Enhancing Biodiversity: Sustainable Fisheries & Thriving Marine Ecosystems


California’s iconic coastal and marine ecosystems inspire a sense of wonder and provide ocean-based livelihoods, sustainable seafood, cultural opportunities and recreation to tens of millions of Californians.

California will continue to advance the sustainability of its marine fisheries and ensure biodiverse fish and wildlife populations through science-based, collaborative management. Advancing the long-term sustainability of these fisheries offers co-benefits of protecting marine ecosystems, port communities, and coastal economies, particularly in the face of a changing climate.

 

 

 

 

Boats At Morro Bay by Chrissy Vallianos

Ventura Harbor by Jill Cloutier

The Strategic Plan to Protect California’s Coast & Ocean includes four goals — Climate Change, Equity, Biodiversity, and a Blue Economy— which guide OPC’s efforts between 2020-2025 to catalyze, coordinate, and align key statewide policies, plans, and targets. Through collaborative leadership, strategic investments, and policy development, California’s Ocean Protection Council is committed to safeguarding our coastal and marine ecosystems, thriving fisheries and fish and wildlife populations, and biodiversity.

Currently Funded Projects

  1. Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group
  2. California Disentanglement Trainings
  3. West Coast Entanglement Science Workshop
  4. California Entanglement Response Network Support
  5. California Drift Gillnet Transition Program Support
  6. Reducing the Risk of Entanglement in Fishing Gear Competitive Grant Program
  7. Gear Innovations Testing in the Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishery
  8. Small Vessel Surveys
  9. Whale Abundance Data Assessment
  10. Solar Logger Pilot Project
  11. California Fisheries Portal Development
  12. Box Crab Pilot Project: Electronic Monitoring for an Experimental Box Crab Fishery
  13. Data-limited Methods Toolkit
  14. California Fisheries Fund
  15. Kelp Aerial Surveys, 2020
  16. Habitat characterization, fishery development and stock structure of swordfish off California
  17. A multi-faceted approach to enhance sustainability of the California spiny lobster fishery
  18. Reconstructing the population dynamics of southern California Paralabrax species in the face of a changing ocean
  19. Improving management under the Marine Life Management Act (MLMA) by accounting for effects of Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) on fisheries
  20. Sea feeds: Identification and culture of Californian marine macroalgae capable of reducing greenhouse gas production from ruminant livestock
  21. A DNA metabarcoding approach to monitoring fish spawning and population connectivity in Coastal Southern and Central California

Protecting Whales & Sea Turtles and Ensuring Thriving Fisheries: Reducing the Risk of Entanglement in California Fishing Gear

  • Visit our webpage here to learn more about OPC’s work to protect whales and sea turtles and ensuring thriving fisheries in California through reducing the risk of entanglement in California fishing gear.

Dungeness Crab Task Force & Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group

     

Completed Projects

Resolutions

Resources