There are actually two processes in place on the Central Coast that may result in new Marine Reserves,
the State of California's Marine Life Protection Act
and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary's Special Marine Protected Area Action Plan.

Extensive information on both is available via links, below.

California's Marine Life Protection Act

The State's Department of Fish & Game maintains an extensive website of MLPA information. On the right side of the home page you'll find a large number of very useful links including history, a goals statement, useful definitions of terms such as "park" and "reserve," selected FAQs, and a brief bibliography with abstracts of recent scientific papers about the use of MPAs in California.

 

The Department of Fish & Game announced on January 12, 2004, that MLPA was on indefinte hold, due to the state's budget crisis. In early August, the Governor's office announced the re-start of the MLPA. Implementation of MLPA has become a component of Gov. Schwarzenegger's Ocean Action Plan. The MLPA re-start was enabled by a public-private partnership with the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation. With the re-start comes a new phased approach to creating new reserves and other protected areas. The first area to be phased-in will be the Central Coast. (As of 11/9/04 the exact area to be included in the "Central Coast" is yet to be determined.) The state has commited to state-wide implementation by 2011.

• The Governor has convened a Blue Ribbon MLPA Task Force to design a new process to gather public input and implement the law. The Task Force's members are listed on a special website. To facilitate the transparency of its operation, the Task Force continually updates an extensive section on the Department of Fish and Game's website.
  
• The MLPA Task Force hired professional staff in November of 2004. In December, they announced the selection of a 19-member Statewide Interest Group that will advise the Task Force on the overall process to develop a draft master plan framework and network of marine protected areas along the California coast. The members of the Statewide Interest Group are listed online. In January, 2005, a 16-member Science Advisory Team was announced. Its members are also listed online.
  
• As of February 9, 2005, the Task Force is posting agendas for all public meetings (including public workshops, Task Force meetings, and meetings of the Science Team) on a central page. The agenda for the February 11 Science Team Meeting, along with links to portions of the Draft Master Plan Framework are available on a separate page.
  
• The Task Force's most current working documents are also posted. There is a separate link for the important Criteria for Selecting the Central Coast Project Area (now referred to as the central coast study region).
  Note that documents are added to these pages frequently, and updates are not usually announced. Interested parties should check them frequently.
  
• On April 11, 2004 the Task Force determined that the Central Coast would begin at Pigeon Point (San Mateo County, just north of Point Año Nuevo) in the north and run south to include all of Monterey Bay, the Big Sur Coast, San Luis Obispo County to Point Conception in the south. Mike DeLapa was announced as the newly hired Central Coast Project Manager, and nominations for members of the Regional Stakeholder Group were opened immediately.
  
• On May 16, 2005 the Task Force and Department of Fish & Game announced the the Central Coast Regional Stakeholder Group. In July and August, new alternate members were named to the group. The updated list of members is posted on the DFG website.
  
• The Central Coast Regional Stakeholder Group (CCRSG) held its first meeting on June 8-9, 2005. The key outcomes of the meeting are summarized in a memo written by the group's professional facilitator. The group adopted a set of ground rules, which were also circulated. Both documents are available in PDF format.
  
• The CCRSG's second meeting took place July 7-8, 2005. The key outcomes of the meeting were summarized in a memo from the professional facilitator. The memo is available in PDF format.
  
• The CCRSG's third meeting took place August 10-11 in Monterey. We'll post information on the outcomes as soon as it is available.
  
• On August 18, 2005 the Fish and Game Commission approved the Draft Master Plan Framework by a unanimous 5-0 vote.
  

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary's
Special Marine Protected Area Action Plan

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is currently in the process of updating its Management Plan for the first time since the Sanctuary’s creation in 1992.  During the public scoping process designed to determine what issues should be addressed in its new Management Plan, the Sanctuary received 7,000 comments calling for the establishment of marine reserves to protect the marine ecosystem.  Responding to this overwhelming public demand, the Sanctuary and its Advisory Council created a Special Marine Protected Areas Working Group made up of divers, scientists, conservationists, recreational and commercial fishermen and others to provide input on this important issue.  The working group developed a Special Marine Protected Area Action Plan that was adopted unanimously by the MBNMS Sanctuary Advisory Council on December 5, 2003.

The goal of the Action Plan is "To determine the role, if any, of additional Marine Protected Areas in maintaining the integrity of biological communities in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary... If additional MPAs are to be created, provide for the design of MPAs that are compatible with the continuation of long-term sustainable fishing in the Sanctuary..."

The full text of the plan can be downloaded from the Sanctuary's website as a PDF document (239K). You will need the free Adobe Reader.

The initial composition of the group is listed on page one of the plan.

Both the Sanctuary Advisory Council and the Sanctuary itself will consider any all recommendations of the SMPA Working Group..

Throughout 2004, the SMPA Working Group continued to meet and began to address the many strategies contained in the Plan.  Issues considered include the range of conservation goals SMPAs can achieve, the status of socio-economic datafor the Sanctuaryareaandmethods of improving this data, and mapping needs for MPA analysis.  The SMPA working group has also expressed interest in coordinating efforts with the State of California’s MarineLifeProtectionInitiative (MLPA).  The Working Group is expected to continue to develop the strategies contained in the Action Plan in 2005.

Although the Sanctuary Advisory Council adopted the SMPA Action Plan unanimously, the Monterey Bay area is not exempt from the controversy that plagues MPA planning efforts around the globe.  Significantly, some members of thefishingcommunity prefer that the Sanctuary’s role be limited to research and planning and that implementation of any future marine reserves within Sanctuary waters be done by State Fish and Game or the Pacific Fisheries Management Council and not the Sanctuary itself.  In August 2004, a fishing group pursued an advisory resolution from the Monterey County Board of Supervisors suggesting that the Sanctuary should not regulate fishing. This advisory resolution failed to recognize that the Sanctuary is considering MPAs as a tool for ecosystem protection and not for fisheriesmanagement. The Board’srecommendation also ignores the overwhelming public support for Sanctuary adoption of marine reserves including the many thousand Monterey County residents and numerous businesses in support of increased Sanctuary ecosystem protection.  COOL urges area residents to contact their local elected officials and voice support for marine reserves and other marine protected areas as an important tool for protecting both the marine environment and coastal tourism dependent economies.

The Sanctuary maintains an extensive website. A good introduction for first-time visitors is available.