Celebrating the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary: A New Era of Ocean Protection

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I have good news to share on this episode of the

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How to Protect the Ocean podcast. There is a new marine protected area

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in the U.S. off the coast of California that is the first of

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its kind. It's called the Chumash Heritage National Marine

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Sanctuary. It was designated on Monday, announced on

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Monday. and it's the first such preserve in California to

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be managed in cooperation with indigenous people. The

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4,500 square mile sanctuary off the coast of California's rugged central

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coast would prohibit oil drilling and offer other

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protections to an area that encompasses numerous cultural resources,

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including the suspected remains of ancient submerged villages.

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We're gonna talk about that on today's episode. Let's start the show. Hey

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everybody, welcome back to another exciting episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast.

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I'm your host Andrew Lewin, and this is a podcast where you find out what's happening with

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the ocean, how you can speak up for the ocean, and what you can do to live for

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a better ocean by taking action. And today we're going to be talking about

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government action that has been taken to put in a

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national marine sanctuary called the Chumash Heritage

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National Marine Sanctuary. As I mentioned in the pre-intro just

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before we did it, This episode, it is the first

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of its kind where it's in partnership to manage

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with a indigenous people, which is

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great. This is awesome. Now, the sanctuary

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is going to stretch from just south of San Luis

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Obispo in California to just about the

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Channel Islands, so Santa Barbara. This is

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a territory that has been in the making since 2015 when

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the Obama administration allowed groups of

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people to submit their own area

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for protection. So the Chumash people decided to do

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this. This was very important to them. And so

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it was the Santanese Band of Chumash

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Indians which submitted the proposal,

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and that was tabled once the Trump administration

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got into power for that era. And

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then in 2021, I believe, after years of sitting on

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the shelf due to that Trump administration, the Biden administration made the

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proposal a top priority. But after NOAA publicly

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posted the initial detailed plan in 2023, progress

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hit a wall. So many indigenous and environmental leaders wanted

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the sanctuary to extend up to the Monterey Bay Sanctuary,

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past the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

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However, That wasn't going to happen

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for a number of reasons, including the fact that

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there's offshore wind companies had long planned developing near

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the power plant, which provides an easy connection to

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the electrical grid since Diablo Canyon already has sent

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6% of the states power from the coastal inland, from coastal

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inland. So, you know, they wanted to propose it all the way up

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to the Monterey Bay Sanctuary, which would have been a huge stretch. However, that

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got kiboshed because of there was other ocean

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users. This happens a lot of times with marine protected areas. It's almost like

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a business plan for the, for the ocean along

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the coastline. And in this case, You know, there are different ocean users that

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wanted protections and there were other ocean users that wanted to use

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it for offshore wind. Offshore wind has, I

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guess, a controversial history in terms of the way it's

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built and how quickly it's been built. Some people really don't like

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it. A lot of misinformation around windmills, around

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these offshore wind areas. But,

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you know, there's always worry about it disrupting marine

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mammal, migration patterns. sea

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turtles, sharks, and so forth. So there

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is a lot of environmental planning that goes into that process, but

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it is, it can be controversial just because of the two sides. Like I

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said, there's a lot of misinformation on one side saying that, you know, offshore

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wind doesn't really help. However, there's a big push to put them

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out there, and there is, there is shown to be proof that the

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offshore wind is great to have. However, when you're looking at protecting

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a swath of land, or a swath of ocean, you have of

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ocean users that can conflict in that, and so you can't

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take the entire way. However, that doesn't mean in the future

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we can build on what's been put in place and

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hopefully extend north

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to the Monterey Bay area, which would be really great to have, because

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that would make it a very large MPA with a

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lot of different management areas, hopefully, And

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we've seen different management areas before. It's not as easy

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to put in because that takes a lot of negotiation,

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a lot of discussion with the different ocean users. We've

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seen it happen in Australia with the Great Barrier Reef, where the

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Great Barrier Reef has a number of different management areas along It's

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it's the along the reef base along the coastline of australia the

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eastern coastline of australia and we've seen that

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work in a big benefit at one point i remember when

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i was a master student in two thousand three two thousand four

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there was a presentation given where. The Great Barrier Reef actually increased

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its no-take areas by 30% at the time. It

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was at 3%, so they increased it by 30% to make 33%. And

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they realized that the reason why they were able to do that is they tracked

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where fishers were fishing in and around those no-take

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areas. They noticed that they weren't going in the areas where they wanted to.

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extend the no-take zone. So they said, OK, we're going to be able to do it. You guys

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don't fish there anyway. We can increase it. They said, OK, since we're not

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fishing there, no big deal. And it's going to help us in the long run. So

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they added that on. So it just eventually helped. But it helped because

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they did studies within the Marine Protected

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Area and the network of Marine Protected Areas, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

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So they were able to get that data and show that there's not really that much of

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a conflict. The problem lies in a Marine Protected

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Area when there's a lot of conflict. or there's

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conflicting sides that want the same piece of

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the area. So that can play a role when

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we look at how do we increase or how do we move

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closer to a larger marine protected area.

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Now, of course, there are some areas where some

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people, part of the Chumash area, but

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a different region, said that they

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did not feel that they were approached to find out

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what they thought of the Marine Protected Area. Now, initially,

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the northern Chumash tribe of San Luis Obispo County

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and region whose tribal territory overlaps with the sanctuary now,

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said that her, this is Haley Bautista, said that her tribe wasn't

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made aware of the proposal until after an initial plan was already

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submitted to NOAA. So now again, I don't know exactly what

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happened here, but one of the tribes did

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submit the proposal. They may not have included this

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tribe here, or they may have just submitted just hoping that it

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would get designated later on

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and help everybody. brought in people. I don't know exactly what

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happened, but obviously it makes a big difference to

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have a number of different ocean users, right? Whether you're trying

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to have the same protections, you know,

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to the table, bring everybody to the table before you start. And

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hopefully they'll be able to, to be able to voice their concerns. So

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they said they voiced their concerns multiple times and submitted letters and

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the reciprocation hasn't been great. So there's still

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a lot of communication, even though this, MPA this marine protectors

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marine sanctuary if you will was designated. There's still

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a lot to build on You know a lot of the times

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when we put in a marine protected area the initial marine protected area may

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not be the best outcome for everybody. Some

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people may not be happy that they weren't involved enough, some people may

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not be happy that they didn't get their voice heard, or they

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wanted certain things they didn't get, certain areas that

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they wanted protected or not protected and they didn't get those. So

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this has to build when you're looking at a marine protected area.

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There's a lot of conflict that goes on, a lot of negotiations And

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so this is a lot of conflict resolution when you really look at

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it. But the thing is, is like with all of these groups, the

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ocean to them is sacred, and it's important for them to

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have a place to be able to protect so they

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weren't too quick to be dismissed. And that's a big thing

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for a lot of these groups, ocean users, indigenous

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people, fissures. Nobody wants to be dismissed. Everybody

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wants to be able to have their say, and especially

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when it comes to indigenous people with the way they've been treated in the past. A

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lot of trust needs to be built, not only now, but in the future. And

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that's just starting, and it's pretty rocking in a lot of

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places. It doesn't matter what government you're talking about, Canadian government, the

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U.S. government, there's a lot of negotiations that are continuing to

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happen for territories, but also just the basic

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trust of government to indigenous people relationships and

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vice versa is just not there at all. And I

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don't know, that's going to be a long time before that gets there, but these These

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processes of building marine protected areas and co-managing these

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marine protected areas could help build that trust as

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they move forward. So that's always great. Now, just to

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give a little bit of a background of the Marine Sanctuary, it's

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lined with sandy beaches, rocky shores. It's home of a multitude of seabirds and

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sea lions. Kelp forests, one of the most biodiverse ecosystems

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in the world, and great

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absorbing carbon sit off the coast and have problems

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just with climate change and everything. On the deep seafloor, rough

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volcanic terrain harbors corals, sponges, and

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fish. The open ocean is home to whales, turtles, and jellyfish, of

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course, also sharks. tuna, large

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fish, salmon, all those important fish

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that are along those coastlines really end

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up being a big part of this marine

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protected area, of course. They'll definitely benefit

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from being in this marine protected area, whether they're there all the time or

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at some parts of those times. you

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know that the the big thing here the protection is some of the seawater along

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california's central coast is becoming increasingly unlivable the

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santa maria and santa ine's rivers uh...

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neither of which meet state water quality standards discharge a

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mix of toxic chemicals fertilizers grease and dangerous bacteria Not

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only do they have that from land, the rivers, but they have cruise ships and other vessels

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that go by that can potentially discharge very concentrated

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sewage, grey water, bilge water, ballast water, hazardous waste,

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and solid waste. And this is according to an environmental report by

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the Office of Marine Sanctuaries and NOAA. One

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of the quotes from that report is, sewage from vessels is

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generally more concentrated than sewage from land-based resources as

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it is diluted with less water when flushed.

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Large cruise ships can carry thousands of passengers and can generate

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several million gallons of waste per year. per day. So that's

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a big thing. Then you have seven offshore drilling rigs stand in

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the vicinity with three permanently shuttered and

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four temporarily out of operation. They are each connected to

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shore by miles of oil carrying pipelines and

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spills have fouled the sea multiple times in this

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area developed in the 1970s. In 1997, a free point A

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Freeport-McMoran pipeline

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ruptured, releasing thousands of gallons of oil, killing hundreds

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of seabirds. In 2015, an ExxonMobil pipeline

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spilled more than 100,000 gallons of crude oil in

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the ocean. I remember seeing that on TV and

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online, and it was awful to see. Now, of course, with climate

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change, greenhouse gas emissions, and so forth, You

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have this innate ability with a marine protected area to protect

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from a lot of the human disturbances that are around, not

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necessarily climate change, but a lot of the other human disturbances. So

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overfishing, you can stop overfishing. You can

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stop people from being in the area at certain times of the

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year or even all the time. You can stop oil

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production. You can stop a lot of things within the marine protected area. The

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one thing you can't protect, though, is water quality. These

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boundaries that are around this marine protected area will not be physical

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boundaries, obviously. It's going to be open boundaries. They're going to be invisible. There's

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boundaries on a map that we will be able to delineate, but there's

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no real boundaries in the area that we're going to see in

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real life. So bad water quality from rivers can

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actually get into the marine protected area

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and still affect the sea life and the habitats that make

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this such a unique habitat. So we have to control

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those types of water quality, that type of water quality that's coming in.

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Now, one good thing is if you have a marine protected area through

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the Marine Sanctuary Program, there are different legislative tools

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that you can use to ensure that the water quality is better because you

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want to make sure everything in that marine protected area is going to be better. So

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now there's a mandate to protect that area. It's not just any

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kind of area that's found around. It's not just some random

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area that's found. It's an actual protected area. There's a need to protect

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it, so there's going to be a lot more focus on that. Now, Cal

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Poly and UC Santa Barbara will help study the ecosystem. They're

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going to check on it and make sure that its vital signs are good and

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it's getting to know it better, just like they did in the Great Barrier

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Reef, just like they do In other marine protected areas around the world, there's

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going to be a lot more research around. There's going to be a lot more focus on the

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health, making sure that they can build on the health now or improve

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the health that it is now in the future and so that we

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can build and build and build and we can see that we're going to, you know, the one

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good thing about marine protected areas, if you want more fish, you can get more fish from

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it. If you want more biodiversity by protecting the area

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and all the different habitats that provide biodiversity like kelp forest,

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then you'll be able to do that as well as long as you're able to

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enforce the actions that are happening in and around the area. Make

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sure that there are no fishing vessels within the marine protected area if they're not allowed. Make

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sure that the water quality that goes into the Marine

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Protect Area is solid, is good, it's great

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quality water. So there's a lot of things that need to happen from now.

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This is just the beginning. The designation is just really the

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beginning of the process. Now you have to go through the enforcement

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and the management to make sure that we clean up these rivers, we

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clean up a lot of the stuff that comes off these platforms, we ensure that

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there are no other platforms for oil that start

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up again. So there's a lot of things that happen and there's a lot of forces

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against it that could be overridden in the future. If

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you have a different government in

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power, like an election that's coming up that is more pro-drilling, like

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the Trump administration that wants to drill more to bring down the

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price of oil, then you have a problem here.

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This brain-protected area is going to be affected by more oil

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spills. It's in the business plan of oil companies and fossil fuel

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companies that oil will be spilt. And that is something that

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has to be avoided in the future. So there's a lot of things that have to

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happen around here. This is just the beginning of the process. And

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the co-management between NOAA, the National Atmospheric

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and Administration Ocean Administration, the

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National Ocean Administration, National Ocean

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and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, and

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the National Marine Sanctuaries Group will be working with the indigenous

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peoples in and around that area to build on the marine protected

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area, make sure it's in force and management. manage it properly. And that's

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going to be something to be seen. I think it's going to be an interesting process to see

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and build. And I'm looking forward to seeing this put in place and

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enforced and built upon. So it's going to be a lot of fun. But that's

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it for today's episode. I want to bring you that good news. I know I mentioned

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a lot of stuff that could happen that may not be such good

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news. But this is a learning process. This is an

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adaptive management process where management changes and

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priorities change as we go along and we figure out what's happening with

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the area and what are the major threats, what are the major priorities that

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we have to shift in order to protect the area at all costs.

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And of course, we need more areas. This is part of the 30-30 plan

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by California. This is part of the 30-30 plan by the

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federal government. And so we're seeing this being built part

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of the biodiversity plans, everything. There's a lot of things that can be ticked

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off the boxes in terms of environmental protection, as

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well as helping with, you know, being better at

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climate change, you know, being better at and being more resilient for climate

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change. So that's it for today's episode. I'd love to hear what you think. Put in

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the comments, either if you're watching this on Spotify, or on YouTube, you

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can just put in the comments below. If you're watching this or listening to this

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on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app, please let

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me know how you feel by Instagram or DMing me on Instagram,

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shows my age, Instagramming me. No, DM me on Instagram at howtoprotecttheocean.

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If you're on TikTok, you can do the same thing just to send me a DM. That's

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at speakupforblue. All the links are in the show notes or in

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the description below. Looking forward to hearing from you. Always love

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to start this conversation and hearing for you to continue that conversation.

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And of course, if you want to sign up for our newsletter, you can do so at speakupforblue.com

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forward slash newsletter. That's speakupforblue.com forward slash

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newsletter. A lot of things that you can do. Looking forward to seeing

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and hearing from you. Thank you so much for joining me on today's episode of

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the How to Protect the Ocean podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Lew, and have a great day. We'll talk