CANCELED: OPC Virtual Public Meeting – December 15, 2020 To provide additional time to develop recommendations that can reduce plastic pollution in California’s coastal and ocean ecosystems, the Ocean Protection Council’s December 15 meeting has been canceled. Items on the […]
Categories: OPC Meetings
Michael Esgro, OPC Marine Ecosystems Program Manager & Tribal Liaison This past weekend, nearly 900 marine scientists convened online for the 101st Western Society of Naturalists (WSN) annual meeting. Against the backdrop of the U.S. presidential election, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a growing nationwide movement for racial […]
Categories: Climate Change, Equity and Environmental Justice, Kelp, Marine Protected Areas, Strategic Goal 1: Climate Change, Strategic Goal 2: Equity, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity, Sustainable Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems
Ocean Protection Council’s Strategy for Reducing the Risk of Entanglement in California Fishing Gear California’s coastal waters include some of the most productive and diverse ecosystems in the world. To conserve this biodiversity and the coastal economies and communities that rely […]
Categories: Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity, Sustainable Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems
The Ocean Protection Council is seeking bids for contract to develop and implement a Communications Strategy for California’s Coast and Ocean that will provide centralized access to California’s extensive coastal and ocean information, ensure unified messaging of the State’s coastal […]
Categories: OPC Meetings
On October 27, 2020, OPC anticipates awarding the following projects to support communications related to California’s MPA management program: 0CA20001 – Communications Plan for California’s Marine Protected Area Management Program will be awarded to Kearns and West. 0CA20002 – Communications Plan for California’s […]
Categories: Marine Protected Areas, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity
The Dungeness Crab Task Force will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, October 20th and 21st, 2020, by teleconference and online.
Categories: Dungeness Crab Task Force, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity, Sustainable Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems
Today, Governor Newsom signed an Executive Order to combat the biodiversity and climate change crises in California using nature-based solutions. Notably, the Executive Order will establish a state goal to conserve at least 30% of California’s land and coastal waters […]
Categories: 30x30
The Ocean Protection Council, the State Water Resources Control Board staff, and numerous international experts will be participating in a webinar series starting on October 19 to characterize microplastics and human and ecological health effects. This webinar series is hosted […]
Categories: Marine Pollution, Outreach and Education, Plastic Pollution, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity
The Ocean Protection Council, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, are reconvening the Science Advisory Panel on Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) in Aquatic Ecosystems (Panel) to review existing scientific literature and […]
Categories: Marine Pollution, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity, Uncategorized, Water Quality
As a lifelong Monterey diver, I’ve been devastated to watch California’s once-lush kelp forests turn into “urchin barrens” seemingly overnight. I’ve also been deeply moved by conversations with my north coast diver brethren (both at public meetings in Sacramento and over beers in Noyo Harbor) about the devastating consequences that this ecological collapse has had on the economy, culture, and spirit of California’s north coast, where kelp declines have been the most severe.
Categories: Kelp, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity, Sustainable Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems