A Marine Protected Area, or MPA, is an ecosystem or area of the ocean that has been set aside to protect or conserve marine life and habitat. These MPAs receive greater protection than the surrounding waters by limiting or restricting the take of marine animals and plants in order to protect the ecosystem as a whole. The regulations of MPAs vary by type.

There are 4 types of Marine Protected Areas:

Marine Reserve: No Fishing is allowed in these areas
Marine Conservation Area: Limits commercial and recreational fishing to protect a specific habitat or resource.
Marine Park: Prohibits commercial fishing but allows most recreational fishing.
Marine Recreational Management Area: Limits commercial and recreational fishing to protect a specific habitat or resource.

Check out these MPA Videos to learn more about our underwater State Parks:

Learn About California's Marine Protected Areas:

Central Coast MPAs:

29 MPAs (18% of the region)
13 State Marine Reserves
13 State Marine Conservation Areas
1 State Marine Recreational Management Area
2 State Marine Parks
Went into effect in September of 2007

View specific regulations for each Central Coast MPA...

North Central Coast MPAs:

22 MPAs total
11 Marine Reserves
9 Marine Conservation Areas
2 Marine Parks
Went into effect June, 2010

View specific regulations for each North Central Coast MPA...

South Coast MPAs:

49 MPAs total
20 Marine Reserves
9 Marine Conservation Areas (No take)
20 Marine Conservation Areas
Will go into effect on January 1st, 2012

View specific regulations for each South Coast MPA...

North Coast MPAs:

Oregon Border to Point Arena
MPA planning currently underway

How MPAs are Chosen:

Similar to parks on land, Marine Protected Areas are an essential key to renewing the health of the ocean. These reserves create more abundant ecosystems that can be further preserved for future generations and to restore our depleted fisheries. The Central Coast Marine Protected Areas were created by stakeholders of the Central Coast fisheries - the people most affected by marine protections. The stakeholders included fishermen, marine businesses, scientists, and policy makers of the Central Coast who came together to evaluate the health and future of popular fishing areas, fish nurseries, and high recreation areas, while measuring the impact of human activities. The stakeholders chose to create and protect a network of ocean ecosystems along the coast, instead of just individual marine species, to protect marine species in small, specific habitats, as well as marine species with vast migration routes, breeding grounds, and feeding grounds.

Interesting Facts:

Approximately 2.58 million km2 of the marine environment are currently protected, representing only 0.65% of the world’s oceans. By contrast, around 12% of the world's land area is protected.
All MPAs currently occur within areas under national jurisdiction (typically from the coast out to 200 miles). The ocean area beyond this, the high seas, are essentially unprotected.
There are currently around 5,000 MPAs worldwide.
Fishermen are now catching less than half of what they caught in 1990 and the fish they catch are 45% smaller.

Special Places Protected on the Central Coast:

Año Nuevo

Largest mainland breeding colony in the world of the northern elephant seal
Tidepools along the shoreline house more than 300 species of invertebrate
Large concentration of great white sharks
Attracts sea lions, harbor seals and other marine mammals who come ashore to rest, mate and give birth

Piedras Blancas

Extensive tidepools, kelp forests, and beaches
Habitats that provide shelter and breeding grounds for seabirds
Plentiful environment for California sea lions, elephant seals, harbor seals, northern fur seals and sea otters
Offshore, a deep water reef attracts large fish populations and provides shelter for rockfish

Monterey Peninsula

The unique design of the underwater Monterey Submarine Canyon attract a wide variety of marine wildlife
The nutrient rich waters supply food in the form of phytoplankton
One of the only places in the world where you can see the endangered southern sea otter
Researchers are able to study the unknown in the deep sea canyon only a few miles from the coast

Big Sur Coast

Its submarine canyons and rocky pinnacles host rare coldwater corals and large rockfish
The vast kelp forests provide a nursery to juvenile fish and an ideal environment for sea otters
Its remote location has kept most of the fish populations healthy and the coast habitat pristine