The Big Creek Marine Ecological Reserve is a refuge area, closed to the public, where fishes and other marine organisms are protected from harvesting.
Protection allows many species to grow to a large size and reach their full reproductive potential.
In many cases this will benefit populations in the region, especially those which have been overharvested. This type of reserve also provides a research site where ecology and management of marine organisms can be studied. The reserve is contiguous with the University of California Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve, a 4000 acre terrestrial reserve. Together, these two reserves protect a unique, wild coastal slope extending from 300 feet under the sea to over 3500 feet of elevation. The near shore zone includes a large kelp bed with rocky bottom habitat and exposed rocks, approximately 2 miles long and 1000 feet wide.