Stakeholders heard what’s going on with baseline studies of existing fish and other marine species in Marine Protected Areas along the San Diego coast, including La Jolla and Pacific Beach, on March 20.
The public meeting at the Marina Village conference center was hosted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Ocean Protection Council and Ocean Science Trust. It drew scientists, fisherman and other consumptive ocean users, as well as graduate students eager to hear about progress being made with MPAs.
Required by the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act and in effect since Jan. 1, 2012, MPAs were created to help repopulate dwindling fish and other marine species. Known as “underwater state parks,” MPAs set aside sensitive ecosystems via the creation of no-fishing zones to allow marine life and habitats an opportunity to recover and thrive.
Some fisherman and other consumptive ocean users have been critical of the MPA concept. They questioned its viability, arguing it crowded their commercial interests while threatening the local marine-oriented economy.
Los partidarios de las AMP respondieron que son absolutamente esenciales para permitir que los peces y las especies marinas tengan el tiempo adecuado para recuperarse de la pesca comercial, así como para ayudar a restaurar los ecosistemas marinos degradados.
“We’re here to provide you the key findings of the baseline monitoring work being done on our South Coast MPA region,” said Becky Ota of California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We’re here to provide this information as a springboard into what needs to happen for further monitoring of MPAs as a whole.”
Los ecosistemas marinos cambian con el tiempo, y el monitoreo de referencia para determinar las condiciones existentes de las especies oceánicas es un primer paso fundamental para documentar el status quo de las condiciones oceánicas de San Diego.
Los datos científicos recopilados durante el monitoreo de referencia del AMP de la Costa Sur guiarán las futuras prácticas de gestión de los océanos a nivel regional. El análisis de monitoreo de línea de base también mejorará la comprensión de los peces, langostas y otras especies marinas clave, mientras rastrea su número, tamaño y movimientos.
La Jolla has two adjoining MPAs at the South La Jolla State Marine Conservation Area and South La Jolla State Reserve, which together cover 7.51 square miles, stretching from Palomar Avenue to Missouri Street in Pacific Beach. They are two of 36 new marine protected areas adopted by the California Department of Fish and Game Commission as part of the Marine Life Protection Act. Additionally, the historic marine protected area at La Jolla Shores, stretching to the Scripps Pier, was also retained.
Scripps marine ecologist Ed Parnell and diver Danielle Muller of Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System, gave slide presentations.
The goal of MPA monitoring, noted Muller, is for biologists to know “how many plants and animals there are, and where they’re at.” She added ocean conditions — winds, waves and currents — as well as topographical features on ocean bottoms, help guide researchers’ studies. She added the location and movements of many ocean species are “driven by the temperature and salinity of the water.”
In his talk, Parnell detailed his studies on the local spiny lobster, a species important to the commercial fishing industry, located in and around La Jolla MPAs.
“Queríamos estudiar las poblaciones de langostas, comparando su número en áreas protegidas de AMP con las áreas no protegidas fuera de las AMP”, dijo Parnell y señaló que las langostas fueron capturadas, etiquetadas, liberadas y recapturadas en trampas comerciales de metal. Parnell dijo que los estudios hasta el momento han demostrado que las langostas tienden a ser más grandes y crecen más rápido a medida que avanza hacia el norte por la costa desde San Diego.
Parnell sugirió que la diferencia de tamaño norte-sur de las langostas podría atribuirse a la pesca fuera de las AMP, lo que reduce la cantidad de langostas de mayor tamaño que los pescadores comerciales pueden capturar legalmente.
Para obtener más información sobre el monitoreo de referencia del AMP de la costa sur y para acceder a los datos, visite oceanspaces.org/scsotr.