Fishing Restraints Save Species

California Fish and Game Commission recently voted to close approximately 200 square miles of coastal waters and declared them off-limits for fishing this summer. This ocean protection plan created 29 protected areas that make up a network of marine preserves located between San Jose and Point Conception north of Santa Barbara. These "no-take" zones will protect the habitat of many fish species and will hopefully allow them to replenish naturally. Having grown up in California, and attended college at the University of California Santa Cruz, California's recent actions are welcome news. Last month Alaska took similar historic actions. With the full support of the local fishing industry, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted the first ecosystem management plan for the Aleutian Islands, closed roughly 130,000 square nautical miles of fish habitat in the northern Bering Sea to bottom trawling, and began a process to close all federal waters in the Arctic Ocean to commercial fishing until the impacts of climate change have been fully assessed...