MPA LONG TERM MONITORING

The state of California implemented  a network of 124 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), beginning with northern Channel Islands in 2003, ending with the final MPAs being implemented in Northern California in 2014. Since that time, MARE has worked in partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to conduct ROV surveys of deep-water habitats within  MPAs statewide. These surveys not only provided the State with information on the baseline condition  of MPAs, but  also provided  repeat monitoring of many of the sites.

In 2019, the State finalized its long-term monitoring plan and funded MARE to resample select MPAs and their reference sites as part of  their Long-Term Monitoring Program.  The goal of this program is  to determine if  MPA protection has  benefited deep-water ecosystems and to monitor how these systems change over time.  Data produced by MARE will be analyzed by  academic partners from  MLML, UCSB, CSUMB and  HSU to  produce a  detailed report on the current effectiveness of the State’s MPA network.