Protecting Marine Areas Off San Diego

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published September 30, 2008 at 9:57 AM PDT

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

Implementation of a California state law to protect fragile marine areas has reached the waters off San Diego. Studies have shown the reserves help build up fish populations. KPBS Environmental Report

Implementation of a California state law to protect fragile marine areas has reached the waters off San Diego. Studies have shown the reserves help build up fish populations. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce explains.

The Marine Life Protection Act, or MLPA, requires the creation of a network of marine protected areas off California's coast.

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San Diego Coastkeeper Marine Conservation Director Kate Hanley is a member of the MLPA South Coast Regional group.

The group starts work next week on figuring out which areas will be protected between Santa Barbara and the Mexican border.

Hanley: So what we're really doing is working together to find some common ground in to where these marine protected areas will be placed, based on the guidelines that the science advisory team will put in place for the Southern California region.

She says scientific studies show the reserves result in larger, more abundant, healthier and more fertile fish populations.

Hanley says recommendations for the south coast are expected to be completed by late next year.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

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Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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