MPA Monitoring Webinar Series: Ask the Researcher

Mark your calendars, bring your questions, and join us this summer as we unpack the results of the state-funded marine protected areas (MPAs) long-term monitoring projects through an 8-part virtual webinar series!

Stack of Dungeness crab traps. CDFW photo by C. Juhasz

Brown rockfish caught by California Collaborative Fisheries Research volunteer anglers. photo courtesy Moss Landing Marine Laboratories

Researchers monitoring the rocky intertidal habitat. photo courtesy MARINe

Researchers from 24 universities, agencies and institutions across California worked closely with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the Ocean Protection Council (OPC) to monitor key habitats both inside and outside of MPAs, including kelp forests, rocky reefs, rocky shores, estuaries, and sandy beaches.

Exploring California’s Marine Protected Areas: Saunders Reef State Marine Conservation Area

Overlooking Saunders Reef SMCA
CDFW photo by S. Worden

From its gravel- and boulder-strewn shoreline, to the craggy bedrock of the intertidal that extends to an offshore reef and surrounding stands of bull kelp, Saunders Reef State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a location prized for its highly complex, diverse, and productive habitats. Saunders Reef SMCA and its regulations were adopted in 2010 by the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) as part of California’s globally recognized Marine Protected Area (MPA) Network. It is one of the 124 marine protected areas (MPAs) established statewide from 2004 to 2012 during the implementation of the Marine Life Protection Act.

Baseline Monitoring of Northern California’s Marine Protected Areas: A Status Report

Reading Rock State Marine Conservation Area

A regional network of marine protected areas (MPAs) was implemented on California’s north coast in December 2012, following a science-based and stakeholder driven process that began in 2009.

Monitoring the Progress of Marine Protected Areas

Garibaldi and opaleye in southern California MPA

In 1999, the California Legislature passed the Marine Life Protection Act mandating the redesign of California’s system of marine protected areas (MPAs). From 2004 to 2012,