New protected marine areas are going to be established off the central and northern California coast where fishing would be banned or restricted. The California Fish and Game Commission approved the second of five planned areas of California coastline in which marine reserves and parks will be created.
It is informed that the new protected marine zone stretches from Pigeon Point in San Mateo County to just north of the Point Arena in Mendocino County and includes 21 marine protected areas. About 11 percent of the total protected area will be completely closed to fishing, said Adrianna Shea, the commission’s deputy director. The hope is that by creating these underwater wildlife preserves where sea life can live unharmed, populations of groundfish like cod, abalone and crab will rebound.
It is told that California has 1,100 miles of coastline, and the area approved is the second of five currently under study. Up next are plans for waters off the Southern California, the northernmost coasts and San Francisco Bay. It is all part of the state’s Marine Life Protection Act, which passed in 1999 to create these refuges to help struggling sea life rebound.
This plan has be strongly criticized by some commercial fishing groups, saying enough regulation currently exists on fisheries. The state’s commercial fishermen have been hit hard after two years of canceled Chinook salmon fishing seasons and other restrictions. Vern Goehring of the California Fisheries Coalition s said that it is a fishy business that this expensive new program claims to protect the ocean, but in reality won’t even address water pollution, which is a major issue.
