New Marine Conservation Area and Reserve Closures

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Otto

January 1st will ring in with new State and Federal Marine Protected Areas along our Southern California Coast.  Both ends of Santa Monica Bay are included on this year’s after Christmas hit list.  Point Dume north to Encinal Canyon Road will be designated a State Marine Conservation area with special take regulations.  This area includes my earlier postings at Zuma Beach and Broad Beach Road.  Just south of Point Dume, Little Dume Cove is also named as a Marine Reserve, and is also a special closure area.

To the south off Palos Verdes Point the area around Point Vicente will become a no take State Marine Conservation area, and Abalone Cove a State Marine Conservation area with special regulations.

There are also a few other new regulated closures at the Channel Islands and south of Santa Monica Bay that are included on the new regulations list.  You need to check these out, too.

For more information and maps of the Conservation and Reserve areas, go online to the Department of Fish and Game website and look up the specifics at: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/scmpas_list.asp

Stay legal and have fun continuing to dive the rest of all the great places we’ve enjoyed in the past.  Merry Christmas and Happy 2012.

About Otto

Otto Gasser grew up mostly in southern California and obtained his Doctorate In Educational Psychology from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He was hired as a professor to teach in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California, where he initiated a multilevel Scuba training curriculum on campus. Dr. Gasser spent 37 years at Cal Poly before recently retiring. During that time, he certified over 2,000 students in Scuba. He served as the University’s Diving Safety Officer and represented the campus on the California State College and Universities Diving Safety Committee. Off campus, Dr. Gasser spent ten years on the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles County Underwater Instructors Association, three of them as President. Over the years, he has volunteered time on a number of county Scuba training programs and has authored several articles about diver training. Otto is now an active recreational diver. In addition to the California coast, his more frequently visited dive locations include Hawaii’s Big Island, Indonesia, and the Caribbean islands.
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