Dear Supporters of Marine Reserves:

After years of delays and slow going, efforts to establish Marine Protected Area in both state and federal waters off the Central Coast are finally making real progress.

MLPA Regional Stakeholder Group Convenes
The Marine Life Protection Act Central Coast Regional Stakeholder Group (CCRSG) has been established; it held its first meeting in Monterey on June 8-9. The CCRSG is charged with drawing up marine protected areas, including reserves, in state waters from Pigeon Point (North of Santa Cruz and Año Nuevo) to Point Conception (Between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara).

The CCRSG is made up of a diverse group of individuals including COOL members, representatives of commercial fishing, recreational fishing, harbor interests, divers, business owners, abalone farmers and artists. The primary task of the CCRSG is to draft a set of maps, offering possible options for networks of reserves and other MPAs. These will form the basis for the Blue Ribbon Task Force and Department of Fish and Game's recommendations to the Fish & Game Commission. The Commission will make the final decision on where protected areas will be, probably in mid-2006. The CCRSG has been told to work fast: maps will be in initial draft form this fall, and the CCRSG is scheduled to finish its work by year-end. CCRSG members are responsible for representing the views of their constituency, so feel free to contact CCRSG members with your ideas for MPAs.

You can review the complete list of CCRSG online.

An official memo summarizing the kick-off meeting of the CCRSG was issued by the group's facilitator. We've posted it on the COOL website.

The next meeting will be July 7-8.

Sanctuary Working at the Same Time
The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is also moving forward with their process to evaluate MPAs in federal waters under a time line that parallels the MLPA Initiative. The Sanctuary is also coordinating closely with the Department of Fish and Game to share resources (such as geographic and biological information and socio-economic data) and to ensure that future plans for MPAs in state and federal waters are complementary. 

Thanks again for your support and interest in marine reserves.

Very Gratefully,

Everyone at COOL

P.S. There is a great deal of background information on marine reserves and MLPA on our website. If you want to get more informed on the issues, take a look!

"The mission of the Coalition of Organizations for Ocean Life is to foster the creation of a network of marine reserves that will help restore, enhance and protect the diversity and abundance of California's marine life and underwater habitats, and to educate the public on the value of marine reserves and healthy oceans."

A partial list of our members and supporting businesses is available here.