The MPA Collaborative Network’s Compliance Initiative, supported by Ocean Protection Council (OPC) Once-Through Cooling Mitigation funds, and in partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), the California District Attorneys Association, and Resources Legacy Fund (RLF), is a multi-year initiative that aims to improve the compliance and enforcement of California’s network of MPAs. This initiative includes MPA violation data collection, MPA trainings for enforcement officers, small grants projects resulting from community compliance forums, and a District Attorney MPA Task Force.
MPA Data Collection
The Collaborative Network (CN) 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). These stats from enforcement partners help inform the MPA trainings for enforcement officers and the CN’s 2022 Decadal Management Review report. The team has increased capacity by bringing on a North Coast Specialist, and the CN is making a concerted effort to expand data collection statewide, whereas previously the MPA compliance stats were South Coast focused. These stats from partners will help inform the MPA Enforcement Trainings as well as the 2022 Decadal Management Review.
MPA Trainings for Enforcement Partners
The CN is in the middle of its second round of MPA trainings for enforcement officers as a part of the 2020-2022 compliance initiative (the first round of trainings occurred in 2015-2016). These trainings include an update on MPA science, MPA boundaries and regulations, local compliance concerns, and a presentation from the District Attorney’s office. Trainings have been held for Orange County, San Diego, San Mateo, Mendocino, Catalina, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma counties. Trainings are scheduled for summer and fall of 2022 for Del Norte, Humboldt, Golden Gate (Marin/San Francisco), and Santa Barbara Channel (Santa Barbara/Ventura).
Enforcement partners, Channel Islands National Park Marine Patrol, in the Santa Barbara Channel.
Photo: Aubrie Fowler, South Coast Specialist, MPA Collaborative Network.
Compliance Small Grants Projects
Since the CN held Community Compliance Forums to crowd-source MPA compliance concerns and solutions in 2020 (reports can be found in the Resource Library), the Collaboratives have been dedicated to making these proposals a reality. Collaborative compliance projects include, but are not limited to:
- co-hosting community-directed listening sessions in multiple areas
- translating and printing materials starting in Orange County
- hosting an event for the subsistence fishing community in the Santa Barbara Channel region
- developing a process for translation approvals with CDFW
- Tribal-led projects including in Del Norte and Humboldt
- mobile digital traffic signs with MPA messaging in Sonoma and Mendocino
- spotting scopes for lighthouse partners to help identify and report MPA violations in Mendocino
- tourism-focused outreach at Catalina Island and in the Santa Cruz/Monterey/Big Sur area
- MPA compliance and wildlife disturbance exhibits and displays in San Luis Obispo
- tidepool volunteer programs in San Mateo and Marin
- MPA signage and other outreach materials in multiple areas
The grant period for these small grants will wrap-up at the end of October 2022. Once complete, the CN will share products, lessons learned, and program templates across collaboratives and beyond.
New Pillar Point Tidepool Stewards in action (Credit: Rebecca Johnson).
District Attorney MPA Task Force
The California District Attorneys Association (CDAA), in collaboration with CDFW, RLF, and the MPA Collaborative Network, are actively holding DA Task Force meetings for CDAA members and partners, including California District Attorneys (DAs), City Attorneys, and federal and state offices of general counsel. The goal of the MPA DA Task Force is to increase the awareness around and improve the prosecution of MPA violations. At the time of writing, two Task Force meetings have been held in 2021 with a third scheduled for May.
For our previous blog on the Compliance Initiative, please visit: https://www.mpacollaborative.org/blog/mpa-compliance-initiative-update-fall-2021/