March 1, 2024

Updates from the February 29, 2024 Council Meeting

At the February 29 Ocean Protection Council (OPC) meeting, OPC staff presented the Annual Coast and Ocean Report 2023 with a continuation of scientific indicators to provide a snapshot of California’s coast and ocean health, and status of OPC accomplishments […]

Categories: Coastal Habitats, Habitats, Leadership and Staff Updates, Marine Habitats, Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia, OPC Meetings, Strategic Goal 1: Climate Change, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity, Sustainable Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems

February 13, 2024

Ocean Protection Council Meeting – February 29, 2024 – Teleconference and Public Forum

The Ocean Protection Council will hold a hybrid public meeting via teleconference and in a public forum at 1 p.m. on Thursday, February 29, 2024. The agenda and meeting materials are available. Revised February 28, 2024.

Categories: Coastal Habitats, Event, Habitats, Marine Habitats, Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia, OPC Meetings, Public Comment Opportunity, Strategic Goal 1: Climate Change, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity, Sustainable Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems

September 25, 2023

Conserving 30% of California’s Coastal Waters by 2030: Progress Update

California’s coastal waters are home to species and habitats found nowhere else on Earth. Our iconic coastal and marine ecosystems – from sandy beaches and wave-swept rocky shorelines to lush kelp forests and deep submarine canyons – hold tremendous cultural […]

Categories: 30x30, Equity and Environmental Justice, Event, Habitats, Kelp, Marine Habitats, Marine Protected Areas, Outreach and Education, Strategic Goal 2: Equity, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity, Sustainable Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems, Tribal Engagement

September 1, 2023

Celebrate California’s Biodiversity

It’s that time of the year again when Californians up and down the state, from the mountains to the coast, celebrate the wonderful places and species that make California our home. California Biodiversity Day is almost upon us – and […]

Categories: 30x30, Coastal Habitats, Event, Habitats, Marine Habitats, Outreach and Education, Strategic Goal 1: Climate Change, Strategic Goal 2: Equity, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity, Sustainable Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems

July 10, 2023

Help the Kelp: How Innovative Science and an Unprecedented New Investment Will Inform the Future of Kelp Restoration in California

California’s iconic underwater forests are under threat from climate change. From 2014-2019, more than 95% of the bull kelp off our state’s northern coastline disappeared following a record-breaking marine heat wave and an explosion in kelp-eating purple sea urchin populations. […]

Categories: Funding Opportunities and Updates, Habitats, Kelp, Marine Habitats, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity, Sustainable Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems

May 19, 2023

Call for Nominations: Kelp Restoration and Management Plan Working Group – Apply by June 9

YOU can help protect California’s kelp forests! We’ve partnered with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) in the early planning stages of developing a statewide, ecosystem-based, adaptive Kelp Restoration and Management Plan (KRMP) for giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) […]

Categories: Habitats, Kelp, Marine Habitats, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity, Sustainable Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems

October 7, 2022

Updates from the October 6, 2022 Council Meeting

The October 6 Ocean Protection Council (OPC) meeting was an exciting and moving gathering. State and federal agencies, tribes, non-profit and business partners, and members of the public joined together with joyful tears and cheers in support of landmark decision-making […]

Categories: Funding Opportunities and Updates, Habitats, Kelp, Marine Habitats, OPC Meetings, Strategic Goal 2: Equity, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity

September 1, 2022

Fishing for Research: OPC Staff and the California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program Team Up in Point Lobos

By Stacy Hayden, Communications Manager It was a calm Friday at 6:30 a.m. when we left the dock on the vessel New Horizon from Old Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey. At the helm was charter boat Captain John Klusmire leading a […]

Categories: Habitats, Marine Habitats, Marine Protected Areas, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity, Sustainable Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems

July 22, 2022

An Underwater Snapshot of Kelp Health in Monterey

By Michael Esgro, Senior Biodiversity Program Manager & Tribal Liaison It was 2013 in Monterey when I learned to scuba dive – one year before a record-breaking marine heatwave arrived off the California coast, bringing with it a “perfect storm” […]

Categories: Habitats, Kelp, Marine Habitats, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity

June 28, 2022

Urchin Removal on the North Coast Shows Promising Results for Kelp Forest Restoration

June 28, 2022 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mike Esgro, (818) 917-6468, Michael.Esgro@resources.ca.gov Urchin Removal on the North Coast Shows Promising Results for Kelp Forest Restoration Fort Bragg, Calif. – An unprecedented partnership on California’s north coast has concluded with the […]

Categories: Habitats, Kelp, Marine Habitats, Press Releases, Strategic Goal 3: Biodiversity, Sustainable Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems