Protecting What Lurks Along Santa Barbara County’s Coastline

Tour of Marine Protected Areas Shows Flourishing Diversity; Talk with Fishermen Shows Opposition to Additions

Humpback whales breached as they gulped down large mouthfuls of baitfish while the Spectre observed alongside them. | Credit: Adam Ernster (https://www.adamernsterwildlife.com/)

In the cold, vibrant waters of the Channel Islands’ marine protected areas (MPAs), fish get big, sea lions are pranksters, and biodiversity thrives.

In early May, I joined a group of public officials, environmentalists, and reporters on an ecotour of the Anacapa Island State Marine Reserve, hosted by UC Santa Barbara’s Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory.

Our mission was to see firsthand what lurks in these protected zones — which oftentimes prohibit fishing and other extractive activities to safeguard marine life — and to understand what’s at stake as potential policy changes loom.

We swam through lush, slimy kelp forests teeming with orange garibaldi (the California state fish), rockfish, and sheepshead. Starfish clung to rocky cliffsides, while translucent Velella velella crowded the water around us.

At one point, a fellow reporter pointed out a massive, electric-blue jellyfish, which she dubbed a “big-ass jellyfish.” Accurate. (I cannot say with any certainty what the heck that thing was.)

Sea lions torpedoed toward us, only to veer away at the last moment — muffled screams and mouthfuls of seawater would follow. It was seemingly playful. Back on the boat, scientists demonstrated the tools they use to monitor marine health in MPAs.

As we returned to Ventura Harbor, we spotted hundreds of dolphins and breaching humpback whales in a feeding frenzy, gulping down giant mouthfuls of baitfish.

We were all in awe at this sheer abundance of life.

‘Independent’ Reporter Callie Fausey (left) joined field representatives and policy consultants from multiple representatives’ offices for a snorkel tour around Anacapa Island in early May. | Credit: Adam Ernster (http://www.adamernsterwildlife.com)

Changing the Network

Marine protected areas are like “national parks under the sea,” in the words of Dr. Douglas McCauley, the director of the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory.

He said that, in MPAs, not only do fish have the chance to grow larger, but they also generate more eggs. Their protected neighborhoods contain what he thinks of as “underwater wolves and bison,” like the giant sea bass.

California completed its first 10-year review of its MPA network — covering 16 percent of state waters — in 2022. It showed that these underwater sanctuaries help biodiversity flourish and provide multiple climate benefits (such as sucking carbon out of the atmosphere, increasing resilience to warming ocean temperatures, and buffering coastlines against sea-level rise).

Spillover from MPAs — e.g., oblivious lobsters waddling outside MPA bounds — can even increase catch in neighboring fisheries, sometimes by more than 200 percent.

According to a paper published by the Benioff Laboratory, MPAs are also pretty valuable for recreational users and businesses, with marine and coastal tourism contributing approximately $26 billion to the state’s economy each year.

Recently, MPAs have been in the spotlight due to the state’s call for petitions to expand, add, or subtract from the coast’s MPA network. Factor in that more ocean real estate is being eyed for activities such as deep-sea mining and offshore wind development, and the conversation around these zones is being amplified.

The state is now advancing this process of “adaptively managing” its MPA network. It will consider adopting an evaluation framework for petitions this summer.

Marine Protected Areas are like “national parks under the ocean,” said Dr. Douglas McCauley, Associate Professor at the University of California Santa Barbara and the Director of the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory. | Credit: Adam Ernster (http://www.adamernsterwildlife.com)

A scuba diver jumps off the Spectre into the cold waters around Anacapa Island. | Credit: Adam Ernster (http://www.adamernsterwildlife.com)

Controversy in the Channel

The Santa Barbara Channel is home to 13 MPAs. But the idea of adding more is controversial.

While new MPAs could benefit marine life, they may also limit commercial fishermen’s ability to put food on the table, not only for their families, but also for others.

Fishermen have argued that the state’s regulations are heavy-duty enough as is — no need for making more of their workplace off-limits.

The Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara (CFSB), for one, want to help protect marine habitats — including cleaning up lobster traps on local beaches — but feel that they are gradually being pushed to fish in “smaller and smaller areas,” in the words of their president, Chris Voss.

Sandy Aylesworth, a director with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), spoke to the crew about the importance of MPAs before the Spectre launched off from Ventura Harbor. | Credit: Adam Ernster (http://www.adamernsterwildlife.com)

Out there, they rely on those fishing grounds to reel in 6 million to 10 million pounds of seafood — including more than 50 species, such as white sea bass, tuna, and salmon — bringing in $30 million for the local economy annually, according to the CFSB website.

Voss said they do not, by any means, think that existing MPAs should be eliminated or downsized. But, he added, they are opposed to expanding the network because fishermen are “under constant threat of losing additional fishing grounds from a host of different initiatives,” such as offshore wind energy.

“So, what we face moving forward is a huge federal and state assault on the area that we currently fish in, with everything being proposed in the marine environment,” he continued. “Our resistance to expanding the MPA network is in that context.”

It’s a multifaceted conversation.

Sandy Aylesworth, a director with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), who dived with us on the trip, gave a mini-speech before our boat, the Spectre, set off from the Ventura Harbor: “California’s ocean wildlife is truly majestic,” she said, “and the awe and wonder of experiencing these places is worth fighting for.”

According to Aylesworth, conservation proposals could add up to 2 percent, or about 44,000 acres, to the state’s MPA network.

Scuba divers navigated the cold waters around Anacapa Island during the UCSB ecotour of the marine reserve earlier this month. | Credit: Adam Ernster (http://www.adamernsterwildlife.com)

New Proposals

Around Santa Barbara County and the Channel Islands, there are 11 petitions to expand or improve MPAs. On the flip side, there are nine that seek to eliminate or reduce them.

For example, the NRDC, in collaboration with the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians and the Environmental Defense Council, are proposing a new MPA in the coastal waters of Carpinteria.

The group says that the Carpinteria coast is home to a “long, rocky reef” that supports kelp forests, sandy habitats, and marine life within a relatively small area, including a hot spot for juvenile white sharks. And the adjacent coastal village, Mishopshno, after which the proposal is named, was a boat building site and “thriving community” where the Chumash built tomols. As such, it would be a new tribal-managed MPA in the region, and would likely “benefit populations of targeted species, protect high levels of biodiversity, and promote ecosystem resilience,” according to the proposal.

The MPA would cover nine acres and prohibit the take of all living, geological, or cultural marine resources, except for the recreational take of finfish from shore using hook-and-line. Non-extractive activities such as swimming would also be allowed; the Chumash would be allowed to fish with the use of hand-based equipment; and scientific research could be conducted.

The Misopshno State Marine Conservation Area. | Credit: NRDC

The group modified the proposal after public outreach, shrinking the MPA from 18 to nine acres and allowing recreational fishing. “The proposed boundaries of the SMCA [state marine conservation area] were informed by extensive outreach and discussions with local Tribes and fishers,” the proposal reads. “The proposed boundaries meet a difficult-to-achieve compromise between upholding science-based size and area criteria, protecting critical habitat and promoting connectivity for the broader network, while allowing continued fishing access to important local fishing areas.”

Neil Nathan, a project scientist with UC Santa Barbara, explains how to use the BRUV (baited remote underwater video) to capture shots of marine life in MPAS. | Credit: Adam Ernster (http://www.adamernsterwildlife.com)

Some petitions, on the other hand, are proposing to give fishermen more leeway within existing MPAs. That includes the take of species in certain areas, such as the California Sea Urchin Commission’s proposal to allow for the take of urchins in nine SMCAs, including around Anacapa Island. This would expand the areas where commercial fishermen can harvest urchins and boost the production and sale of uni, the edible part of the urchin that has become a popular California delicacy.

Voss, for one, thinks this is a “common sense” proposal. Sea urchins have overrun certain areas of the coastline, creating urchin “barrens” devoid of life. Culling the population could curb the harm and, since they are caught by hand, does not include adverse effects like bycatch, he said.

But it will be a long time before any significant changes are enacted. Right now, the state is still thinking about how to even go about reviewing the petitions. In August, the California Fish and Game Commission will consider the approval of a framework to evaluate the changes and move on to the next steps of managing the network. The commission will start making decisions regarding various MPA proposals along the coast beginning this November.

Whatever happens, the opportunity to see one of these areas for myself was unforgettable.

“Marine protected areas benefit not only the marine species, but those whose livelihoods depend on recreational and fishing opportunities in the Pacific,” Aylesworth said. “By visiting these fragile ecosystems, we are able to get up close to the amazing wildlife and habitats that can flourish when effective protections are put in place.”

To learn more about the different petitions, visit storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/27e78c677dca484ebfb37120abc59d10?item=2.