With ease from years of practice, Michael Beanan slipped into the ocean, slicing through waves out to a mass of kelp.
The former Navy SEAL was on a new kind of mission, inspecting the growing kelp forests and sea life a quarter-mile off Paradise Cove in south Laguna. Once there, he dove at least 20 feet down into what is becoming lush, healthy ocean vegetation stretching for nearly a quarter-mile from Thousand Steps Beach to Three Arch Bay.
In the last year since Laguna’s 7.2-mile coastline became a marine protected area, Beanan, swimmers, surfers, stand-up paddleboarders and shore enthusiasts report seeing an increase in abalone, sheephead, lobster, tide pool life and shorebirds.
Its “no fishing” beaches are the only ones in the Orange County and among a handful in the state that are part of the nation’s most expansive marine reserves. The city’s collaboration with groups, individuals and local and state agencies is a model for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to implement more of these networks across the state.
Laguna’s coastline – once known for an abundance of abalone, with coves like Totuava Cove at Thousand Steps named after a 600-pound fish that was found there – was depleted for decades by fishing.
In December, the state agency finished creating its marine reserve network in Northern California. Last week, a report was released – the first – studying the effects of marine protected areas along the Central California coastline established by the California Legislature in 1999 and implemented by Fish and Wildlife in 2007.
Data collected by scientists for the California Ocean Science Trust in partnership with Fish and Wildlife showed marked improvement in the protected zones. Scientists found fish increased in number and size in areas between San Mateo and Santa Barbara counties compared with unprotected ocean areas nearby.
California Fish and Wildlife Assistant Chief Dan Sforza, who oversees several counties in Southern California, said the reserves range in levels of restrictions from no fishing to some fishing along the coastline.
“I believe reserves work,” the longtime warden said. “Two Harbors at the front side of Catalina near the USC Wrigley Institute has always been a ‘no-take’ reserve. You see large lobster and halibut. It’s almost like diving in an aquarium.”
Like Laguna’s established greenbelt protecting canyons, hillsides and open space, the “bluebelt” targets marine life with a goal of restoring it to pre-fishing levels.
“We are the only citywide marine protected area and the only city in the U.S. with a contiguous bluebelt and greenbelt,” said Beanan, a member of Laguna Bluebelt. “What’s important is that we have a rocky bottom. Because of that, you have tide pools and hundreds of caves that function as nurseries for fish and shellfish. Offshore we have kelp forests equivalent to underwater redwood forests. They can grow to 120 feet high and grow at a rate of two feet a day. … Rather than a ‘no fish’ zone, we have a ‘grow fish’ zone.”
These positive results come from years of effort by the Laguna Bluebelt, a coalition of local organizations and individuals who want to restore the local marine life and habitat. In 2007, Beanan, Judy York, Greg O’Loughlin and Ray Heimstra organized monthly meetings in town and traveled to meetings along the coast.
The Laguna Ocean Foundation, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving the ocean, shoreline and tide pools, pushed the city for its first marine protection officer. The group also played a pivotal role in pushing for the coastal protection. More than 200 tide pool docents have been trained; they focus on education.
The Laguna groups gained attention and drew conservationists, fishermen, divers, spear fishermen, owners of commercial fishing vessels and elected officials. They focused on habitat restoration, water-quality education, protection and networking.
Calla Allison, now with the MPA Collaborative Implementation Program, also worked on the implementation of the marine protected area as the city’s marine protection officer.
“The city had put up signs with the new regulations even before the law was in place,” Allison said. “That was so far ahead of any other city out there.”
Still, dozens of people were cited. Most of these, Allison and Sforza said, were uninformed and were people from inland communities who fished the areas before and were unfamiliar with the law. In one incident, a state warden caught a man at Heisler Park who had taken more than 100 lobsters from the reserve area. Most are compliant when they are informed.
The OakStreakers, a group of Lagunans who swim regularly at Shaw’s Cove, are some of those reaping the rewards of the marine protected areas.
Patsee Ober is there every day. She no longer worries about boats coming too close or getting tangled in fishing lines. Instead, she’s actually avoiding getting tangled in the growing kelp beds.
“This is the first time I’m seeing baby Garibaldis and lobsters are up close in places we haven’t seen them before,” Ober said. “We’re seeing lots more birds. We’re in the water every day and can see the change. The tide pools are filled with tons of sea anemones, octopus, eels and schools of fish. This means the marine protected areas are working.”
State officials and local preservation groups look to Laguna Beach as a model for other cities in the marine protection network, Allison said.
“Laguna Beach is the first area where this collaboration is well developed,” she said. “State Fish and Wildlife is looking to set up similar collaborations up and down the state. Laguna is the idea and model for success. Having this positive example makes it possible for other groups to have their vision.”
For Beanan, the experience isn’t only about saving the ocean and shore but about building relationships in the community.
“This was a citywide effort,” Beanan, a member of Laguna Bleubelt said. “Sometimes South Laguna has to fight its fights and North Laguna has its issues. Often we don’t interact. For me what I like about the ocean, it brings us all together. Laguna is a place that prides itself on creatively solving issues that are the same around the globe. If we can do something positive with the greenbelt, we can do the same for the ocean.”
Contact the writer: 949-492-5152 or eritchie@ocregister.com or twitter.com/lagunaini
