Marine sanctuaries give tangible benefits to our communities 

Thirty-one years ago, I helped lead the citizen campaign to establish Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary for permanent protection from offshore oil. But we got a bonus. Its team works to protect its habitats including kelp forests, to provide education and outreach including to underserved communities, and it works with partners to conduct world-renowned ocean research.

The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary would be the West Coast's sixth national marine sanctuary along with Olympic Coast, Cordell Bank, Greater Farallones, Monterey Bay, and Channel Islands sanctuaries. It would add protection between Monterey Bay and Channel Islands sanctuaries, and its team would work with representatives of Indigenous peoples who have stewarded these waters and adjacent lands for thousands of years.

Congress approved the National Marine Sanctuaries Act in 1972 in the wake of the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, and its first test was the 1974 establishment of the USS Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, which stewards a Union Navy ironclad sunk during a Civil War battle off the East Coast. Today, 15 national marine sanctuaries and two marine national monuments cover 620,000 square miles of ocean and Great Lakes supporting the resilience of waters that cover two thirds of our planet, provide half the oxygen we breathe, and absorb excess atmospheric carbon. They cooperate with state and agencies, nonprofits, and volunteers to, for example, protect water quality. A great example is the work Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary does with farmers to reduce agricultural runoff.

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary was designated on Sept. 18, 1992. It protects 6,094 square miles off 276 miles of shoreline from southern Marin to northern San Luis Obispo counties. It includes the Monterey Bay Submarine Canyon, Elkhorn Slough, and Davidson Seamount 75 miles west of San Simeon. Its habitats include 36 species of marine mammals, more than 180 species of seabirds and shorebirds, at least 525 fish species, and an abundance of invertebrates and alga, including kelp forests.

It has an advisory council with representatives from the community, government, and specific interests, including seats for commercial and recreational fishing. Its staff and volunteers undertake education and outreach, research, and resource protection. Here are just a few examples:

• The Sanctuary Exploration Center in Santa Cruz and Coastal Discovery Center in San Simeon serve tens of thousands of visitors per year. In 2022, the two sites served 946 students with field trips, plus 156 with class programs, and another 555 with virtual programs.

• The sanctuary and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute have worked on growing deep-sea coral, which has aided in the recovery from the Deepwater Horizon spill.

• West Coast marine sanctuaries participate in the Whale Disentanglement Team, which had 40 volunteers trained and 13 rescue missions conducted in 2022.

• Sanctuary staff, trawl fishers, and conservation organizations negotiated Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Area modifications in 2013, which were approved by the Pacific Fishery Management Council in 2018 and finalized in 2020. This action both reopened areas closed to trawlers and closed areas important to ecosystem protection. Nearly 2 billion pounds of fish, valued at $1 billion in 2022 dollars have been landed at area ports and Morro Bay since designation 31 years ago. The sanctuary itself does not regulate fishing but supports ecosystem health.

• The sanctuary's value for tourism is its wildlife, such as the Northern elephant seals at Piedras Blancas, and the fact that it's protected.

• Whale watching continues to promote sanctuary status as something special that our waters offer.

• A maritime heritage program facilitates study of shipwrecks and cultural sites, such as the SS Montebello off Cambria and the USS Macon off Big Sur. The Chumash Heritage sanctuary would catalogue sacred Indigenous cultural sites.

For 31 years, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary has worked with businesses, nonprofits, volunteers, and agencies to provide protection, education and outreach, and research. So would the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. This is good news for ocean protection, biodiversity, and the fight against climate change. Δ

Dan Haifley is secretary of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Foundation board and has served on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council for 16 years. Send a response for publication to [email protected].