California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Regional Profile of the North Central Coast Study Region October 8, 2007 1.0 Introduction The Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) was signed into law in 1999. The MLPA mandates the redesign of a statewide system of marine protected areas (MPAs) that function, to the extent possible as a network. In August 2004, the California Resources Agency, California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), and Resource Legacy Fund Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding launching the MLPA Initiative and implementation of the MLPA along the central coast. Among other actions, the MLPA Initiative established the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force, the Master Plan Science Advisory Team (SAT), a statewide stakeholder interest group, and an MLPA Initiative staff. By December 2006 five key objectives were achieved by the MLPA Initiative: (1) a draft master plan framework was developed, (2) alternative proposals were developed for MPAs along the central coast and submitted to CDFG, (3) draft recommendations were made for long-term funding sources for MPA implementation and management, (4) draft recommendations were developed for increasing coordination and cooperation among state and federal agencies with the authority to manage marine resources, and (5) a recommended executive order to ensure implementation of the master plan by 2011 was submitted to the California Resources Agency (Memorandum of Understanding, August 2004). A draft master plan was developed (CDFG 2005a) and the stakeholder process for regional MPA planning in the central coast study region was completed in 2005-2006. In April 2007 the California Fish and Game Commission approved a set of central coast MPAs, and their associated regulations became effective in September 2007. A second memorandum of understanding, effective January 1, 2007, continues the public- private partnership for planning marine protected areas (MPAs) in the north central coast study region. The MLPA North Central Coast Regional Stakeholder Group (NCCRSG) was convened in 2007 to begin evaluating existing MPAs and planning potential new MPAs for the area extending from Alder Creek, five miles north of Point Arena in Mendocino County, to Pigeon Point in San Mateo County. This Regional Profile for the North Central Coast Study Region provides background information on the biological, oceanographic, socioeconomic, and governance setting for the north central coast study region; it is intended to provide basic regional information to support stakeholders and policy-makers in their understanding of the marine resources and heritage of the region, in their evaluation of existing MPAs within the study region, and in developing alternative proposals for changes to existing MPAs. The information is provided in the form of text summaries, tables, selected maps (with links to other computer-accessible maps), and technical appendices. The regional stakeholders and SAT have provided additional information to augment this profile through a joint fact-finding process. The regional profile helps to provide the context to develop alternatives that will meet the goals and objectives of the MLPA. The goals of the MLPA are: • Goal 1: To protect the natural diversity and abundance of marine life, and the structure, function, and integrity of marine ecosystems. 1 California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Regional Profile of the North Central Coast Study Region October 8, 2007 • Goal 2: To help sustain, conserve, and protect marine life populations, including those of economic value, and rebuild those that are depleted. • Goal 3: To improve recreational, educational, and study opportunities provided by marine ecosystems that are subject to minimal human disturbance, and to manage these uses in a manner consistent with protecting biodiversity. • Goal 4: To protect marine natural heritage, including protection of representative and unique marine life habitats in California waters for their intrinsic value. • Goal 5: To ensure that California's MPAs have clearly defined objectives, effective management measures, and adequate enforcement, and are based on sound scientific guidelines. • Goal 6: To ensure that the MPAs are designed and managed, to the extent possible, as a component of a statewide network. The best readily available data are being compiled for use in the north central coast study region MPA planning process. This regional profile provides an overview of some of that data. All data in a spatial Geographic Information System (GIS) format are being housed in the California Marine Geodatabase at the University of California, Santa Barbara and viewable through an Internet Map Service site (www.marinemap.org/mlpa). Appendix I provides a list of the currently available spatial data layers. 2 California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Regional Profile of the North Central Coast Study Region October 8, 2007 2.0 Description of the MLPA North Central Coast Study Region The MLPA North Central Coast Study Region covers state waters extending from a line due west from Alder Creek, five miles north of Point Arena, to a line extending due west of Pigeon Point, and includes state waters around the Farallon Islands, but does not include San Francisco Bay (see Map 1). The shoreward boundary was drawn at the beach for creeks and rivers, at the extent of tidal reach and estuarine vegetation in lagoons and estuaries, and at the Golden Gate Bridge (to exclude San Francisco Bay). Lagoons (such as Abbots Lagoon) that are mostly or entirely closed to tidal inundation and dominated by brackish-freshwater species are not included in the MLPA North Central Coast Study Region. To facilitate the display of information the region has been divided up into 6 sub-regions as follows: 1. Alder Creek/Point Arena to Horseshoe Point 2. Horseshoe Point to Bodega Head 3. Bodega Head to Double Point 4. Double Point to Point San Pedro 5. Point San Pedro to Pigeon Point 6. Farallon Islands The coastline covers a straight-line distance of 146 miles (mi), but it is actually much longer due to the undulations of the coastline (over 363 mi). In general, state waters extend from the high tide line to 3 nautical mi (nmi) seaward. However, state waters also include an area of 94.3 square miles around the Farallon Islands, which are located 28 miles offshore of the San Francisco Bay. The study region encompasses approximately 763.5 square miles and extends from the shoreline (mean high tide) to a maximum depth of approximately 382 ft (63.7 fm) off the Farallon Islands. The study region includes a broad array of habitats from intertidal to hard and soft bottom habitats on the continental shelf. The edge of the continental shelf where it transitions downward to become the continental slope is called the shelf-slope break, which occurs at approximately 200m; the continental slope is generally outside of the study region as the maximum depth in the region is 116m (380 feet, 63.4 fathoms). The continental shelf varies in width along the study region from 3.6 mi at its narrowest location to 27.2 mi at its widest location (where it extends beyond state waters) along the 100m contour. There are no submarine canyons in state waters in the region; however, there are some large canyons well offshore in federal waters. While much of the marine seafloor in the region is soft (sand or mud) bottom there are also rocky reefs, pinnacles, and rocky outcrops. Preliminary mapping of hard and soft bottom habitats in the entire study region is underway. The north central coast study region is part of the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (LME), one of only 4 temperate upwelling systems in the world. The California Current LME is considered globally important for biodiversity because of its high productivity and the large numbers of species it supports (World Wildlife Fund, 2000). The California Current LME extends from Vancouver Island to Baja California and is a very productive ecosystem fueled by nutrient-rich upwelling which supports blooms of phytoplankton that form the foundation for a 3 California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Regional Profile of the North Central Coast Study Region October 8, 2007 food web that includes many species of invertebrates, fish, marine mammals and seabirds. The north central coast study region is in the central part of the California Current LME and includes the most persistent upwelling center at Point Arena, the outflow of the largest estuary on the West Coast (San Francisco Bay), as well as the highly productive and biologically rich Gulf of the Farallones. This region has some of the highest numbers of species of fish, seabirds, and mammals in the North Pacific Ocean (PICES 2005; NOAA 2004). A major upwelling center occurs at Point Arena, with cold nutrient rich waters carried south along the entire Sonoma coast, deflected offshore at Point Reyes and out into the Gulf of Farallones. During the upwelling season, the waters are rich in nutrients that fuel highly productive and diverse ecosystems, with large numbers of top predators that are dependent on this seasonal abundance of prey resources. The nutrient rich upwelled waters fuel a productive pelagic foodweb that includes phytoplankton, krill, coastal pelagic species (anchovies, sardines, squid, etc), fish, seabirds, marine mammals, and sharks. High local productivity also attracts many migratory species. During non-upwelling seasons and El Niño years, the nutrients that flow out from San Francisco Bay become more important (NOAA 2004). Relative to other parts of the state, this study region is very important to many species of top predators that are key players in the coastal and open ocean food webs. There are specific areas in the region important as foraging and breeding grounds for populations of some top predators (Karl et al 2001; Yen et al 2004). The ecology of the study region has been relatively well characterized in several publicly available summary documents (Airame et al 2003; NOAA 2003; Karl et al.