Victory for Channel Islands Marine Life!

Posted: 23-Oct-2002; Updated: 28-Jul-2009

The California Fish and Game Commission just issued its long-awaited decision on creating a network of marine protected areas around the Channel Islands, and the news is good.  Thanks in part to the dedicated work by our Oceans staff and thousands of Action Network activists (who sent more than 13,000 e-mails to state officials), the commission designated about one-fifth of the state waters now within the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary as a new network of fully protected "no take" marine reserves.  

Our staff worked closely over many years with a coalition of divers, sport fishermen, surfers and other environmental groups to strike a balance between the short-term impacts on the fishing community and the long-term benefits of protect the area's spectacular marine life. "We are very pleased that the Fish and Game Commission has today reached this balanced decision and based it upon the diligent work of all stakehholders," said Environmental Defense scientist Rod Fujita.

Despite being designated a national park and marine sanctuary in 1980, that level of protection (which allowed fishing but banned offshore mining and drilling) was not enough to stem the alarming declines in many fish and wildlife species, such as giant sea bass, sheephead, sharks and rockfish. Now the areas set aside will be off limits to diving, sportfishing and other "extractive activities" that would disturb marine life, providing a kind of nursery for fish and other species to replenish themselves.

Environmental Defense marine advocate Richard Charter has spent the better part of two decades sitting at the table with sometimes warring groups hammering out a solution to preserve this spectacular ecosystem. Remarking on yesterday's announcement, Charter said, "This landmark decision shows that the greater public good can prevail over narrow special interests, and we feel confident that the new network of marine protected areas will help fish and other marine life recover, will benefit fishermen in the long run and allow future generations to enjoy the beauty of the Channel Islands."

Take Action! The Channel Islands still need further protection.

FIND OUT MORE

• News Release from Environmental Defense and other conservation groups
• Channel Island Update: How We Won an Ocean Marine Reserve 
• "The Channel Islands: A 'Garden of Eden' Hangs in the Balance"
• Our work in creating Marine Protected Areas
• View a tour of the Channel Islands Sanctuary narrated by Ted Danson
• Channel Islands National Marine Santcuary - National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) web site