California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative

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California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Draft Methods Used to Evaluate Marine Protected Area Proposals in the MLPA South Coast Study Region October 26, 2009 Draft Note: This draft is identical to the draft of October 6, 2009, except for two minor changes: (1) the text pelagic seine has been emended to pelagic seine [round haul net] throughout the document. (2) The tables of Contents, Tables and Figures, which had shown some incorrect page numbers, have been corrected. California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative c/o California Natural Resources Agency Sacramento, California 95814 916.653.5656 [email protected] California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Draft Methods Used to Evaluate MPA Propoals in the MLPA South Coast Study Region October 26, 2009 Draft Contents Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................vi 1. Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Bioregions ................................................................................................................................... 3 3. Protection Levels (Goals 1, 2, 4 and 6)...................................................................................... 15 4. Habitat Representation Analyses (Goals 1 and 4) ..................................................................... 44 5. Habitat Replication Analyses (Goals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6)................................................................ 56 6. Size (Goals 2 and 6).................................................................................................................. 63 7. Spacing (Goals 2 and 6)............................................................................................................ 67 8. Bioeconomic Modeling .............................................................................................................. 74 9. Protection of Marine Birds and Mammals.................................................................................. 90 10. Water and Sediment Quality.................................................................................................. 101 11. Recreational, Educational, and Study Opportunities (Goal 3)................................................ 106 12. Commerical and Recreational Fishery Impacts ..................................................................... 109 Appendix A. Levels of Protection for Potential Allowed Uses ...................................................... 114 Appendix B. Bioeconomic Modeling ............................................................................................ 123 Appendix C. Socioeconomic Impact Assessment Methods ......................................................... 146 ii California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Draft Methods Used to Evaluate MPA Propoals in the MLPA South Coast Study Region October 26, 2009 Draft Tables Table ES-1. Level of protection and the activities associated with levels of protection in the MLPA South Coast Study Region..................................................................................................... viii Table ES-2. Amount of habitat in an MPA necessary to encompass 90% of local biodiversity given in linear statute miles and square statute miles.........................................................................x Table 1-1. MLPA Goals and Evaluation Elements Relating to Each Goal ....................................... 1 Table 3-1. Level of Protection and the Activities Associated with Levels of Protection in the MLPA South Coast Study Region..................................................................................................... 20 Table 4-1 Habitat mapping quality. This table summarizes the limitations of habitat maps and recommendations for use of habitat data in habitat evaluations............................................. 48 Table 5-1 Amount of Habitat in an MPA Necessary to Encompass 90% of Local Biodiversity ..... 59 Table 6-1. Scales of Adult Movement for California Coastal Marine Species ................................ 64 Table 7-1: Life History Characteristics of Representative Fish and Invertebrates.......................... 68 Table 9-1. Known Important Prey Items of Bald Eagle, Brandt’s Cormorant, California Least Tern, Pelagic Cormorant, Pigeon Guillemot, Harbor Seal, California Sea Lion and Coastal Bottlenose Dolphin in Southern California.............................................................................. 94 Table 9-2: Proposed Activities That Will Qualify (YES) or Disqualify (NO) an SMCA for Inclusion in Each Seabird Analysis ........................................................................................................... 98 Table 10-2. Scoring table for evaluating MPAs by category ....................................................... 103 Table 10-2. Example evaluation for a hypothetical proposal........................................................ 104 Table 10-3. Names and shoreline lengths of water quality protection areas in the MLPA South Coast Study Region. ............................................................................................................ 105 Table A-1. Level of Protection Decision Matrix ............................................................................ 115 Table B1-1. Assumptions of the UCD and UCSB Bioeconomic Models ...................................... 123 California halibut is a soft-bottom species. Although some individuals recruit into estuaries, more recent information suggests that recruitment also occurs along the open coast, consistent with the assumptions of the ROMS larval dispersal modeling.Table B3-1. Kelp bass (Paralabrax clathratus) ............................................................................................................................ 130 Table B3-1. Kelp bass (Paralabrax clathratus) ............................................................................ 131 Table B3-2. Ocean Whitefish (Caulolatilus princeps)................................................................... 132 Table B3-3. Black perch (Embiotoca jacksoni) ............................................................................ 133 Table B3-4. Kelp rockfish (Sebastes atrovirens).......................................................................... 134 Table B3-5. Opaleye (Girella nigricans)....................................................................................... 135 Table B3-6. Sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher)...................................................................... 136 Table B3-7. Red Sea Urchin (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus).................................................. 137 Table B3-8. California halibut (Paralichthys californicus)............................................................. 138 iii California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Draft Methods Used to Evaluate MPA Propoals in the MLPA South Coast Study Region October 26, 2009 Draft Figures Figure 2-1. Deep Rocky Reef Fish Assemblages ............................................................................ 6 Figure 2-2. Distribution of Demersal Fish and Megabenthic Invertebrate Site Cluster..................... 7 Figure 2-3. Fish Community Structure............................................................................................. 8 Figure 2-4. Invertebrate Community Structure................................................................................. 8 Figure 2-5. Shallow Rocky Reefs .................................................................................................... 9 Figure 2-6. Rocky Intertidal Biogeography....................................................................................... 9 Figure 2-7. Proposed Bioregion Groupings ................................................................................... 10 Figure 2-8. Island-Mainland Differences in Kelp Forest Fish Assemblages in the Santa Barbara Channel ................................................................................................................................. 11 Figure 2-9. Proposed Bioregion Group Differences — Shallow Subtidal ....................................... 12 Figure 2-10. Proposed Bioregion Group Differences — Rocky Intertidal ....................................... 13 Figure 3-1. Conceptual Model for Determining the Level of Protection in an MPA Based on an Extractive Activity Permitted There ........................................................................................ 17 Figure 4-1 Persistent Kelp versus Kelp Area By Year .................................................................. 54 Figure 5-1 Estimated Proportion of Species per Amount of Habitat for Rocky Habitats................ 58 Figure 5-2 Kelp Persistence Measure versus Likelihood of Kelp .................................................. 62 Figure 7-1. Connectivity of Sites in Southern California for Kelp Bass........................................... 69 Figure 8-1. Example of Spatial Map of Conservation Value Generated by UCD Model................. 83 Figure 8-2. Example of Spatial Map of Economic Return Generated by UCD Model .................... 84 Figure 8-3. Example of Spatial Map of Recruitment Generated by UCD Model............................. 85 Figure 8-4. Example of Spatial Map of Fishing Generated by UCD Model ...................................
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