Southern California Archives

CALIFORNIA: Marine Protected Area Proposals Advance as California Commission Takes Up Fishing Rules

November 6, 2026 — Proposed changes to California’s network of marine protected areas are moving into the next stage of consideration following an October vote by the California Fish and Game Commission, with several of the actions carrying potential implications for Southern California boaters and anglers.

The Commission granted seven marine protected area petition actions for consideration through future rulemaking. Among them are two tribally led proposals that would create new MPAs at Point Sal and Carpinteria Reef, both along the Santa Barbara County coast.

The Carpinteria Reef proposal places part of the continuing statewide MPA review directly along the Southern California coast and could eventually affect how portions of those waters are managed. For local sportfishing operators, however, the potential effects extend beyond the boundaries of another protected area.

Jaime Diamond, owner of Stardust Sportfishing in Santa Barbara, said the Point Sal proposal is outside the geographic range of the company’s operations, but the Carpinteria proposal is a different matter.

“The closure off of Carpinteria will virtually eliminate our most affordable and accessible trip, the 1/2 day,” Diamond told The Log. “This will also eliminate our ability to offer introductory fishing trips for first timers, families, the elderly, or safe trips close to harbor for special needs children and severely disabled veterans.”

Diamond said the area also provides access to longstanding fishing grounds for species including calico bass, sand bass, white seabass, barracuda and halibut. In her view, losing access to those grounds would be particularly significant because other areas traditionally used for those fisheries are already within MPAs.

Her concerns extend beyond the sportfishing fleet. Diamond described the Carpinteria area as an important entry point for people learning to fish, dive and participate in other forms of ocean recreation.

“The addition of an MPA off of Carpinteria will be the end of the local learning fishing grounds,” Diamond said. “Carp Reef, Horseshoe Rock, Horseshoe Kelp and the surrounding sandy bottom are located just off of Santa Claus Beach, where Carpinteria and Goleta-Ventura kids learn to fish, dive and hunt on or in the water.”

Read the full article at the Log

The El Niño stars are aligning in record-breaking ways. Here’s how the high tides stack up

October 16, 2026 — With homes nearly toppling into the ocean and back-to-back floods and hurricanes amplifying our sense of dread, keeping track of all things El Niño can be overwhelming.

So I called up Patrick Barnard, who spent years leading the U.S. Geological Survey’s renowned coastal hazards team in California and now helms key climate adaptation research at UC Santa Cruz. A maestro at bringing together all manner of data, Barnard broke down the numbers in no-nonsense terms — explaining why the coming weeks and months might bring extreme flooding like we’ve never seen before.

“All the stars are aligning for a pretty dramatic winter,” said Barnard, as he pored over the El Niño tea leaves, so to speak, and rattled off every high tide phenomenon on track to converge by the holidays. “If you start stacking all these things up, the flood risk just goes up exponentially.”

CALIFORNIA: Unusual shark, fish species spotted off California coast ahead of El Niño

September 29, 2026 — With warmer ocean waters and an anticipated El Niño weather event quickly approaching, local scientists are expecting some unusual guests off the Southern California coast — including hammerhead sharks, devil rays and whale sharks near La Jolla.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting that the 2026-2027 El Niño weather pattern could be among the strongest on record, bringing warmer-than-average ocean temperatures and wetter, more intense winters to California.

In preparation, scientists at the La Jolla-based Scripps Institution of Oceanography launched its El Niño Resource Hub in late August to outline the ways in which El Niño could impact ocean life. The streamlined website tackles frequently asked questions from local scientists’ perspectives, drawing upon data from previous El Niño events and others like it.

“We’re at the edge of a very strong El Niño that’s bringing pretty warm water to the Southern California area, and with that we’re seeing species that are popping up that we don’t typically see in this area,” Jack Elstner, a Ph.D. candidate for biological oceanography at Scripps, told the La Jolla Light.

Read the full article at The Mercury News

Ocean Indicators We’re Tracking for El Niño’s Arrival on the West Coast

September 5, 2026 — Has El Niño reached the West Coast?

You might think it has. After all, the ocean off Southern and Central California is unusually warm. But that is from a recent marine heatwave predates the current El Niño. Much of the Pacific Coast is experiencing relatively normal conditions while still awaiting the impacts of what could be a very strong El Niño.

In June, NOAA’s National Weather Service declared that El Niño had developed. That finding, however, is based on ocean temperatures from the tropical Pacific Ocean, near the Equator, which warm ahead of El Niño’s impact on the Americas.

While eastern tropical Pacific temperatures have already risen more than 2°C (about 3.6°F) above normal, El Niño-related warming along the West Coast typically lags that increase by a few months. NOAA Fisheries scientists are tracking West Coast conditions as part of our Integrated Ecosystem Assessment. Here are some of the changes in ocean conditions and marine life that typically signal the arrival of El Niño’s influence along the West Coast.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

El Niño could bring highest sea levels ever recorded to CA coast

August 11, 2026 — A strengthening El Niño could bring the highest sea levels ever recorded to the California coast this year, raising the risk of widespread and damaging flooding.

It’s the latest effect forecast for what’s expected to be an historically strong event, one forecasters warn could also lash Southern California with powerful rain and broil both land and sea with punishing heat waves.

“We’re expecting likely the highest sea levels ever recorded on the California coast associated with this event,” said Mark Merrifield, director of the UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Center for Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation.

During a recent online town hall, Merrifield presented a NASA satellite image showing sea levels already more than half a foot higher in the eastern Pacific Ocean compared to the reference state, and said by this fall and winter, “we should be seeing sea levels far above the average seasonal cycle.”

According to NASA, El Niño’s warmer ocean water displaces colder water close to the sea surface. Warmer water causes a rise in the sea surface height because water expands as temperature rises.

Data collected by scientists over the years also have shown how El Niños contribute to “enormously strong” waves, which can cause beaches to “erode and to narrow,” Merrifield said. “It’s well documented that during El Niño events, beaches across the entire state tend to move landward by about 30 meters [98 feet] or so.”

Read the full article at the Seattle Times

El Niño is here, and it’s already scrambling fisheries throughout the Pacific

July 8, 2026 — We’re not even one month into “super” El Niño, the natural Pacific weather pattern characterized by warmer than average sea surface temperatures, and fisheries around the world are already getting scrambled.

In Peru, government officials have effectively canceled the fishing season for anchovies, one of the country’s most important exports and a leading source of fish oil and animal feed globally. The Indian government is preparing for a season of smaller, less plentiful Indian mackerel. Meanwhile, in Southern California, recreational and commercial fishers have reported some of the most successful months of tuna fishing they’ve ever seen.

Read the full article at Grist

Aquaculture Opportunity Areas bolster America-First seafood production

September 19, 2025 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

As part of NOAA’s commitment to prioritizing American seafood competitiveness, the agency has identified 13 Aquaculture Opportunity Areas totaling more than 21,000 acres in U.S. federal waters of the Gulf of America and off the coast of Southern California. These areas will strengthen the nation’s seafood industry, reduce reliance on foreign imports, and create high-quality American jobs.

Today’s release of two final programmatic environmental impact statements for the Gulf of America and Southern California identifies prime locations that may be suitable for developing multiple commercial aquaculture projects, fulfilling President Trump’s 2020 Executive Order “Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth” and supporting the 2025 Executive Order “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness”. These orders champion a robust, America-first seafood industry that puts U.S. workers and consumers first.

Each year, Americans eat roughly $15 billion in seafood farmed and imported from foreign countries, where labor and environmental standards often fall short of America’s rigorous standards. By expanding domestic aquaculture to complement wild-harvest fisheries, NOAA is driving an America-first approach that creates jobs, supports coastal communities, and ensures high-quality, homegrown seafood for American families.

“The U.S. leads the world in aquaculture science and technology, yet we rank 20th globally in marine aquaculture production,” said Eugenio Piñeiro Soler, acting assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA Fisheries assistant administrator. “By growing our domestic aquaculture industry, we will strengthen American health, create good-paying jobs, and drive sustainable, long-term economic growth for our nation.”

The final documents released today are grounded in 19 scientific support products and incorporate robust public input, building on draft documents released last year. These efforts reflect NOAA’s commitment to transparency and American-driven decision-making.

In Southern California, NOAA experts identified 10 prime locations for potential aquaculture development – eight in the Santa Barbara Channel and two in Santa Monica Bay – ranging from 500 to 2,000 acres, totaling 16,500 acres. NOAA found these areas may be suitable for seaweed, shellfish, and finfish aquaculture.

In the Gulf of America, three locations off the coast of Texas were identified, each ranging in size from 500 to 2,000 acres, totaling 4,500 acres. NOAA found these areas may be suitable for seaweed, shellfish, and finfish aquaculture. NOAA is also investing in baseline environmental surveys in the Gulf to provide valuable data to prospective farm applicants.

The Aquaculture Opportunity Areas will be finalized with two decision documents following this announcement. The selected areas are just the beginning of unlocking the vast potential for aquaculture in U.S. waters, paving the way for more jobs, thriving coastal economies, and an increased abundance of high-quality American-raised seafood on Americans’ plates.

More information on the final PEISs for Southern California and the Gulf of America is available on the NOAA Fisheries website.

No tuna DNA in Subway’s tuna, lawsuit alleges

November 15, 2021 — Pescatarians may want to avoid eating Subway’s tuna, if one is to believe the allegations in a revived lawsuit questioning the ingredients in the restaurant chain’s seafood.

Nineteen of 20 tuna samples from Subway outlets throughout Southern California contained animal protein including chicken, pork or cattle, but no discernible tuna DNA, according to the latest complaint filed on Monday in U.S. District Court in California.

Subway dismissed the claims in the amended suit, the third filed this year, as “meritless” and defended its fish as “high-quality, wild-caught, 100% tuna.” The company’s lawyers are in the process of reviewing the claim and plan to file a new motion to dismiss what they called a “reckless and improper lawsuit.”

Read the full story at CBS News

CALIFORNIA: Oil spill cleanup improves, fisheries to stay closed longer

November 8, 2021 — Five weeks after a ruptured underwater pipeline spilled crude in the waters off Southern California, cleanup crews have cleared about a third of the shoreline and the amount of oily waste collected is tapering, an official said Friday.

Fisheries remain closed and aren’t likely to reopen before the final week of the month, said Lt. Christian Corbo of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Crews have removed upward of 500,000 pounds (227,000 kilograms) of tar balls, as well as oil-tainted sand, seaweed and driftwood. The amount of oily debris collected each day has tapered off, and more than a third of the shoreline is nearing final cleanup approval.

Read the full story at the AP

Proposed law could mean more drilling off California coast

November 27, 2017 — ORANGE COUNTY, California — Many of the 27 oil platforms drilling into the underwater shelf off the coast from Santa Barbara to Huntington Beach are decades old and, in the eyes of the oil industry and others, ready to be shut down.

Some cost big money to operate at a time of sagging oil prices. Others need expensive technical upgrades. And all are political targets, widely viewed in a liberal state as bigger environmental risks than the potential reward of pulling yet more carbon-generating oil from the Earth.

But the rigs also represent potential profit. By some estimates at least one billion barrels of oil remain untapped in the shelf off of Southern California, much of it accessible from federal waters, not the state-controlled areas within three miles of the coastline.

And that risk vs. profit conflict — plus Trump-era politics — is why lawmakers representing California are clashing with federal regulators over proposed legislation known as the Strengthening the Economy with Critical Untapped Resources to Expand American Energy Act.

Proponents say the SECURE American Energy Act will create high-wage jobs by making it easier for oil companies to work on federal land and in federal waters, all with less federal oversight.

Read the full story at The Orange County Register