The California Fish and Game Commission voted on a slew of petitions to protect marine environments. While the commission shot down most of the proposals, it approved two new marine conservation areas in Carpinteria and Point Sal.
The Carpinteria reserve, known as Mishopshno State Marine Conservation Area, protects 26.2-square-miles of coast along Carpinteria Reef and kelp forests in the Santa Barbara Channel. The Point Sal Marine Conservation Area encompasses more than nine-square-miles of marine habitat around Point Sal in northern Santa Barbara County.
The Chumash tribe submitted both proposals, making them the first tribal-nominated marine protected areas in California, and the first new marine protected areas of any kind approved in the state since 2012…