The Los Angeles MPA Collaborative channels broad and diverse perspectives to build ocean resilience and promote the cultural, recreational, and ecological value of Los Angeles County’s marine protected areas. To better serve LA’s culturally and ethnically diverse communities with specialized information on marine protected areas, the LA Collaborative is working to develop a strategy for working with community-based groups on MPA outreach. Interested in joining the LA MPA Collaborative? Reach out to the Co-Chairs.

Bilingual MPA Fishing Guide

The LA Collaborative developed a bilingual (Spanish/English) LA fishing and MPA guide. The guide can be found throughout LA County in select locations including tackle shops, tourism, and interpretive centers. Posters were also created based on the brochures in both English and Spanish and distributed through Collaborative members to hang in bait shops, boat launches, and other targeted areas to educate visitors and anglers. 

• LA Fishing Brochure in English
• LA Fishing Brochure in Spanish
• LA MPA Poster in English
• LA MPA Poster in Spanish

MPA Speakers Bureau

Developed an MPA speakers’ training program and provided a pilot MPA Speakers Bureau training at Catalina Island for regional community members. Speakers’ kits were created and will be available for use in the field by participating speakers at four sites, including two on Catalina. In collaboration with and funding from the Catalina MPA Collaborative.

• Speakers Training Presentation

Honor the Ocean Community Event

Honor the Ocean: A Celebration of Los Angeles’ Indigenous Maritime Peoples and Marine Protected Areas, a community event developed and hosted by the LA Collaborative with participation by several partner organizations including but not limited to USC Sea Grant, Heal the Bay, Wishtoyo Chumash Foundation, and Los Angeles Waterkeeper. The event, which occurs every other year, has successfully taken place at Zuma Beach in the Point Dume State Marine Conservation Area in 2016 and 2018.

Mini-ROV Expeditions

Marine Protected Area (MPA) Collaborative Members statewide are field-testing Trident mini-ROVs (remotely operated vehicles or underwater drones) in collaboration with SoFar Ocean, National Geographic and the S.E.E. Initiative. More information about Collaborative expeditions focusing on MPA outreach, compliance, and citizen science projects can be found on our Resources page.

Be sure to follow the Del Norte Expeditions below on National Geographics digital field journal platform, Open Explorer. 

• Shining a Light Below the Waters of St. George Reef
• The Underwater Meadows of Crescent City Harbor