California’s Fish and Game Commission has voted to create new marine protected areas on the state’s Central Coast, with local Chumash tribes helping to lead them, the Santa Barbara Independent reports.
The Mishopshno State Marine Conservation Area, named after an ancient Chumash village, will stretch from Toro Canyon to the Carpinteria Salt Marsh and almost three nautical miles out to sea. It will be co-led with the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. Drilling, trawling and other extractive uses will be barred, while surfing, diving, shore fishing and tribal harvesting will continue. The waters shelter rocky reefs, kelp forests and salt marsh, and serve as a nursery for juvenile great white sharks.
The commission also backed a 9.18-square-mile conservation area at Point Sal near Vandenberg, put forward by the Northern Chumash Tribal Council with the Natural Resources Defense Council. Final regulations still need to be drawn up. “Protecting this area honors that history,” said Santa Ynez Chumash chairman Kenneth Kahn.
Source: Santa Barbara Independent