After Six Years, California's No-Fishing Zones Appear To Be Working As Some Species Begin Rebound

Six years after California put in place the nation's most expansive network of marine reserves -- a controversial experiment aimed at bringing back crashing populations of fish and other ocean species by creating dozens of "no-fishing zones" along the coast -- the effort appears to be working.

In the first major study of its kind, scientists have found that populations and sizes of several key species of fish, along with starfish, urchins, crabs and other sea life, have increased more in the protected areas established in 2007 between San Mateo and Santa Barbara counties than in unprotected ocean areas nearby.

Researchers cautioned that years of additional study are needed, noting that in some areas there was little or no difference. But overall, they said, the trends are encouraging -- a key finding because California's marine protected areas are being closely watched by other states and countries as a possible solution to improving the health of the world's oceans.

"So far, so good," said Mark Carr, a professor of marine biology at UC Santa Cruz. The 29 zones ban fishing over roughly 94 square miles and limit it in 110 additional square miles -- a combined area more than four times as large as San Francisco -- between Pigeon Point, south of Half Moon Bay, and Point Conception, near Lompoc.

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