Maintaining Accuracy with Community Science Across Time and Space: California MPA Watch Program

Participatory Science
Oral Presentation

Prepared by W. Berube, R. Heimstra
Orange County Coastkeeper, 3151 Airway Avenue, Suite F-110, Costa Mesa, CA, 92626, United States


Contact Information: [email protected]; 949-291-0809

ABSTRACT

The MPA (Marine Protected Areas) Watch Monitoring program has been tracking human use in California MPAs since 2010 and has been coordinated across multiple agencies since 2013. The program now incorporates 17 different organizations covering 18 counties in California. This presentation will look at how the program was developed and how it is managed to provide quality control and follow rigorous scientific standards. We will examine the ways this is achieved through development of training protocols, oversight of an advisory committee, and a centralized information management system. We will use the Orange County MPA Watch program as a case study.

MPA Watch collects data on human use of marine resources within California’s Marine Protected Areas and at similar control sites along the coast of California. This data is shared with various agencies such as local city governments, the Fish and Game Commission, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to assist them in management of the MPAs and the surrounding marine resources. The program is an example of a collaborative network of government and non-profit organizations along with citizen volunteers, students, interns, industry professionals, local businesses, and community leaders.

The 2023 Annual Report for Orange County shows a continuing increase in visitation within the MPAs. Fortunately, even with these high visitation rates, potential violations of MPA regulations remain low, constituting less than 2% of observed activities within the MPA.