State of the Central Coast Region-Results from Baseline Monitoring of Marine Protected Areas 2007-2012. Learn about the biological, ecological, oceanographic, and socioeconomic conditions around the time of marine protected area (MPA) implementation on the Central Coast. The Central Coast region covers approximately 1,144 square miles of state waters from Pigeon Point to Point Conception. This report establishes a benchmark of conditions against which future changes can be compared. During the baseline monitoring period from 2007-2012, projects worked across the Central Coast to collect a comprehensive understanding of the region. Multiple organizations, including scientists, fishermen, citizen groups, and others contributed to this summary.

Learn about the biological, ecological, oceanographic, and socioeconomic conditions around the time of marine protected area (MPA) implementation on the North Coast. The North Coast region includes more than 1,000 square miles of state water from Point Arena to the California-Oregon border, and this report establishes a benchmark of conditions against which future changes can be compared. During the baseline monitoring period from 2013-2017, 11 projects worked across the North Coast to collect data and create a comprehensive understanding of the region. More than 30 organizations, including scientists, fishermen, tribal governments, citizen groups, and others, contributed to this summary report.

Marine ecosystems along the North Coast of California exist in a highly energetic and variable oceanographic environment that strongly influences the dynamics and structure of the diverse marine populations that call this region home (Barth and Checkley 2009). Understanding the effect of marine protected areas (MPAs) implemented in this region therefore requires information on how oceanographic conditions vary over space and time. Baseline observations collected before or soon after implementation of MPAs depend in part on the oceanographic history of the region, and ongoing ocean observations can inform analysis of ecological and economic responses to MPAs over time (White et al. 2010). This report synthesizes a diverse suite of observations to provide this essential oceanographic context for baseline ecosystem studies (BES) in the North Coast Study Region (NCSR) and to establish a foundation for integrative studies, ongoing monitoring, and adaptive management of marine resources in the region. The primary intent of this work is to inform analysis of data collected during the BES and to the extent possible, to inform the design of future monitoring programs. Our foremost purpose is to provide historical perspective on conditions occurring during the 2014‐2016 Baseline Study Period (BSP). A great deal of this effort has been directed towards developing information specific to the NCSR that captures region‐specific responses to the unprecedented, persistent 2014‐2016 North Pacific marine heatwave (NPMHW) (Di Lorenzo and Mantua 2016) and associated ecosystem responses (including an equally unprecedented, massive, and persistent harmful algal bloom during 2015) (Leising et al. 2015, McClatchie et al. 2016).

This part of DS 781 presents habitat data in the Offshore of Ventura map area, California. The vector data file is included in "Habitat_OffshoreVentura.zip," which is accessible from https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/781/OffshoreVentura/data_catalog_OffshoreVentura.html. These data accompany the pamphlet and map sheets of Johnson, S.Y., Dartnell, P., Cochrane, G.R., Golden, N.E., Phillips, E.L., Ritchie, A.C., Kvitek, R.G., Greene, H.G., Krigsman, L.M., Endris, C.A., Seitz, G.G., Gutierrez, C.I., Sliter, R.W., Erdey, M.D., Wong, F.L., Yoklavich, M.M., Draut, A.E., and Hart, P.E. (S.Y. Johnson and S.A. Cochran, eds.), 2013, California State Waters Map Series—Offshore of Ventura, California: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3254, pamphlet 42 p., 11 sheets, scale 1:24,000, https://doi.org/10.3133/sim3254. Potential marine benthic habitat maps were constructed using multibeam echosounder (MBES) bathymetry and backscatter data. The habitats were based on substrate types and documented or "ground truthed" using underwater video images and seafloor samples obtained by the USGS. These maps display various habitat types that range from flat, soft, unconsolidated sediment-covered seafloor to hard, deformed (folded), or highly rugose and differentially eroded bedrock exposures.