Monterey Bay Gets Added Protections

California’s Central Coast is a paradise thanks in part to the laws and regulations that keep the human environmental toll to a minimum. Rules against drilling for oil, disturbing sea life and kelp forests and discharging wastewater combine to create a legal fortification that protects the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS). Last week, those laws took a step toward being strengthened, and were also patented to be replicated in waters around the country.

For seven years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) worked with state and local agencies in forming a bevy of new regulations and expansions to the Sanctuary. Town meetings were held, revisions were submitted, and on Nov. 20, NOAA announced they were done. A total of 10 new enhanced guidelines and an expansion of 775 square miles are included in legislation that now only needs Congressional approval before it becomes law in early spring.

Stuffed at the top of this conservationists’ Christmas stocking is the addition of the Davidson Seamount to the MBNMS. A 26-square-mile expanse of sea that includes a 2,400-foot-tall underwater mountain, the Davidson Seamount hosts a massive quantity of marine life. This area has been fiercely fought over by conservationists. Dawn Hayes, education and outreach coordinator for the Sanctuary, says champagne is in order after finally winning the protection it deserves.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Hayes says. “We’ve had tremendous amount of public input. We’ve had over 215 people working on the action plan alongside our staff. It’s a big week for oceans.”

The regulations will also affect Motorized Personal Water Craft, which will be allowed only in designated areas once the NOAA regulations are ratified. This rule has caused controversy among some local “tow-in” surfers, who use jet skis to get to massive breakers at places like Ghost Tree and Mavericks.
Big-wave surfer Aaron Bierman says the law is overkill.

“I can guarantee opening day of salmon season has a larger environmental impact than a whole year of use by the tiny MPWC contingent,” Bierman says. “I know probably every tow team on the Bay and there are maybe about 25 of them.