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Fish and Fish Habitat Restoration
Case: Montrose/PV Shelf, CA
Fishing and Fish Habitat Restoration:
Augment Funds for Implementing Marine Protected Areas in California The goal of this project was to
enhance fish habitat function in Southern California by augmenting
funds needed to evaluate and implement Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
as part of an ecosystem-based management approach for fishery
resources. The primary focus of this project was to provide needed
funds for implementation of the Channel Islands network of MPAs to
ensure that they provided the best possible basis for further
implementations of MPA networks throughout California. Although this
action provided specific benefits to the fish habitats adjacent to
the Northern Channel Islands, the action also provided the
longer-term benefits for fishing and fish habitats throughout
California by helping to generate sound empirical underpinnings for
the site and design of future networks of MPAs. At the time the
Phase I Restoration Plan was prepared, the network of MPAs in the
Channel Islands was the most appropriate area for such an effort
because those MPAs were designed to evaluate the utility of MPAs as
a management tool.
Through this action, MSRP funds will contribute to the goals of
ensuring that the MPAs function as intended (i.e., through effective public
awareness and enforcement efforts) and
measuring the impacts (positive and negative) of MPAs on fishing services.
The Trustees proposed to contribute approximately $500,000 toward these MPA
efforts over five years to fill funding gaps identified by the implementing
agencies. Depending on the findings of the monitoring efforts, the effective
management of MPAs in the Northern Channel Islands will lead to more effective
use of this fisheries management tool throughout California, including the
Palos Verdes Shelf region. As part of the MSRP Restoration Plan, the Trustees
supported projects that included the implementation of MPAs in regions that
promote the production of commonly caught coastal fish species. Funds were
awarded to the National Park Service and the Partnership for Interdisciplinary
Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) in 2007 and projects were completed in 2008.
Project Updates
National Park Service Monitors Kelp Forests in Northern Channel Islands
The Channel Islands National Park has been monitoring kelp forests around the
five park islands (Santa Barbara, Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San
Miguel) since 1982. Monitoring efforts included collecting information on
groups of fish, invertebrates, and algae that make up kelp forest communities
in this region. The species selected for monitoring are indicators of overall
ecosystem health, and include both fished and non-fished species. This
monitoring program is the largest and longest-running monitoring program
studying a kelp forest ecosystem in California. The most important aspect of
this program is that data collection occurred in sites within and outside of
MPA borders. Comparing data inside and outside of protected areas can
demonstrate the effectiveness of MPAs and support future decision-making about
these areas in Southern California. This long-term monitoring program was at
risk of losing funding starting in 2007. MSRP was able to provide funding to
continue this project for another two years 2007-08. This project was also
leveraged by funding from the National Park Service, NOAA’s Channel Islands
Marine Sanctuary, and the California Department of Fish and Game.
Standardized Monitoring Units (SMURFs) Measure Recruitment in Northern Channel
Islands
The Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) is an
academic collaborative organization made up of four universities on the West
Coast with a main goal of understanding how coastal marine ecosystems function.
This group is interested in gaining knowledge on recruitment, or number of
marine organisms entering different age classes, inside and outside of
protected areas. Collection of this data is complimentary to other monitoring
programs that only record abundance of marine organisms. SMURFs are artificial
collectors that are placed in the water and used to attract young invertebrates
(crabs, urchins, lobsters) and fish. The SMURFs were moored both near the
bottom and the surface for a year. Once a month the SMURFs were brought up to
count invertebrates. During June to September when fish recruitment season
peaks the SMURFs were brought up biweekly to count fish. Since 2000, the SMURFs
have been used to monitor recruitment of fishes throughout the Santa Barbara
Channel and the Northern Channel Islands. This technique has been successful
for determining the number of fish that were settling in particular areas
throughout this region. MSRP is funding the expansion of this project to have a
better understanding of the differences in recruitment inside and outside of
MPAs.
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Divers are collecting data
that will help them monitor fish and invertebrate
populations. |
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Diver is retrieving specimen
collector from the water column. Young invertebrates (crabs,
urchins, lobsters) and fish will be brought up to the surface
and counted. |
| David Witting / NOAA |
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Michael Sheey / PISCO |
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