A New Marine Reserve Planned at Channel Islands
New no-take zones could help replenish fish stocks.
CHANNEL ISLANDS, CALIF.—The California Fish and Game Commission will decide in spring 2002 whether to implement a network of marine reserves, or no-take zones, within the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary. The commission is considering five alternatives that range from 10 to 34 percent of the sanctuary, which extends for six miles surrounding the islands.
Conservationists say the reserves are needed to preserve the diverse ecosystem that is home to 26 species of marine mammals, more than 60 bird species, giant kelp forests, and innumerable fish and invertebrates. Overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution, mismanagement, and global climate change have left pockets of the ocean almost bare of life, and high-tech equipment has allowed the fishing industry to catch more fish at greater depths.
Located 90 miles west of Los Angeles, Channel Islands is considered by some scientists to be the biological crossroads of the West Coast. Cold currents from Alaska meet the warm waters of Baja California, and the mix results in an uncommonly high level of biodiversity.
But with increasing pressure, many of those species cannot reproduce fast enough to replenish populations. White abalone have become so dispersed and rare that scientists fear they will be unable to find breeding partners. Marine mammals, such as sea otters, are disappearing because of limited prey, and purple sea urchins, usually eaten by sea otters, are overpopulating and destroying kelp beds.
A community-based Marine Reserves Working Group, made up of federal and state agencies including the Park Service, the fishing industry, recreational users, environmentalists, and other stakeholders has offered five alternatives for creating a network of reserves. Most differ by size and location, said Sean Hastings, a policy analyst with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The state and NOAA, which have overlapping jurisdictions, have developed a preferred alternative that would make 25 percent of the sanctuary a no-take zone.
Chris Miller, a local fisherman and part of the working group, said that it has taken time for many in the fishing industry to be open to the idea of marine reserves. "Most of the problem people had in accepting the reserve area is based on fear about how it will be implemented and if it will increase pressure on existing areas," he said. Some in the fishing industry, he said, are concerned that policy makers may think that creating reserves is the only answer to diminishing marine populations and will not pursue other strategies that may have less impact on the industry.
