California Commission Delays Vote on Marine Protected Areas Management Plan

The California Fish and Game Commission voted to delay adoption of a management plan for the state’s system of Marine Protection Areas for a second time. The delay did not stop sport anglers from raising concerns on proposed changes to the plan, which they claim will betray assurances made by the commission that it would reconsider opening the protected waters to fishing every five years.

Click here for a Eureka Times-Standard article on this vote.

IMMA Focus Group at 4th International Marine Conservation Congress IMCC

The International Association of Geophysical Contractors posted the following article on their website:

“Focus group on integrating marine mammal behavioral monitoring techniques into the process for the identification of Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs)
Integrating marine mammal behavioral monitoring techniques into the
process for the identification of Important Marine Mammal Areas
St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador (YYT), Canada, Sunday July 29,
2016. Held in association with the 4th International Marine Conservation
Congress (IMCC), July 30 – August 4, 2016

This IMMA focus group aims to address the following question: How can
we better integrate marine mammal behavioral data, observed through direct
observation or remote monitoring techniques, into the process for
identifying IMMAs?