Rockfish Conservation Areas (RCAs) are closed areas for west coast groundfish fisheries and for some fisheries that may incidentally take groundfish as bycatch. The RCA boundary line is a connection of a series of GPS coordinates published in federal regulations (See 50 CFR 660.71-660.74) that are intended to approximate underwater depth contours. RCA boundaries are used in groundfish regulations to avoid interactions with certain groundfish species of concern and may change between seasons and Recreational Fishing Management Areas. Attributes:area_name: Unique name field identifying depth and location of waypoint.Fathom: Approximate depth in fathoms of waypoint.Region: Describes which of the five groundfish management zones the waypoint is in.lat_DDM: Latitude in Decimal Degrees Minutes format.lon_DDM: Longitude in Decimal Degrees Minutes format.lat_DD: Latitude in Decimal Degrees format.lon_DD: Longitude in Decimal Degrees format.

Rockfish Conservation Areas (RCAs) are closed areas for west coast groundfish fisheries and for some fisheries that may incidentally take groundfish as bycatch. The RCA boundary line is a connection of a series of GPS coordinates published in federal regulations (See 50 CFR 660.71-660.74) that are intended to approximate underwater depth contours. RCA boundaries are used in groundfish regulations to avoid interactions with certain groundfish species of concern and may change between seasons and Recreational Fishing Management Areas. The process of digitizing these boundary lines is as follows:30, 40, 50, 100, and 150fm waypoint .csv files at were downloaded from NOAA''s West Coast Groundfish Closed Areas website https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/sustainable-fisheries/west-coast-groundfish-closed-areas and imported into ArcGIS Pro.Each point feature was clipped to the borders of California state waters and merged together.“Fathom” was added as a field to each shapefile and populated with the corresponding depth in fathoms.Boundary lines for each shapefile (30, 40, 50, 100, and 150 fm) were created using the “Points to line” tool. Line Field: “area_name”Attribute Source: Start PointTransfer Fields: FID, area_name, Fathom Attributes:area_name: Unique name field displaying depth and locationFathom: Approximate depth in fathoms of contour lineRegion: Describes which of the five groundfish management zones the section of the contour line is in

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Waters off the coast of California are split into five distinct groundfish management areas used in the regulation and management of groundfish fisheries. All fishing areas extend from the shoreline to 200 miles offshore. The latitudinal boundaries for each fishing area are as follows:Northern Management Area: The California-Oregon border to Cape Mendocino (40°10 N. latitude)Mendocino Management Area: Cape Mendocino (40°10 N. latitude) to Point Arena (38°57.5 N. latitude)San Francisco Management Area: Point Arena (38°57.5 N. latitude) to Pigeon Point (37°11 N. latitude)Central Management Area: Pigeon Point (37°11 N. latitude) to Point Conception (34°27 N. latitude)Within the Central Groundfish Management Area, seasons and depth restrictions may differ north and south of a line extending west of 36° N. lat. (near Point Lopez, Monterey County). The areas north and south of this line are referred to as the Central Groundfish Management Area '' North 36° N. lat. and the Central Groundfish Management Area '' South of 36° N. lat.Southern Management Area: Point Conception (34°27 N. latitude) to the U.S.-Mexico borderAttributes:Region: Northern, Mendocino, San Francisco, Central, Southern.Detail: Latitudinal boundaries of management areas.

This dataset depicts the eight Groundfish Exclusion Areas located in the Southern California Bight in the area formerly encompassed by the Cowcod Conservation Areas. The Groundfish Exclusion Areas restrict take and possession of groundfish, except for purposes of continuous transit. Fishing for non-groundfish stocks is permitted provided no groundfish are aboard. Located north of Santa Barbara Island, the Hidden Reef GEA measures 5.7 by 6.6 miles. The West of Santa Barbara Island GEA measures 12.6 by 7.9 miles. Located west of San Nicolas Island, the Potato Bank GEA measures 8.5 by 13.8 miles. To the south-west of San Nicolas Island, the 107/118 Bank GEA measures 9.1 by 6.8 miles. Located north/north-west of Tanner Bank, Cherry Bank GEA measures 13.9 by 3.9 miles, with the Seamount 109 GEA measuring 19.8 by 3.7 miles (on the southern end) located west of the bank. Roughly 25 miles west of Cortes Bank, the Northeast Bank GEA measures 6.3 by 10.1 miles. Roughly 49 miles west of San Diego, the 43-Fathom Spot GEA measures 8.0 by 11.2 miles.AttributesID: ID for each GEA.AreaName: Informal Description of each area.