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Connecting Ecological and Socioeconomic Monitoring to Management for Marine Protected Areas in California's Channel Islands
Session Organizer: Satie Airame
Description: In 2008, the California Fish and Game Commission will conduct a five-year review of marine protected areas (MPAs) around California's Channel Islands. A network of ten fully-protected marine reserves and two marine conservation areas that allow limited take was established around the Channel Islands in April 2003. Monitoring has been conducted by various scientists and research organizations, each with a different purpose, investigating different locations, habitats and species. Together, the various monitoring efforts can address a broad array of questions about managing the MPAs. The challenge is to bring together scientists who have complementary information for the purpose of evaluation of MPAs and adaptive management.
Motivated by the upcoming five-year review, scientists who engaged in research or monitoring around the Channel Islands are working together to address questions about the MPAs from managers and agency staff. The scientists are evaluating changes in abundance, size, biomass and spawning biomass of species likely to benefit from MPAs. The scientists are investigating changes in species composition and ecosystem function. Experts in seafloor mapping are describing habitats protected within MPAs and evaluating changes in marine habitats after MPAs were established. Some scientists are measuring movement patterns of fish and invertebrates and estimating spillover from MPAs to surrounding waters. Social scientists and economists are comparing fishery landings and catch per unit effort before and after MPAs were established. Agencies are monitoring numbers and distributions of commercial and recreational vessels around the Channel Islands in order to detect change associated with the implementation of MPAs. The suite of information about how the MPAs are working will be delivered to state and federal agencies for use in adaptive management and planning.
The symposium is appropriate and significant for presentation at "From the Mountains to the Sea" because the content of the symposium links the scientific monitoring in the marine environment with management, policy, and outreach to stakeholders on land. Each talk will explore the suite of influences that connect marine protected areas with the surrounding environment and current and historical activities. Through the process of preparing for the symposium, scientists are bringing their knowledge and data to address questions about management and policy. Managers and policymakers involved in the process are gaining an appreciation for the enormous investment of scientists in data acquisition, processing, and analysis. At the same time, scientists are learning what kinds of information are useful for management and policy, and how to best deliver the information. The symposium integrates many different fields of marine science to support adaptive management in the marine environment.