NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries announced December 21, 2012 it will initiate a public
process to review the boundaries for California’s Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank national
marine sanctuaries. This action is initiated to:
- protect the source of the nutrient-rich waters that sustain life in these sanctuaries;
- protect nationally-significant seascapes,
- wildlife and shipwrecks;
- and promote ecotourism and sustainable fishing practices.
The proposed expansion area is north of the existing sanctuaries, and extends from Sonoma County's
Bodega Bay to Mendocino County's Alder Creek. This area encompasses the Point Arena upwelling center
that consistently produces the most intense upwelling in all of North America. The nutrients brought
to the surface during upwelling events at Point Arena are carried south by the prevailing California
Current and these nutrients fuel an incredibly productive ocean area protected by GFNMS and CBNMS.
The public scoping (comment) period closed March 1, 2013. The Draft EIS is being developed and will be available for comment once it is published.
To stay up to date on the latest information about the proposed expansion visit this link.
Download a high resolution version of this map here.
(1.2Mb pdf)
