The California Fish & Game Commission has advanced two proposals that would each close parts of the ocean off Santa Barbara County to boat fishing.
The two tribally led petitions would create new marine protected areas (MPAs): a 9.18-square-mile area off the North County’s Point Sal, and a 9.05-square-mile area off the Carpinteria coast in the South County.
The new marine protected areas would be the first since the initial patchwork network launched in the early 2010s. That network was created to help protect ocean life off the coast.
The two petitions will now go through the regulatory process, with three hearings — for notice, discussion and adoption.
After that, they will undergo environmental review, according to Sandy Aylesworth, director of the Pacific Initiative at the Natural Resources Defense Council .
The NRDC and the Northern Chumash Tribal Council co-sponsored the Point Sal petition.
The NRDC also sponsored the Carpinteria Valley-area MPA known as the Mishopshno protected area, alongside the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians and the Environmental Defense Center.
“Chumash Tribes asked California to protect their ancestral waters, and today the state said yes,” Aylesworth said last week.
Both petitions have sparked debate locally since they were first proposed.
A May meeting in Goleta drew a fairly even split of supporters and opponents. Environmental and tribal groups have argued that the ocean and its resources need more protections, while fishers say they need those same resources to support their livelihoods.
Point Sal
The 9.18-square-mile area off Point Sal would reach 4.03 miles offshore, with the exact boundaries to be determined. It covers the ocean around the Point Sal headland.
Shore-based recreational fishing by hook and line would be allowed in that space, but all other take activities would be prohibited.
The MPA also would be renamed with a Chumash place name to be determined.
Petition supporters last week urged the commission to approve it, saying the current MPA network must be strengthened.
Vicky Hoover, a Sierra Club representative, called the current network “incomplete.”
Violet Sage Walker, a spokeswoman for the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, said the petition’s supporters included the mayor and city of Guadalupe, the Sierra Club and the Dunes Center, to name a few, and thanked them.
She called the Point Sal MPA a gap the indigenous people in California “want to fill.”
Others, including Jesus Alonzo of Santa Maria, said they believe the ocean off Point Sal must be protected.
“I believe we have a responsibility to protect” ocean life, he said.
Opponents of closing off Point Sal who spoke in person during the Thursday meeting included fishers as well as some young kids.
Pearl, 10, said she enjoys fishing in the area and urged the commission not to “take my fishing spot away.”
Ultimately, the commission unanimously voted to move forward with the petition, agreeing it is needed in the area.
Commissioner Samantha Murray said the input from those who were not invited to give input on the first round of MPAs more than a decade ago is important.
“This is a change to hear from people, from unserved communities, from sovereign governments, who were not heard when this network was created in the first place,” she said.
Mishopshno Off Carpinteria
The proposed Mishopshno MPA, approximately 3.6 miles off the coast, would prohibit the take of ocean resources over a 9.05-square-mile area. Within that area is a 1.6-mile rocky reef, a kelp forest and a juvenile white shark aggregation, Aylesworth said.
Recreational finfish fishing with hook and line would be allowed from shore.
The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians would be exempt from the take ban. Members must have a tribal ID on them at all times while fishing, per staff.
Supporters, such as Kenneth Khan, tribal chairman of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, said last week that the new MPA would protect the area while ensuring new generations can “maintain the relationship with these waters.”
Teresa Romero, president and executive director of the Native Coast Action Network, also offered her support. She said tribal voices were not taken into account when the network was initially created and that they should be considered now.
Opponents of closing the ocean included Carpinteria resident Jaime Diamond, who also spoke out against the proposal during a May meeting in Goleta.
Diamond, the owner of Stardust Sportfishing, said charter vessels are the primary way that disadvantaged communities can access the ocean.
She called closing the ocean a “critical equity issue,” and said the “average Californian is lost in this conversation.”
While the commission did ultimately vote to move the petition forward, the vote wasn’t quite as clean-cut as the vote on Point Sal.
Commissioners Darius Anderson and Erika Zavaleta dissented, with the final vote 4-2 to approve after some debate over the tribal take exemption.
Zavaleta was concerned about excluding non-federally recognized tribes.
She also called the Carpinteria reef “uncommonly resilient,” and said it was important to restore the rights of indigenous people and tribal groups, but she wasn’t sure that specific petition was the way to do it.
Commissioner Jacqueline Hostler-Carmesin, a supporter of the petition, said it is important for people to learn from the past.
She added that she believes the “tribal historical factor” outweighs the socioeconomic impacts for commercial fishers.
“It’s hard for non-native people to understand the impacts of genocide,” she said.
A map of current MPAs can be seen by clicking here.
The proposed changes can be seen by clicking here.
The commission also denied several other smaller modifications to current MPAs along the coast. Their vote on each can be seen here.
