The protections would prohibit all fishing in a coastal area from Point Dume to Paradise Cove, and limit species take north of Point Dume.
By Knowles Adkisson / Special to The Malibu Times
The five-person California Fish and Game Commission last Wednesday approved by a 3-2 vote the implementation of 36 new marine protected areas (MPAs) along the Southern California coast, including one off the coast of Point Dume in Malibu.
The Point Dume MPA will be divided into two contiguous areas with different regulations; one, beginning near El Matador State Beach and stretching south to the westernmost tip of Point Dume; and the second from there south to Paradise Cove.
The northern zone (Point Dume to El Matador) has been designated a State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) and the southern zone a State Marine Reserve (SMR). Adrianna Shea, deputy director of the state Department of Fish and Game, said SMRs are no-take zones where all fishing is prohibited. SMCAs allow limited fishing of certain species.
An October document containing regulations for the proposed MPAs on the Fish and Game Web site listed species that are allowed to be fished in the proposed Point Dume MPA.
According to that report, the taking of pelagic finfish (i.e., rockfish) would be allowed, as well as White Sea Bass and Pacific bonito by spear fishing. Limited commercial fishing of coastal pelagic species, including squid, mackerel and anchovies, will also be permitted by round-haul net in the SMCA. Round-haul fishing is a smaller operation than the purse-seine boats that have been fishing off Malibu’s coast the last few months. No fishing would be allowed in the Point Dume SMR (from the westernmost tip of Point Dume to Paradise Cove), although access to the entire Point Dume MPA will remain open to scuba diving, boating and other recreational activities.
The Point Dume area, one of 36 new MPAs, was targeted as a site for protection largely to safeguard an underwater canyon and kelp reef that is rare along the California coast. The new MPA appears to protect the entire canyon and some of the kelp reef.
Passage of the new MPAs follows considerable controversy between representatives of commercial fishermen and environmental activists. The Southern California coastline is the most heavily used stretch of California coastline for both fishermen and recreational pursuits. Much of the state’s commercial fishing catch comes from along the southern coast, while the outdoor activities cherished by environmentalists and nature lovers are extremely popular here. Fish and Game Commissioner Richard B. Rogers called the Dec. 15 decision to enact 36 of 49 proposed MPAs an “elegant compromise” between commercial and recreational fishing interests and environmentalists.
Malibu resident Craig Maddox, a retired lifeguard and licensed commercial urchin diver, was frustrated with the Fish and Game vote.
“We don’t need any more closures, the area [spanning the Point Dume MPA] is already healthy.”
He also expressed frustration with activists who do not spend time out on the water but are outspoken against fishing.
“They’re not out there everyday, we are,” he said. “We have the highest biomass of squid anywhere in the world, we have a very healthy environment, and it keeps repeating itself. That’s why they’re here [the squid fishermen].”
Shea said implementation of the new MPAs would not take place for some time.
“We’re looking at this upcoming spring [for implementation], but it could take a year to get all the paperwork filed,” she said.
Monitoring and enforcement of the 36 new MPAs will fall to Fish and Game wardens and, in some places, state park and marine protection affairs.
Violators of the new regulations for Point Dume will be assessed violation tickets, which are processed through Los Angeles County.
The commission’s vote to create 36 new MPAs stretching from Point Conception south of the Mexican border is a continuation of a process begun in 1999 with the passage of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA). Initiated in response to dwindling marine populations, the MLPA charged Fish and Game with coordinating a statewide network of protected areas, which would integrate existing MPAs with new ones into a comprehensive system.
Last week’s ruling in Santa Barbara caps a two-year period of study and investigation of the southern coast, which included a Science Advisory Team, a Blue-Ribbon Task Force of scientists, activists and fishing industry representatives appointed by the Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, and more than 12,000 written public comments submitted during the regulatory and environmental review processes to help inform recommendations on south coast region MPAs. It is the third of five sections of California’s coast to be integrated under the MLPA. Still to be studied and incorporated are the north coast and San Francisco Bay areas.