California Sea Grant, in partnership with the California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), is pleased to announce the award of $1.66 million in funding to support two research projects that will advance the monitoring of California’s mid-depth marine habitats within the state’s Marine Protected Area (MPA) Network.
California’s statewide MPA Network spans 1,110 miles of coastline from Mexico to the Oregon border and protects 16% of state waters, including 9% designated as no-take state marine reserves. Since its establishment in 2012, the state has collected extensive baseline data and transitioned into long-term monitoring guided by the MPA Monitoring Action Plan, which focuses on habitat-based tracking to assess ecological changes and support adaptive management.
A key recommendation from the 2022 Decadal Management Review called for more robust and durable methods for monitoring mid-depth habitats (30–100 meters)—a biologically important zone that comprises around 75% of the state’s ocean. Monitoring these areas requires advanced technologies such as robotic cameras, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), or even submarine dives.
To address this need, a Technical Expert Panel (TEP) was formed to identify improved strategies for collecting and analyzing biological and ecological data in mid-depth habitats. Based on the TEP’s findings, California Sea Grant, OPC and CDFW ran a research competition and have selected two projects that will advance monitoring efforts for California’s mid-depth rocky reef habitats.
