the Sanctuary office: Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, 99 Pacific Street, Bldg. 455A, Monterey, CA 93940. (831) 647-4201. http://montereybay.nos.noaa.gov/.
The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS), established in 1992, is one of twelve marine sanctuaries nationwide managed by the Sanctuaries and Reserve Division (SRD) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Encompassing over 5,300 square miles of water, MBNMS stretches along the Central California Coast from Marin County near San Francisco southward to Cambria in San Luis Obispo County. The Sanctuary protects many habitats, ranging from sandy beaches and kelp forests to one of the largest underwater canyons on the west coast. Nutrient-rich currents nourish the area, supporting a productive and diverse marine ecosystem where countless species, many of them threatened or endangered, make their homes.
The mission of the National Marine Sanctuaries Program is to manage marine areas of national significance to protect their ecological and cultural integrity for the benefit of current and future generations.
For more information on the Sanctuary, contact
the Sanctuary office: Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, 99 Pacific Street, Bldg. 455A,
Monterey, CA 93940. (831) 647-4201. http://montereybay.nos.noaa.gov/.
This year's Sanctuary Currents Symposium is scheduled for Saturday, March 7th from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Cocoanut Grove in Santa Cruz. The theme is "Human Influences on the Sanctuary." Be sure to mark your calendar for this fun and educational event!
In response to suggestions from last year's attendees, several changes have been made in the format of this year's symposium. First, there will be two plenary sessions rather than offering concurrent sessions. The morning session will combine science, conservation, education, and business presentations on "Human Influences." The afternoon session will focus on research that relates to human influences. The time allotted to the research poster session has increased; and this year the Symposium will also feature a 'resource fair.'
Some of the presentation topics being considered include coastal development/ cumulative impacts; marine toxicology; fisheries decline; marine protected areas; vessel traffic; introduced species; impacts on habitats (rocky shores); and ecotourism.
Symposium
Draft Schedule:
8:00-8:45 Registration
9:00-9:05 Welcome
9:05-10:30 Plenary Session
(Science, conservation, education, and
business presentations on "Human Impacts")
10:30-12:00 Break/Poster Session/Resource Fair
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:00-2:30 Research Symposium
(Science and research presentations)
2:30-2:45 Break
2:45-3:15 Ricketts Lecture
-For further information on the Sanctuary Currents Symposium, please contact
Nick Papadakis at AMBAG, at (831) 883-3750.
The Monterey Bay Sanctuary recently won approval from national headquarters for its "Monterey Bay Sanctuary Sponsorship Program." The program, which went into effect in early October 1997, offers MBNMS a way to involve the business community in active sponsorship of the Sanctuary. Most of the donations received as part of the program will be accepted by the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Foundation on behalf of the MBNMS, while some will be accepted directly by the Sanctuary.
The Sponsorship Program will allow the MBNMS to enter into agreements with
certain organizations wishing to be Sanctuary sponsors. The essence of the arrangement
is that, in exchange for its promotion of the Sanctuary's work, the sponsor will be
permitted to use the Sanctuary logo in its advertising campaigns, to demonstrate its support for
the Sanctuary.
"It's fairly rare in the federal government for such programs to exist," explains
Program Specialist Aaron King, who is responsible for pulling the program together and
obtaining approval of MBNMS' proposal from national headquarters. "Most federal agencies
cannot conduct such sponsorship programs," King points out. "One other exception is
the National Park system." The National Park system uses an arrowhead logo for its sponsors.
Sanctuaries have only recently been permitted to accept donations directly. In the
1992 Amendment to the Sanctuaries Act, legislation was included that gave the Sanctuary
program broad authority to accept donations and do certain types of fundraising, such
as sponsorship programs. Out of this legislation has come the ability for
individual sanctuaries to do their own fundraising, and the creation of the whale tail as a
national Sanctuaries logo. In 1995, the Sanctuaries and Reserves Division headquarters
wrote guidelines for the individual sanctuaries to follow to establish their own
sponsorship programs. MBNMS responded to that by establishing its own specific plan and
submitting it for approval. That approval came in October 1997.
The Monterey Bay Sanctuary Foundation became the first official Sanctuary
sponsor. "We expect to increase the number of sponsors gradually over time," explains King.
"We have no plans to go out drumming them up," he points out. "It's simply an official
mechanism for the Sanctuary to recognize specific entities as MBNMS sponsors."
Errors and Omissions We apologize for the following errors and omissions in the Spring 1997 issue:
The photo shown alongside the article on the last Sanctuary Currents Symposium was not identified. The "Windows to Understanding Biodiversity" poster depicted in the photo was presented by Save Our Shores. In the cover story on Sanctuary enforcement, an incorrect telephone number was listed to report sick or injured marine mammals to The Marine Mammal Center; the correct numbers are 415-289-7325 or 408-633-6298