The MPA Collaborative Network’s Compliance Initiative, supported by Ocean Protection Council (OPC) Once-Through Cooling funds, and in partnership with the Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), the California District Attorneys Association, and Resources Legacy Fund, is a multi-year initiative that aims to improve the compliance and enforcement of California’s network of MPAs. This initiative includes community compliance forums, MPA trainings for enforcement partners, prosecutor training, and MPA violation data collection.
Community Compliance Forums
The Community Compliance Forums are complete for all 14 Collaboratives! Thank you to everyone who participated in the Forums and shared your local insights into MPA, ocean, and coastal compliance. The MPA Collaborative Network (CN) has compiled input from Forum participants into summary reports for each Collaborative as well as a summary of concerns for the entire state. Over 500 community members participated, resulting in over 2,200 compliance concerns and solutions mentioned during and after the Forums. Please visit our Project Library to see all the reports. We recommend that you view the Statewide report as a companion to the individual Collaborative reports.
MPA Data Collection
The MPA Collaborative Network is continuing to work with enforcement partners across the state to collect MPA statistics (e.g., violations observed, contacts made and citations written in MPAs). In an effort to use more inclusive language, we will use the term “enforcement partners” in place of “allied agencies” moving forward. These stats from enforcement partners will help inform the MPA Enforcement Trainings as well as the 2022 Decadal Management Review.
Enforcement Trainings
MPA Enforcement Trainings will take place for San Mateo County enforcement partners in June, and will begin for other Collaboratives in the fall of 2021 extending through the spring of 2022. San Diego and Orange County completed their Enforcement Trainings in 2019.
In March, the MPA Collaborative Network teamed up with the CDFW Law Enforcement Division and NOAA Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary to train 59 City of San Diego Lifeguard patrol boat personnel on how to recognize and cite for MPA violations. During this pilot program, City of San Diego Lifeguards will record and share MPA statistics using the eFINS enforcement tracking app. MPA statistics include geolocated violations, contacts, and citations made in the Cabrillo State Marine Reserve, South La Jolla State Marine Reserve, South La Jolla State Marine Conservation Area, Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve, and San Diego-Scripps Coastal State Marine Conservation Area. This partnership between lifeguards, wildlife officers and city attorneys will help facilitate the pathway from citation to prosecution for egregious MPA violations in San Diego.
City of San Diego Lifeguards at our early morning MPA training in Mission Bay.
Prosecutor Training
The California District Attorneys Association (CDAA) is collaborating with CDFW, Resources Legacy Fund, and the MPA Collaborative Network to coordinate a MPA training for prosecutors scheduled for May of 2021. This training will be open to CDAA members, including California District Attorneys (DAs) and City Attorneys. The goal of the CDAA MPA training, and the growing MPA DA Task Force, is to increase the awareness around and improve the prosecution of MPA violations.
To see our last blog post about the Compliance Initiative, check out “MPA Compliance Initiative 2020 Wrap-up“!