The documents below provide information on California’s statewide network of marine protected areas. Articles are divided up regionally as well as a high-level “Start Here” section.
Research Articles & Reports
Scientific Guidance for Evaluating California’s Marine Protected Area Network
Climate Resilience and California’s Marine Protected Area Network
Utilizing Fishermen Knowledge and Expertise: Keys to Success for
Collaborative Fisheries Research
California Indian Tribes and the Marine Life Protection Act
Designing a network of marine protected areas in California: Achievements, costs,
lessons learned, and challenges ahead
Marine Protected Areas Exemplify the Evolution of Science and Policy
A rising tide: California’s ongoing commitment to monitoring, managing and enforcing its marine protected areas
Assessing the Potential Role of Marine Protected Areas and Fisheries Management Approaches for Resilience Management in a Changing Ocean
New Life for the Ocean
How Marine Protections Keep Our Waters Wild
Evidence that spillover from Marine
Protected Areas benefts the spiny
lobster (Panulirus interruptus)
fshery in southern California
A rising tide: California’s ongoing commitment to monitoring, managing and enforcing its marine protected areas
Assessing the Potential Role of Marine Protected Areas and Fisheries Management Approaches for Resilience Management in a Changing Ocean
CA Collaborative Fisheries Research Program Hook-and-Line Surveys of Nearshore Fishes in and Near California Marine Protected Areas
California Indian Tribes and the Marine Life Protection Act
Estuarine & Wetland Ecosystems: the first steps in developing an approach to leveraging existing monitoring programs
Marine Protected Areas Exemplify the Evolution of Science and Policy
Monitoring California’s rocky marine ecosystems across a network of MPAs: methodological comparison of multiple monitoring techniques
Pre-closure fishing pressure predicts effects of marine protected areas
Setting expected timelines of fished population recovery for the adaptive management of a marine protected area network
Setting ecological expectations for adaptive management of
marine protected areas
Collaborative Research: An Effective Way to Collect
Data for Stock Assessments and Evaluate Marine
Protected Areas in California
Assessing real progress towards effective ocean protection
A Hybrid Marine Protection
System as a Model for the Marine
Conservation Efforts of the United States
Utilizing Fishermen Knowledge and Expertise: Keys to Success for Collaborative Fisheries Research
Designing a network of marine protected areas in California: Achievements, costs, lessons learned, and challenges ahead
“It’s a trust thing: Assessing fishermen’s perceptions of the California North Coast marine protected area network”
Analysis of fish population size distributions confirms
cessation of fishing in marine protected areas
Long-term participation in collaborative
fisheries research improves angler opinions
on marine protected areas
Scientific Guidelines for Evaluating California’s MPA Network
Climate Resilience and California’s MPA Network
Projecting the Timescale of Initial Increase in Fishery Yield After Implementation of MPAs
Baseline Characterization and Monitoring of the MPAs along the North Coast: Mid-depth and Deep Subtidal Ecosystems
Baseline Highlights From North Coast Estuaries Monitoring: Exploring Where the River Meets the Sea
Baseline Highlights From North Coast Kelp & Rocky Reef Monitoring: A Changing Undersea Forest
Baseline Highlights From North Coast Oceanographic Conditions: Monitoring Life During a Series of Unusual Events
Baseline Highlights From North Coast Socioeconomics of Fisheries: Taking Stock of North Coast Fishing Communities
North Coast State of the Region Report
Socioeconomics of North Coast Fisheries in the Context of Marine Protected Area Formation
A Report Card for Ecosystem Health in North Central Coast California
California North Central Coast A Regional Snapshot
Incorporation of Spatial and Economic Analyses of HumanUse Data in the Design of Marine Protected Areas
Integrating Socioeconomic & Ecological Data: Exploring new methods to support long-term MPA monitoring and sustainable fisheries North Central Coast
Integrating Spatial Data into Marine Protected Area Monitoring and Management North Central Coast
North Central Coast MPA Baseline Program Integration: Filling in the nearshore “White Zone”
State of the California North Central Coast A Summary of the Marine Protected Area Monitoring Program 2010-2015
State of the California Central Coast
Dispersal of a nearshore marine fish connects marine reserves
and adjacent fished areas along an open coast
Setting ecological expectations for adaptive management of
marine protected areas
Assessment of Habitat Representation across
a Network of Marine Protected Areas with
Implications for the Spatial Design of
Monitoring
Gopher rockfish (Sebastes carnatus)
life history in south-central California
Baseline Surveys of Nearshore Fishes in and Near Central California Marine Protected Areas
2007-2009
The Role of “Rules of Thumb” in Science-Based Environmental
Policy: California’s Marine Life Protection Act as a Case Study
Kelp Forest Fish Populations in Marine Reserves and Adjacent Exploited Areas of Central California
Evaluation of the Central Coast Regional Stakeholder Group Process
Estimates of the Maximum Potential Economic Impacts of Marine Protected Area Networks in the Central California Coast
Do Commercial Fishers Aggregate around Marine Reserves? Evidence from Big Creek Marine Ecological Reserve, Central California
Variation in Responses of Fishes across Multiple Reserves within a Network of Marine Protected Areas in Temperate Waters
Changes in size composition and relative abundance of fishes in
Central California after a decade of spatial fishing closures
Fishing with a Mission: Collaborating to Monitor California’s Marine Protected Areas
An Economic and Spatial Baseline of Coastal Recreation in the South Coast of California
Baseline characterization of California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) in South Coast marine protected areas
Baseline Highlights from Atmospheric and Oceanographic Monitoring in California’s South Coast Assessing Physical Conditions of South Coast MPAs
Baseline Highlights from California’s South Coast Kelp and Shallow Rock Ecosystems Monitoring Life Under the Canopy
Baseline Highlights from California’s South Coast Rocky Intertidal Ecosystems Monitoring Life at the Interface
Baseline Highlights from California’s South Coast Sandy Beach Ecosystems Monitoring the Secret Life of Beaches
Baseline Highlights from California’s South Coast Seabird Surveys Monitoring Sentinels of the Sky
Baseline Highlights from California’s South Coast Spiny Lobster Populations Monitoring Spiny Creatures of the Night
Baseline Highlights from California’s South Coast Subtidal Remotely Operated Vehicle Surveys Monitoring Life in the Deep
Baseline Highlights from South Coast Citizen Science Special Topic: Monitoring the South Coast with Citizen Science
Baseline Highlights From the Southern California Bight Regional Monitoring Program Assessing Water Quality in South Coast Marine Protected Areas
Channel Islands Marine Protected Areas: First 5 Years of Monitoring: 2003–2008
Early conservation benefits of a de facto marine protected area at San Clemente Island, California
Establishing a Baseline and Assessing Initial Spatial and Economic Change in the California South Coast Commercial Fisheries
Establishing a Spatial and Economic Baseline and Assessing Initial Changes in the California South Coast CPFV Fisheries
Establishing a Spatial and Economic Baseline of Human Uses in the South Coast Region of California
Evaluation of two outreach tools, an educator program and a mobile tidepool exhibit, in reducing deleterious visitor activities and raising marine protected area awareness in rocky intertidal ecosystems of southern California, USA
Fishermen’s Knowledge and Collaborations in MPA Monitoring: Lessons Learned from the South Coast of California
Marine Protected Area (MPA) Watch Data Analysis and Outreach: Identifying Human Use Patterns and Distributing Findings for Management and Public Education in Southern California
Reef Check California: Citizen Scientist monitoring of rocky reefs and kelp forests: Creating a baseline for California’s South Coast
South Coast State of the Region Report
Special Feature: Monitoring California’s Channel Islands
Stakeholder Engagement in Marine Protected Area Network Planning in Southern California
In-kind contributions to Orange County marine protected area management
The mission of the California’s Marine Protected Areas Education and Outreach Initiative is to enhance MPA education through enduring partnerships to empower Californians to protect what they know and love.