Environmental Group Seeking Fishing Restrictions For North Bay Area Coastal Area

Duxbury Reef, located near Point Reyes along the northern Bay Area coast, is one of the region’s most diverse ecological sections of water. It’s so coveted for its marine life, an environmental group wants more fishing restrictions. CBS News Bay Area (KPIX) has some details both in the above video and in a story. Here are a few details:

Protecting intertidal species, including octopus, is one of the reasons driving the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin. 

Ashley Eagle Gibbs is the executive director. Her proposal would expand the protected area nearly threefold.  …

Redesignating it and banning all fishing at the reef and within 1,000 feet of the low-tide line on an eight-mile stretch of beach, Gibbs said, would reduce confusion about what people can and cannot take.

“When the petition was submitted, it had community support, wide stakeholder support from national parks, sanctuaries, professors, scientists, NGOs, and local community members,” Eagle-Gibbs said. 

According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, ” Duxbury Reef was selected for inclusion in the statewide MPA network in part due to the extensive tidepool network that forms on the shale reef at low tide.

“Numerous intertidal animals live in the tidepools, including turban snails, anemones, sea stars, small fishes such as blennies, and nudibranchs, which are tiny, colorful sea slugs. Today, the tidepools remain one of the most expansive and accessible examples of intertidal habitat in the region, due to the wide, flat intertidal zone that exposes a diverse array of creatures to extreme environmental conditions.”