MPA – North Coast Local Interest MPA Workgroup

The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District convened the North Coast Local-Interest Marine Protected Area Work Group (MPA Work Group) to provide a framework for governments and tribes in the North Coast Region to respond in an organized way to the potential implementation of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) scheduled for December 2010. The first meeting was held in May 2009 and several productive meetings have followed (see Agendas/Minutes).

The MLPA process for the North Coast will culminate in December 2010 with the designation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The Harbor District has an interest in helping coordinate North Coast stakeholders because of our charge to maintain ocean and bay related commerce for Humboldt County and because we manage the Shelter Cover harbor that could be severely impacted. County and city governments, harbor districts and tribes throughout the region are drawing together to cope with this process and are organizing through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). Our regional Work Group will now have official membership from these entities so we can act in a coordinated way to promote our interests and to insure proper management of nearshore fisheries and wildlife resources.

The latest development sponsored by the Work Group is the convening of interested parties from Del Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino counties to devise a regional external MPA array that meets conservation needs but is not economically harmful to our fisheries dependent region. Stakeholders are working in Ft. Bragg, Crescent City, Trinidad, Humboldt Bay and Shelter Cove to assess where conservation areas can be placed and scientific justification for their placement will be provided prior to the February 1 deadline.

Learn more by reviewing presentations given to the Work Group and visit the Literature Library where there are useful documents on the scientific principals of MPA design and studies that have evaluated their effectiveness.

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Agendas

Minutes

Correspondence

Literature

Presentations