130 studies of reserves around the world. The scientists concluded that reserves tend to have much higher densities of heavily fished species than nearby ocean waters, and the individual fish tended to be larger. And fish inside the reserve could swim outside, where they could be caught by sport or commercial fishermen. Fish babies, eggs and larvae could waft out of the protected areas into the bigger ocean.
Reserves also tend to increase the diversity of ocean species, restoring the normal functioning of the ecosystem, studies show.
In Southern California, for instance, protecting California spiny lobsters from overfishing also protects the kelp beds, which serve as a nursery for hundreds of other species. The lobsters - and the sea otters - keep down the populations of kelp-munching sea urchins.
In California, a science team formed to advise on the state's network concluded that the reserves need to be 30 to 60 miles apart to allow larvae to get from one to another. The reserves need to be 3 to 6 miles across to protect the fish inside, including bottom dwellers such as rockfish and lingcod. The areas wouldn't offer as great a benefit for the wide-ranging tuna, salmon and sardines, they noted.
But fishermen like Bolinas resident Josh Churchman, who goes after crab, rockfish and salmon, says the science isn't that clear if one considers the incredible variability of ocean conditions, including warm- and cold-water years and current and wind patterns. There are also questions about which species would benefit the most from reserves, he said.
"It's hard to call it good science. If all the adult fish are consumed by harbor seals and sea lions, you've negated your purpose," said Churchman, who's fished for nearly 40 years and takes part in the stakeholder talks over the siting of marine reserves. The next meeting is scheduled for late November. A location has not been set.
Some supporters worry that the state Department of Fish and Game, which manages the network, will not have sufficient funds to do a good job.
"Fish and Game will need more resources than it has had for scientific monitoring to see how the reserves are working and to enforce restrictions," said Burr Heneman, Commonweal's director of ocean-policy programs, who started working on the legislation a decade ago.
The protected areas got a good funding start this year.
In the 2007-08 budget, $2 million was set aside as a one-time allocation. Also, 20 Fish and Game positions were created specifically for the marine reserves.
In addition, the California Ocean Protection Council, a governor-appointed body set up under a 2004 law, earmarked $6 million of its budget allocation for monitoring of the central coast reserves, seafloor mapping and other research. The council also found nearly $4 million from other funding sources to support the new reserve system.
The challenge is to keep up the funding, Heneman said. "Because California is early in this, it's all the more important that they do a really good job in evaluating the protected areas to see how they work."