Archive » August 10, 2007

Channel Islands fishing ban expanded off Santa Barbara, Ventura

 

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP)

The federal government announced Thursday that it has nearly doubled the no-fishing zones in the waters around the Channel Islands in an effort to protect the area’s marine habitats and sensitive species.

The federal action permanently bans fishing from nearly 150 miles around the islands off the coast of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. Nearly 80 percent of the area around the islands, however, is still open to sport and commercial fishing.

Scientists and conservation groups said the expansion of no-fishing zones was necessary because decades of excessive fishing had depleted marine life. But it was the vision of an old recreational fisherman who helped get the 8-year-old effort started, said Sean Hastings, ocean policy analyst with the National Marine Sanctuary Program.

"He said ‘I’ve been fishing out there for 50 years, Sean, and it’s not what it was. We need to set some areas aside,’" said Hastings. "He recognized that something had to be done differently."

Hastings said the zones will help everything thrive from the marine life at the bottom of the food chain to those at the top, such as whales. The areas are inhabited by sharks, swordfish and marlin, as well as anchovies, sardines and squid.

Surfing, scuba diving, swimming, sailing and the motoring and anchoring boats will continue to be permitted in the new areas, as long as fishing gear is stowed and not in use.

The expansion comes after years of debate and study over expanding a cluster of already protected areas in state waters, which extend three miles from the islands, into surrounding federal waters. In 2002, California established the first 135 square miles of reserves off the islands. When completed, the 318.4-square-mile system of protected areas will be the largest in the continental U.S.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.