As a result, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary will be able to afford only one enforcement officer, one Sanctuary Manager, and one assistant to regulate an ocean area of 4,024 square nautical miles. Clearly some measure of supplemental violation reporting will be necessary to maintain the integrity of the Sanctuary. In the summer of 1992, prior to the designation of the Sanctuary, SOS began laying the groundwork for Sanctuary Watch, which began in October, 1992. Through Sanctuary Watch, SOS works with a number of government agencies and marine conservation groups. Communications with NOAA regarding the scope and purpose of Sanctuary Watch were necessary to avoid duplication of effort, and ensure that any information received would go through the proper channels.
SOS works with other local conservation groups to disseminate our information to their constituents.
We continue to work closely with Sanctuary management staff in Monterey, reporting incidents and analyzing programs and regulations. The toll-free number and its purpose were publicized via frequent press conferences, Public Service Announcements and other publicity. Once the Project began, public education continued through frequent workshops for various organizations, and as part of a slideshow presented in schools for grades K-12. When a call comes in to our hotline, it is entered, with as much detail as possible, onto our Incident Log Sheet by SOS staff or volunteers. A copy of each incident is forwarded to the Sanctuary Enforcement Officer at NMFS, to be used in evaluating Sanctuary programs and policies.