San Diego Coastkeeper


Information

Areas of Special Biological Significance (ASBS)

Protection of La Jolla’s coastal environment dates back to the 1970s, when the California State Water Resources Control Board decided to designate two Areas of Special Biological Significance (ASBS) in the Scripps La Jolla area due to their unique marine diversity and opportunity for public use and research.

Each year, the two ASBS off of La Jolla Shores attract San Diegans and tourists from around the world interested in enjoying native marine plants and animals - including lobsters, abalone, crabs, trigger fish, giant kelp fish, schools of leopard sharks and sea turtles - in their natural state. Designating these areas as ASBS has offered a tremendous opportunity to preserve the fantastic array of marine life and safeguard one of the world’s most beautiful coastal areas.

Additional measure to protect the diversity of marine life and the integrity of marine ecosystems in the state’s ocean waters have been taken by the State of California since the inception of the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA). The MLPA mandates the establishment of a network of marine protected areas (MPAs), designed to diminish the impacts from coastal development, water pollution, certain modern fishing practices, and other human activities that are altering and degrading our coastal and marine environment.

Together, ASBS and MPAs provide a comprehensive tool to safeguarding California’s extraordinary marine biological diversity and coastal areas so they can remain a vital asset to the state and nation.

For more information on ASBS

For information on the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act please visit the California Department of Fish and Game website at www.dfg.ca.gov/MRD/mlpa/index.html