North Central Coast to become part of California's marine preserve system
Matt Weiser
Sacramento Bee
04/29/2010
On Saturday, 153 square miles of ocean between Santa Cruz and Pt. Arena officially become part of California's new marine preserve system.
This so-called North Central Coast area is the second region of the state to complete the preserve designation process required by the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act. It includes 21 marine preserves, three recreation management areas and six special closure zones.
Boaters and anglers are advised to become familiar with new maps designating the reserves and regulations within each one, because in some cases fishing and other resource harvesting activities are banned or strictly regulated. Fishing is banned completely in about 56 percent of the designated areas, or about 86 square miles.
The maps and regulations can be found on the internet by visiting http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/ and clicking on the "North Central Coast" button in the center column of the page.
