Balance of marine rules

Strolling the sands or tide-pooling in Laguna Beach — not to mention fishing, surfing, scuba diving or kayaking — could be subject to future restrictions if the city’s coast is designated as a state marine reserve, as city officials are proposing.

A state-appointed blue ribbon task force will meet next week in Long Beach to recommend boundaries and rules for new marine protected areas, which encompass the coastal stretch of Orange County.

A proposed set of restrictions under the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act range from a 3-mile no-fishing zone to a citywide ban on fishing and lobster catching. The task force has indicated it does not intend to prohibit uses such as swimming, wading, diving and boating in the zones, but such restrictions would be allowed under the law. The six-member task force, chaired by Catherine Reheis-Boyd, chief executive of the Western States Petroleum Assn., will vote on a recommendation to the California Fish and Game Commission, which is expected to make a decision in November.

The Department of Fish and Game has created three alternatives for the task force to consider:

 Plan 1: Middle Ground: state marine reserve designation for all of Laguna Beach; state marine conservation area designation for Crystal Cove, Upper Newport Bay and Bolsa Chica Wetlands;

 Plan 2: Fishermen’s Plan: state marine reserve designation for central Laguna Beach; conservation area designation for Crystal Cove, North and South Laguna, Bolsa Chica Wetlands, and Upper Newport Bay.

 Plan 3: Conservation plan: state marine reserve designation for all of Laguna Beach, Upper Newport Bay and Bolsa Chica Wetlands; marine conservation designation for Newport Coast.

All the proposals would make some or all of Laguna Beach a state marine reserve, in which fishing or the taking of shellfish or other life would be illegal, and swimming, surfing, diving and boating could be limited.

The Laguna Beach proposals have drawn the most opposition from the fishing and boating community.

The Laguna Beach City Council voted 4 to 1 on June 16 to support a marine reserve designation along the entire coast of Laguna Beach, from Abalone Point to the rocky point south of Three Arch Bay, except for about one-quarter mile in each direction at the mouth of the sewer outfall at Aliso Creek, due to the high level of pollution at that site.

The council approved the most restrictive designation because the city “has some of the only ‘key’ marine habitats, including rocky intertidal and kelp, between the Palos Verdes Peninsula and La Jolla Cove,” according to a staff report.

Part of Palos Verdes is also proposed as a marine reserve, as well as several areas in San Diego, the largest being the Del Mar reserve.

If approved as a marine reserve, Laguna Beach would be the largest — and most populated — area to be so designated in Orange County.

Marine reserve proponent Charlotte Stevenson, a staff scientist with Heal the Bay, acknowledged the designation could lead to a ban on public use, but said that is not likely to happen.

“No special closures are being considered in southern California,” she said.

Laguna Beach is considered a key to restoring the health of the ocean in the region, said Nick Fash, a marine scientist with Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay, which is championing the marine reserve designation for all of Laguna.

In an aerial tour of the coastline from Dana Point to Seal Beach, Fash pointed out the many tide pool and rock formations off of Laguna Beach, which he said foster many species.

Newport Beach, with its wide, sandy beaches, is not considered a particularly valuable habitat for sea life, he said.

“We want to protect the kind of sea life that grows off of Laguna Beach,” Fash said. “Newport also has sea life, but it’s not the kind we want to protect.”

Laguna Beach Mayor Kelly Boyd — the only Laguna Beach council member to vote against the marine reserve designation — said he supports the Fishermen’s Plan.

Boyd, an angler, said that plan would protect the livelihoods of the fishing and charter boat businesses that operate from Newport Beach and Dana Point harbors. “There are very few [fishing] boats out there, and it’s humorous that we would close down our area and put the burden on other areas,” Boyd said. “There is no need now for a conservation plan.”

The task force will meet Tuesday through Thursday at the Hilton Long Beach, 701 W. Ocean Blvd. The Tuesday meeting will start at 1:30 p.m. Meetings on the other days will begin at 8:30 a.m. Public comment is scheduled to be taken about 1:30 p.m. and at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Guidelines for public comment may be found at www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa.