We prepared and submitted two petitions to the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) on November 30th to request changes in Marine Protected Area (MPA) regulations at two highly vulnerable locations in Marin County: Drakes Estero and Duxbury Reef. We also supplemented our comments on February 1st with additional community support and information. This follows the decadal management review and the need to adaptively manage our MPAs.
Drakes Estero
We requested that Drakes Estero change from a State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA), in which limited take is permitted (recreational clamming), to a State Marine Reserve, where no take is permitted, to be consistent with the State Marine Reserve (SMR) designation of the connected Estero de Limantour and with Drakes Estero’s designation as a Marine Wilderness.
Duxbury Reef
We also requested three changes at Duxbury Reef:
1) Change the designation from SMCA to State Marine Reserve to more effectively protect imperiled reef species which are vulnerable to disturbance and take;
2) Extend the MPA south to encompass the section of the reef currently outside the MPA boundary; and
3) Extend the MPA north to include the contiguous habitat to Double Point/Stormy Stack Special Closure.
Both areas to the south and north of the current Duxbury Reef SMCA support sensitive rocky intertidal habitat and marine species, as well as marine mammal haul-out and pupping sites.
The next public Commission meeting is Feb 14, 2024. The Commission will consider our petitions, item 10B, in the meeting agenda. They may also refer the petitions for more discussion to their March Marine Resources Committee, chaired by two Commissioners.
Organizations and individuals interested in supporting our efforts, please email Leslie.
At this point, written comments may be delivered in person to the meeting, and there may also be later opportunities for engagement.
The meeting will be live-streamed at fgc.ca.gov on the day of the meeting. To comment during the meeting, please join at the in-person location, via Zoom, or by telephone; you may join the webinar directly. For complete instructions on how to join or to review the meeting documents, visit fgc.ca.gov/meetings/2024.
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California Fish and Game Commission 2024 meetings and agendas
