Campus Point State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a marine protected area that protects the waters along and off the coast of the University of California, Santa Barbara, the student community of Isla Vista, and the University's Coal Oil Point Reserve. The SMCA covers 10.51 square miles, including Goleta Point (also known as "Campus Point"). The marine protected areas protect natural habitats and marine life by prohibiting or limiting removal of wildlife from within their boundaries.
Campus Point SMCA is one of 36 marine protected areas adopted by the California Fish and Game Commission in December, 2010 during the third phase of the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative. The MLPAI is a collaborative public process to create a statewide network of protected areas along California's coastline. The south coast's new marine protected areas were designed by local divers, fishermen, conservationists and scientists who comprised the South Coast Regional Stakeholder Group. The task was to design a network of protected areas that would preserve sensitive sea life and habitats while enhancing recreation, study and education opportunities. The south coast marine protected areas went into effect in 2012. [1]
Campus Point SMCA is designed to protect habitat and species diversity. This SMCA represents and protects a wide diversity of habitat types including eelgrass, surfgrass, kelp, rocky reefs, shallow subtidal, rocky intertidal, oil seeps, sand, and the estuarine inputs of Devereux Slough. It's also known as one of the best places for the Western snowy plover. [2] [3] [4]
Campus Point SMCA prohibits the take of all living marine resources. California's marine protected areas encourage recreational and educational uses of the ocean. [5] [6] Activities such as kayaking, diving, snorkeling, and swimming are allowed. [1]
University of California, Santa Barbara has miles of sandy beaches, a semi-enclosed lagoon and a Marine Science Institute. Access to the coast along this fully marine protected area is available from Goleta Beach County Park, various coastal access points on University property, staircases and trails in the community of Isla Vista, and from the Ellwood Beach area of Goleta. The dunes and blufftop here are part of an elaborate restoration effort, including a docent program to protect and interpret the nesting area of rare snowy plover shorebirds.
Isla Vista is an unincorporated community in Santa Barbara County, California, in the United States. As of 2020 census, the community had a population of 15,500. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined the community as a census-designated place (CDP). The majority of residents are college students at the University of California, Santa Barbara, or Santa Barbara City College. The beachside community of Isla Vista lies on a flat plateau about 30 feet (9 m) in elevation, separated from the beach by a bluff.
The Goleta Slough is an area of estuary, tidal creeks, tidal marsh, and wetlands near Goleta, California, United States. It primarily consists of the filled and unfilled remnants of the historic inner Goleta Bay about 8 miles (13 km) west of Santa Barbara. The slough empties into the Pacific Ocean through an intermittently closed mouth at Goleta Beach County Park just east of the UCSB campus and Isla Vista. The slough drains the Goleta Valley and watershed, and receives the water of all of the major creeks in the Goleta area including the southern face of the Santa Ynez Mountains.
Goleta Beach is a region of coastline located near Goleta, California, just east of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) campus. A portion of the shore of Goleta Bay is managed by the County of Santa Barbara, as the Goleta Beach County Park (GBCP). The beach itself is partly man-made as sand was spread onto an existing sandspit in 1945. The beach is a seasonal habitat for migrating shorebirds, including the snowy plover, an endangered species, and is occasionally closed due to nourishment efforts.
Carmel Bay State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a marine protected area in Carmel Bay. Carmel Bay is adjacent to the city of Carmel-by-the-Sea and is near Monterey, on California’s central coast. The marine protected area covers 2.12 square miles. Recreational fishing of finfish and limited commercial taking of kelp is permitted within the SMCA.
Stewarts Point State Marine Reserve (SMR) and Stewarts Point State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) are two adjoining marine protected areas that extend offshore from about a mile south of Black Point to Fisk Mill Cove, in Sonoma County on California’s north central coast. The marine protected areas cover 25.22 square miles (65.3 km2). Stewarts Point SMR prohibits the take of all living marine resources. Stewarts Point SMCA prohibits the take of all living marine resources, except recreational shore based take of marine aquatic plants, marine invertebrates, finfish by hook and line, surf smelt by beach net, and species authorized by Title 14 Section 28.80 by hand-held dip net.
Salt Point State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a marine protected area that lies onshore from Fisk Mill Cove and south along Salt Point State Park in Sonoma County on California's north central coast. The marine protected area covers 3.12 square miles (8.1 2). Salt Point SMCA prohibits the take of all living marine resources, except the recreational take of abalone and finfish.
Bodega Head State Marine Reserve (SMR) and Bodega Head State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) are two adjoining marine protected areas off Bodega Bay in Sonoma County on California’s north-central coast. The combined area of these marine protected areas is 21.64 square miles (56.0 km2), with 9.3 square miles (24 km2) in the SMR, and 12.34 square miles (32.0 km2) in the SMCA. Bodega Head SMR prohibits the take of all living marine resources. Bodega Head SMCA prohibits the take of all living marine resources, except the recreational and commercial take of pelagic finfish with troll fishing gear or seine, Dungeness crab by trap, and market squid by hand-held dip net and round haul net.
Montara State Marine Reserve (SMR) and Pillar Point State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) are two adjoining marine protected areas that extend offshore from Montara to Pillar Point in San Mateo County on California’s north central coast. The combined area of these marine protected areas is 18.42 square miles (47.7 km2), with 11.76 square miles (30.5 km2) in the SMR and 6.66 in the SMCA. Montara SMR prohibits the take of all living marine resources. Pillar Point SMCA prohibits the take of all living marine resources, except the recreational and commercial take of pelagic finfish by trolling or seine, the commercial or recreational take of Dungeness crab by trap and the commercial or recreational take or market squid by hand-held dip net or round haul net.
Estero de Limantour State Marine Reserve (SMR) and Drakes Estero State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) are two adjoining marine protected areas along the Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County on California’s north central coast. These marine protected areas cover a combined 4.04 square miles (10.5 km2), with 1.49 square miles (3.9 km2) in the SMR and 2.55 square miles (6.6 km2) in the SMCA. Drakes Estero SMCA prohibits the take of all living marine resources from Drakes Estero except the recreational take of clams and formerly the commercial aquaculture of shellfish pursuant to a disputed state water bottom lease and permit, which has been the subject of ongoing legal proceedings since 2012, when the lease was allowed to expire.
Point Reyes State Marine Reserve (SMR) and Point Reyes State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) are two adjoining marine protected areas that extend offshore of Point Reyes Headlands and within Drakes Bay in Marin County on California's north central coast. The combined area of these marine protected areas is 21.49 square miles (55.7 km2), with 9.38 in the SMR, and 12.11 in the adjacent SMCA. Point Reyes SMR prohibits the take of all living marine resources. Point Reyes SMCA prohibits the take of all living marine resources, except the recreational and commercial take of Dungeness crab by pot and salmon by trolling.
Goleta Point is a small peninsula at the southern end of the Gaviota Coast on the central coast in the U.S. state of California. It is located 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of the city of Goleta. Situated within the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), it is characterized by a beach cliff, crashing waves, and a view of the Channel Islands across the Santa Barbara Channel. The rock formation is frequented by shorebirds.
Pacific Grove Marine Gardens State Marine Conservation Area is one of four small marine protected areas located near the cities of Monterey and Pacific Grove, at the southern end of Monterey Bay on California’s central coast. The four MPAs together encompass 2.96 square miles (7.7 km2). Within the SMCA fishing and take of all living marine resources is prohibited except the recreational take of finfish and the commercial take of giant and bull kelp by hand under certain conditions. According to the Frommer's guide, the Marine Gardens area is "renowned for ocean views, flowers, and tide-pool seaweed beds."
Moss Landing Wildlife Area is a California State wildlife preserve on the shore of Elkhorn Slough.
Naples State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a marine protected area that protects Naples Reef which is about three-quarters of a mile offshore along the middle of the pristine and rural Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County on California’s south coast. The SMCA covers 2.58 square miles. The MPAs protects marine life by limiting the removal of wildlife from within its borders.
Tijuana River Mouth State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a marine protected area that extends offshore of southern San Diego County on California's south coast. The SMCA covers 2.91 square miles (7.5 km2).
Famosa Slough State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a marine protected area in San Diego on California’s south coast. It consists of a 25-acre wetland and a 12-acre natural channel connecting to the San Diego River estuary. It is flushed by salt water from the estuary as well as rainwater from the surrounding neighborhood. It is owned and maintained by the City of San Diego as a natural park.
Goleta Slough State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a marine protected area in Goleta in Santa Barbara County on California's south coast. The SMCA covers 0.25 square miles (0.65 km2). The SMCA protects marine life by limiting the removal of marine wildlife from within its borders. Goleta Slough SMCA prohibits take of all living marine resources except for take pursuant to routine maintenance, dredging, habitat restoration, research and education, maintenance of artificial structures, and operation and maintenance of existing facilities in the conservation area per any required federal, state and local permits, or activities pursuant to Section 630, or as otherwise authorized by the department.
Upper Newport Bay State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a marine protected area in Newport Bay in Orange County and the South Coast region of Southern California. It extends inland/northeast from the Pacific Coast Highway crossing of the bay, within the city of Newport Beach.
Bolsa Chica Basin State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) and Bolsa Bay State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) are two adjoining marine protected areas located in Orange County on the southern coast of California, United States. The SMCAs cover 0.66 and 0.07 square miles, respectively. The SMCAs protect marine life by limiting the removal of marine wildlife from within their borders.
North Campus Open Space (NCOS) is a 136-acre wetland and upland restoration project (55 ha) in Goleta, California. Located on a former golf course, NCOS is managed by the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER), a research center under the Office of Research at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). The primary objectives of this project are: the restoration of the historic upper half of Devereux Slough and adjacent upland and wetland habitats that support important local native plant and animal species, reducing flood risk, providing a buffer against predicted sea level rise, and contributing to carbon sequestration while also supporting public access and outreach, and facilitating research and educational opportunities for all members of the community.