The National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) updates and revises the management plans for each of its 13 sanctuaries. This process, which is open to the public, enables each site to revisit the reasons for sanctuary designation and assess whether they are meeting their goals, as well as to set new goals consistent with the mandates of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Issues raised by the public during this process are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether they will be incorporated into the updated plan. Many of these issues focus on topics such as the implementation of marine zoning or sanctuary boundary adjustments, both of which require information on the distribution of resources within and around the sanctuary. Recognizing this, NMSP and NOAA?s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) formalized an agreement to collaborate in the revision process by developing such information through a series of biogeographic assessments conducted in selected sanctuaries. The resulting products are then supplied to sanctuary managers and staff for use in the policy and decision making process. This collaborative effort began along the west coast of the U.S. with the Cordell Bank, Gulf of Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, and is herein centered on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).

This data set delineates kelp beds (Nereocystis leutkeana and Macrocystis spp.) along the Pacific Coast of California. Multiple years of kelp mapping data for the state have been compiled into a single coastwide data set. Due to variability in oceanographic and climatic conditions, kelp bed abundance and distribution is extremely variable from year to year. Therefore kelp bed locations and extent in a particular year may not reflect current or past conditions. In addition, the methods for mapping kelp in California have changed over time. Despite these caveats, this multi-year kelp coverage can be used to identify areas that have been known to support kelp growth, and investigate general patterns of kelp distribution on a coastwide scale.California has three coastal kelp surveys. The first survey, 1989, was a coastwide survey using the same contractor and method as Washington State. Kelp canopy data from the second survey, 1999, was created from digital image processing of scanned aerial photographs. The 2002 survey was performed with a Digital Multispectral Video (DMSV) sensor and kelp beds were delineated by digital image processing techniques.

Fish benthic trawls were completed by the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP). Data from 425 fisheries independent trawls ranging from 2-215 meters depth were collected in 1994 and 1998 during the months of June-August. Fish that were not present in at least 5% of the trawls were removed from this analysis. The data set contained information for 150 fish species, but removal of rare species resulted in 48 species. Site groups were calculated using the Bray-Curtis dissimilarity coefficient with average means clustering (Romesburg, 1991). Gear included a 7.6-m head-rope semi balloon otter trawl with 1.25 cm codend mesh trawled for 5-10 minutes at each station. For more information on trawl methods, see Allen et al. (1997), and Allen et al. (2003).

This is a point file of invertebrate site clusters calculated from benthic trawls completed by the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP). Data from 426 fisheries independent trawls ranging from 2-215 meters depth were collected during the months of June-August. The data set contained information for 288 invertebrate species in 426 trawls, but removal of rare species resulted in 41 species in 401 trawls analyzed for assemblage structure. Gear included a 7.6-m head-rope semi balloon otter trawl with 1.25 cm codend mesh trawled for 5-10 minutes at each station. For more information on trawl methods, see Allen et al. (1997), and Allen et al. (2003). Site groups were calculated using the Bray-Curtis dissimilarity coefficient with average means clustering (Romesburg, 1991). Invertebrates that were not present in at least 5% of the trawls were removed from this analysis.

This is a point file of fish assemblages calculated from diver surveys in kelp forests in Southern California. Visual census data was combined for two separate southern California datasets. The Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) provided information collected at 15 sites, and Vantuna Research Group (VRG) at 29 sites. Visual transect surveys were completed by SCUBA divers along the bottom of the kelp forest. The VRG dataset provided fish counts along 2m x 60m transects which were subsequently averaged for comparison with the PISCO dataset. The PISCO dataset provided mean counts along a 2m x 30m transect which were doubled before combining with the VRG data. Fish that were not present in at least 5% of the trawls were removed from this analysis, resulting in a site by species matrix of 44 sites and 45 species. Site groups were calculated using the Bray-Curtis dissimilarity coefficient with average means clustering

The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) updates and revises the management plans for each of its 13 sanctuaries. This process, which is open to the public, enables each site to revisit the reasons for sanctuary designation and assess whether they are meeting their goals, as well as to set new goals consistent with the mandates of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Issues raised by the public during this process are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether they will be incorporated into the updated plan. Many of these issues focus on topics such as the implementation of marine zoning or sanctuary boundary adjustments, both of which require information on the distribution of resources within and around the sanctuary. Recognizing this, ONMS and NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) formalized an agreement to collaborate in the revision process by developing such information through a series of biogeographic assessments conducted in selected sanctuaries. The resulting products are then supplied to sanctuary managers and staff for use in the policy and decision making process. This collaborative effort began along the west coast of the U.S. with the Cordell Bank, Gulf of Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, and is herein centered on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).

The National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) updates and revises the management plans for each of its 13 sanctuaries. This process, which is open to the public, enables each site to revisit the reasons for sanctuary designation and assess whether they are meeting their goals, as well as to set new goals consistent with the mandates of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Issues raised by the public during this process are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether they will be incorporated into the updated plan. Many of these issues focus on topics such as the implementation of marine zoning or sanctuary boundary adjustments, both of which require information on the distribution of resources within and around the sanctuary. Recognizing this, NMSP and NOAA?s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) formalized an agreement to collaborate in the revision process by developing such information through a series of biogeographic assessments conducted in selected sanctuaries. The resulting products are then supplied to sanctuary managers and staff for use in the policy and decision making process. This collaborative effort began along the west coast of the U.S. with the Cordell Bank, Gulf of Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, and is herein centered on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).

The National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) updates and revises the management plans for each of its 13 sanctuaries. This process, which is open to the public, enables each site to revisit the reasons for sanctuary designation and assess whether they are meeting their goals, as well as to set new goals consistent with the mandates of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Issues raised by the public during this process are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether they will be incorporated into the updated plan. Many of these issues focus on topics such as the implementation of marine zoning or sanctuary boundary adjustments, both of which require information on the distribution of resources within and around the sanctuary. Recognizing this, NMSP and NOAA?s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) formalized an agreement to collaborate in the revision process by developing such information through a series of biogeographic assessments conducted in selected sanctuaries. The resulting products are then supplied to sanctuary managers and staff for use in the policy and decision making process. This collaborative effort began along the west coast of the U.S. with the Cordell Bank, Gulf of Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, and is herein centered on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).

The Office ofNational Marine Sanctuary Program (ONMS) updates and revises the management plans for each of its 13 sanctuaries. This process, which is open to the public, enables each site to revisit the reasons for sanctuary designation and assess whether they are meeting their goals, as well as to set new goals consistent with the mandates of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Issues raised by the public during this process are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether they will be incorporated into the updated plan. Many of these issues focus on topics such as the implementation of marine zoning or sanctuary boundary adjustments, both of which require information on the distribution of resources within and around the sanctuary. Recognizing this, ONMS and NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) formalized an agreement to collaborate in the revision process by developing such information through a series of biogeographic assessments conducted in selected sanctuaries. The resulting products are then supplied to sanctuary managers and staff for use in the policy and decision making process. This collaborative effort began along the west coast of the U.S. with the Cordell Bank, Gulf of Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, and is herein centered on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).

The National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) updates and revises the management plans for each of its 13 sanctuaries. This process, which is open to the public, enables each site to revisit the reasons for sanctuary designation and assess whether they are meeting their goals, as well as to set new goals consistent with the mandates of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Issues raised by the public during this process are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether they will be incorporated into the updated plan. Many of these issues focus on topics such as the implementation of marine zoning or sanctuary boundary adjustments, both of which require information on the distribution of resources within and around the sanctuary. Recognizing this, NMSP and NOAAs National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) formalized an agreement to collaborate in the revision process by developing such information through a series of biogeographic assessments conducted in selected sanctuaries. The resulting products are then supplied to sanctuary managers and staff for use in the policy and decision making process. This collaborative effort began along the west coast of the U.S. with the Cordell Bank, Gulf of Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, and is herein centered on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).