Final technical report - Establishing a baseline and assessing spatial and socioeconomic change in the California Central Coast commercial and CPFV fisheries

The waters off the Central Coast of California have long supported fishing activities that are integral to the cultural and economic history of the area. Fisheries exemplify the interdependencies between the natural environment and coastal communities that have characterized California since well before statehood. In September 22, 2007, as part of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, the California Fish and Game Commission (CFGC) designated 29 marine protected areas (MPAs) within the Central Coast state waters of California. The Central Coast Region of California stretches from Pigeon Point in the north to Point Conception in the south (see Map 1 and 2). As part of the baseline marine protected area monitoring effort to characterize the ecological and socioeconomic conditions and changes within the Central Coast Region since MPA implementation, this report provides three sets of primary findings: 1. A spatial and socioeconomic baseline characterization of select commercial fisheries and the commercial passenger fishing vessel (CPFV) fleet in the California Central Coast Region; 2. An assessment of initial spatial and socioeconomic changes following MPA implementation; and 3. An investigation of the role of MPAs and other major driving factors in observed spatial and economic changes Establishing a baseline characterization of the commercial fishing and CPFV fleets of the California Central Coast provides a better understanding of the current socioeconomic health of the Central Coast fishing communities and provides a benchmark of socioeconomic conditions and spatial fishing patterns against which future MPA impacts and benefits can be measured. Furthermore, assessing historical trends along with initial changes in socioeconomic conditions and spatial fishing patterns that followed MPA implementation will help inform how MPAs and other driving factors may interplay to influence observed changes. The primary goal of this project was to collect up-to-date information on historical trends, current socioeconomic conditions, and the spatial distribution and relative economic value of key commercial fisheries and the commercial passenger fishing vessel (“party-boat”) fleet in the Central Coast Region. This work documents the initial socioeconomic changes that may have followed MPA implementation and investigates the degree to which any changes are attributable to the MPAs themselves.

加利福尼亚州中部海岸外海域长期以来支撑着渔业活动，而这些渔业活动是该地区文化与经济历史中不可或缺的组成部分。渔业生动体现了自然环境与沿海社区之间的相互依存关系，这种关系早在加州建州之前就已成为加州的标志性特征。2007年9月22日，作为《海洋生物保护法》（Marine Life Protection Act, MLPA）倡议的一部分，加州鱼类与狩猎委员会（California Fish and Game Commission, CFGC）在加州中部海岸州管海域划定了29个海洋保护区（Marine Protected Areas, MPAs）。加州中部海岸区域北起鸽子角（Pigeon Point），南至康塞普申角（Point Conception）（详见图1与图2。作为海洋保护区基线监测工作的一部分，旨在表征自海洋保护区实施以来中部海岸区域的生态与社会经济状况及变化，本报告给出了三组核心研究发现：1. 加州中部海岸区域选定商业渔业及商业载客渔船（Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel, CPFV）船队的空间分布与社会经济基线特征；2. 海洋保护区实施后初始空间分布与社会经济变化的评估；3. 对海洋保护区及其他主要驱动因素在观测到的空间与经济变化中所扮演角色的调查。建立加州中部海岸商业渔业及CPFV船队的基线特征，有助于加深对中部海岸渔业社区当前社会经济健康状况的理解，并为衡量未来海洋保护区的影响与效益提供社会经济状况与空间捕捞模式的基准。此外，评估海洋保护区实施后社会经济状况与空间捕捞模式的历史趋势及初始变化，将有助于阐明海洋保护区与其他驱动因素如何相互作用，进而影响观测到的变化。本项目的核心目标是收集中部海岸区域关键商业渔业及商业载客渔船（又称"party-boat"）船队的历史趋势、当前社会经济状况、空间分布及相对经济价值的最新信息。本研究记录了海洋保护区实施后可能出现的初始社会经济变化，并探究了其中多大程度上可归因于海洋保护区本身。