Update from the summer campaign for the ocean!

This week the marine resources committee, President Samantha Murray and Commissioner Eric Sklar,  for the California Fish and Game Commission, held a meeting in Santa Rosa where they discussed the next steps for our proposals to strengthen and expand marine protected areas.

Laura attended the meeting along with campaign staff from the Oakland and Santa Cruz Environment California campaign offices. Already our canvassers have spoken with more than 17,000 Californians about threats facing the ocean and the need to expand marine protected areas to give marine wildlife, from fish and sea otters to sea-birds a chance.

We shared the strong public support to protect the ocean we have found up and down the state so far, and gave the commissioners a collage of photo petitions from Californians calling on them to protect our ocean!

The energy and enthusiasm of the college students helped infect the meeting room and build more momentum for California to continue to lead on ocean conservation! The commissioners urged the Department of Fish and Wildlife to start evaluating all of the proposals quickly and provide more tools for commissioners to ensure the most important marine habitats, like kelp forests, are protected. The full Fish and Game Commission will meet in August in Fortuna.