Proceedings of the marine protected area site selection workshop

California’s marine protected areas (MPAs) were designed to function as a cohesive and ecologically connected network, pursuant to the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA). The MLPA also requires that the network be monitored to evaluate progress towards meeting the MLPA goals and to inform adaptive management. As a first step, the state implemented Phase 1 of the Statewide MPA Monitoring Program (2007 – 2018) to conduct regional baseline monitoring near the time of MPA implementation. Baseline monitoring established a comprehensive benchmark of ecological and socioeconomic conditions across the state, and provided an important set of data against which future MPA performance can be measured. Building on Phase 1, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) are developing priorities and strategies for Phase 2, statewide long-term monitoring. A Statewide MPA Monitoring Action Plan (Action Plan) is now under development by CDFW and OPC to prioritize MPA index sites, and ecological and socioeconomic indicators for long-term monitoring, and to help guide cost-effective spending and funding for future monitoring projects. The Action Plan will aggregate monitoring recommendations presented in Phase 1 regional MPA monitoring plans and technical reports with novel quantitative and expert informed approaches for long-term monitoring.On January 12, 2018, CDFW and OPC convened a workshop titled “Marine Protected Area Site Selection” with collaborating researchers to discuss and develop recommendations and a shared understanding to inform the development of the Action Plan, including approaches for long-term monitoring design, detecting potential MPA effects, and predicting MPA effectiveness over time. Workshop participants identified core priorities for integrating discussed approaches to inform the Action Plan, and important next steps. Presentations and topics centered around: 1) Incorporating MPA design features and long-term monitoring datasets into site selection criteria2) Monitoring that accounts for fisheries sustainability and ecosystem integrity goals3) Using the state space integration projection model (SSIPM) to estimate fishing mortality rates to set expectations for population responses4) Using spatial point process models for benthic visual survey and sampling design5) Continued facilitation of a Regional Oceanographic Modeling System (ROMS) to estimate network connectivity