The bill passed both the Assembly and the Senate with bipartisan support. With a new administration in California, a legislature lead by environmental supporters, and widespread support for efforts to ensure that fish and marine animals thrive, NRDC is optimistic that the Marine Life Protection Act has a good chance of becoming law in 1999. Nonetheless, as former Governor Wilson's veto demonstrates, the bill's passage into law is not guaranteed, so we continue our efforts to mobilize strong citizen support for marine reserves and for this legislation. On land, people have long accepted the principle of preserving wilderness areas and parks where hunting and other resource extraction activities are prohibited. The concept that wild areas should be preserved for their intrinsic value applies equally to the seas, yet management policies for the oceans lag far behind.
Most sanctuaries prohibit activities such as oil drilling, but allow fishing with few restraints.
Sea life reserves also help improve fisheries management by giving scientists an opportunity to better understand natural processes and relatively intact ecosystems, which have become increasingly rare as fishing fleets venture farther and deeper into the oceans. A significant additional rationale for these protected areas is that they may enhance the productivity of nearby fisheries by recharging the surrounding ocean. Studies in the United States, Philippines, Belize, Netherlands, Antilles, Egypt, and France have shown that protection from fishing in marine reserves leads to increases in abundance, density, size, or biomass of commercially valuable fish and shellfish species within the reserves. For example, the abundance of exploitable snappers and grunts increased by 93 percent and 439 percent respectively on Florida's Looe Key Reef after three years of protection from spearfishing. Regardless of whether they benefit adjacent fisheries, however, such areas are needed to protect marine creatures and their habitat.