Piedras Blancas State Marine Reserve and Marine Conservation Area

Within the SMCA fishing and take of all living marine resources is prohibited except the commercial and recreational take of salmon and albacore.

The Marine Life Protection Act Initiative (or MLPAI) is a collaborative public process to create a statewide network of marine protected areas along the California coastline.

[1] The Piedras Blancas marine protected areas encompass a rich nearshore, including extensive tidepools, two species of kelp, and both sandy and cobble beaches.

Offshore, a high relief deepwater rocky structure attracts large forage fish populations and provides shelter for rockfish.

[3][4][5] These two marine protected areas adjoin each other off the coast of San Luis Obispo County.

California's marine protected areas encourage recreational and educational uses of the ocean.

As specified by the Marine Life Protection Act, select marine protected areas along California's central coast are being monitored by scientists to track their effectiveness and learn more about ocean health.

Similar studies in marine protected areas located off of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands have already detected gradual improvements in fish size and number.

[8] Local scientific and educational institutions involved in the monitoring include Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station, University of California Santa Cruz, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Research methods include hook-and-line sampling, intertidal and scuba diver surveys, and the use of Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) submarines.