Besides working on water quality issues, the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) office in Ventura County is also addressing issues involving the organisms that live in water and the people who depend on those aquatic organisms.

 

Through a partnership with the California Sea Grant Program, administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, UCCE established a marine advisor position in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties to work on sustainable fisheries issues involving the Santa Barbara Channel.

 

The channel is an important and valuable region for marine fisheries. It is an oceanographic transition zone, where warm-water southern species and cold-water northern species occur together. Environmental conditions provide nutrient-rich water, and the offshore islands provide additional marine habitat for many species. As a result, the channel is a highly diverse and productive marine region of California and the West Coast.

 

Unlike fisheries in other areas, many (but not all) of the Santa Barbara Channel fisheries are considered healthy due to appropriate fishing patterns, effective management efforts and current environmental conditions. However, despite the healthy condition of the resource, local fishing communities — much like farming communities — are facing many challenges due to restrictive regulations, closures of fishing grounds, increased operating costs and increased competition with products from other regions.

 

To educate the public about the issues and complexities involving local fisheries, the marine advisor recently completed a study evaluating the current status and future of fishing in the Santa Barbara Channel, including the challenges facing local fishing communities. In addition, the marine advisor and 4-H staff offered a summer youth journalism program that resulted in a supplemental newspaper insert titled "Fish on Your Dish." This paper, published April 28, was written by youth for youth and provides information on the top 10 local commercial fisheries and various fishing issues.

 

Other marine projects have engaged sport and commercial fishery participants in the collection of data for evaluating ocean resource sustainability and marine protected areas.

 

Most recently, the local marine advisor program expanded into freshwater in response to the invasion of the Eurasian quagga mussel in Southern California. This aquatic invader is related to the zebra mussel and is a threat not only to the infrastructure of freshwater reservoirs, but also to the ecosystems and fisheries of lakes and streams. The local marine advisor, along with other UCCE advisors, is heading the development of a citizens' early detection mussel monitoring program for Southern California.