The gears of conservation are in motion all around us in Malibu.
Most Malibu residents probably didn’t realize scientists have been carefully assessing marine life and ocean conditions at many of our beaches and coastal waters, especially from Point Dume up to El Matador, for the past five years.
On March 13, the California Department of Fish & Wildlife CDFW)released the “most comprehensive study to date” of Southern California from the shore to the sea — ranging from numbers of bass and spiny lobsters to life in the kelp forests and tidal pools, changes in ocean temperature and water quality, birds on the beach and human fishing activity, to name just a few subjects.
Becky Ota, environmental program manager for CDFW, kicked off a local presentation held last week at the Chumash Village, attended by about 45 people. She explained the data gathered for the baseline study would serve as a “benchmark” or “springboard” going forward and provide the basis for future comparisons. The state established the South Coast region in 2012, which includes Malibu, and has 50 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
The passing of the Marine Life Protection Act in 1999, which caused California to become the first state to establish a network of Marine Protected Areas, required the massive collection of data. Those areas protect not only individual species, but also habitats and ecosystems. These designated areas off the shore and the Channel Islands prohibit or limit fishing or collecting living, geologic or cultural resources. The state has been collecting baseline data along the coast one section of the state at a time, which is why it will be almost 20 years from the time the law passed until the South Coast has a monitoring plan.
Next year, the state will propose its plan for scientifically monitoring the MPAs for Malibu and the rest of the South Coast. Preliminary data already show MPAs are effective in protecting marine life. Early protected areas, established at the Channel Islands in 2003, now have greater biodiversity, and “fished species are larger and more numerous inside the protected areas [than outside].”
In Malibu, the area off Point Dume is designated as Point Dume State Marine Conservation Area (limited taking is allowed) or Point Dume State Marine Reserve (no commercial or recreational take allowed). Adjacent to that is a strip just offshore extending from Latigo Beach to the western city limit designated as an Area of Special Biological Significance, where waste discharge and runoff is prohibited.
Environmental scientist Amanda Van Diggen explained how CDFW has the lead responsibility for “enforcement and compliance” against any illegal fishing and taking in the MPAs. She reported that in Southern California, the greatest number of citations had been issued in Catalina; including two men fined in excess of $60,000 each for poaching abalone and spiny lobsters.
The South Coast supports a large proportion of the state’s commercial fishing, although the total number of commercial fishermen has fallen dramatically in recent years, even before the MPAs went into effect. Squid is the most important catch for commercial fisheries, while for sportsfishers it was rockfish or, around kelp forests, finfish.
A number of studies and counts were carried out by Reef Check California, with 250 trained volunteer scuba divers acting as citizen scientists that survey more than 90 sites per year, according to Selena McMillan, South Coast regional manager. They monitor rocky reefs from 15 to 55 feet deep and kelp forest habitats, counting over 73 target organisms including fish, invertebrates and algae. The group has been able to document sea star wasting and recovery, the spread of invasive brown macro-algae and the expansion of crowned sea urchins.
Scientists from UC Santa Barbara, primarily, surveyed rocky shore and sandy beach ecosystems along the South Coast, where sand crabs are the most abundant species.
The area just offshore from Malibu, from Catalina up to Point Conception, is where two major ocean currents intersect — one warm and one cold, which causes strong coastal upwelling and changes in ocean chemistry and temperature.
Researchers note in their report that they’re already seeing climate change affecting the coast, with higher water temperatures, higher sea levels and greater acidity — all of which impact marine life.
The Wishtoyo Chumash Village in Malibu carries out a tribal MPA education program, teaching thousands of students every year about marine conservation, the natural environment and culture. The Chumash have been involved with the state’s MPA management because their maritime culture and traditions go back many thousands of years.
To see the entire detailed report, go to oceanspaces.org.