Our Work

Kelp forests have become increasingly threatened by multiple stressors that are exacerbated by climate change, including sustained elevated water temperatures and loss of apex marine predators. These stressors have weakened kelp in certain regions and contributed to a substantial increase in native purple sea urchin populations, which feed on kelp. These shifts can fundamentally transform kelp forests to less productive urchin ‘barrens’.

Impacts to kelp forest have been observed in regions along the California coast, and northern California is the epicenter of rapid and unprecedented kelp ecosystem loss, where estimates indicate that over 96% of bull kelp along more than 350 kilometers of coastline has been lost since 2014. This drastic decline resulted in ramifications such as federal fisheries disasters, dive shop and other tourism infrastructure closures, and the loss of an ecosystem highly valued by coastal communities.

In 2013, a sea star wasting disease event reduced the global population of sunflower sea stars by an estimated 94%, leading to an IUCN classification as Critically Endangered. Declines of 99-100% were estimated in the outer coast waters of Baja California, California, Oregon, and Washington. The severe and rapid declines of sunflower sea stars, and the documentation of associated ecological consequences, have garnered increased management attention and catalyzed efforts to protect this key predator via research and planning for eventual restoration of this species.

We are advancing sunflower sea star recovery in California by establishing a statewide conservation breeding program for sunflower sea stars. This includes implementing two strategies over the next three years. First, we are upgrading necessary infrastructure and supporting labor capacity for aquarium and conservation partners across a network of three geographically distinct sunflower sea star rearing facilities. This will enable the Initiative network to advance rearing protocols for sunflower sea stars now, and for other species in the future. We are also coordinating sunflower sea star disease research to improve the resilience of animals to Sea Star Wasting Disease. Second, we will combine insights from the diverse array of PCOR partners to produce an outplanting assessment to advance species recovery. Ultimately, we aim to inform and guide the eventual in-water outplanting and restoration of sunflower sea stars in the future along our coast.

The magnitude of abalone harvest quickly surpassed the capacity of populations to support them. By 1997, recreational and commercial fisheries for all abalone species were closed in ocean waters south of San Francisco. Several other stressors likely contributed to declines and lack of recovery of abalone in California, including disease, loss of habitat, and reproductive failure due to low densities. In 2001, the white abalone was the first marine invertebrate to be listed as Endangered under the US ESA and is a NOAA Species in the Spotlight, while the six other species are included in several state and federal recovery plans. The recreational-only (free diving) red abalone fishery in northern California was placed in a moratorium in 2017 due to low density attributed to a dramatic loss of kelp forest habitat beginning in 2014. 

White abalone outplanting has already begun at four sites in their historic range, but efforts to achieve species recovery are limited by scale. We are working to increase both white abalone production in land-based aquaculture facilities as well as the number of white abalone outplanted at restoration sites in ocean waters of southern California. We are improving infrastructure to create dedicated culture space for white abalone and enable more white abalone to be reared for restoration purposes. Ultimately, we aim to more than double the number of white abalone restored by outplanting across more than two-times the habitat area at five sites in the coastal waters of Los Angeles and San Diego. 

By scaling up white abalone production in land-based facilities, as well as scaling up outplanting efforts in coastal waters, we are working to establish sufficient numbers of white abalone of reproductive size to create viable populations on restored sites. Utilizing the PCOR Initiative network, these efforts will coordinate with kelp restoration partners to select healthy and resilient rocky reef habitat for outplanting white abalone, and align on the restoration needs for diminished sites.

Rocky reef and kelp forest ecosystem restoration at scale is particularly influenced by this bottleneck, and will require significant investments in a highly trained workforce with specialized skill sets (e.g. harvesting urchins using SCUBA , receiving and analyzing marine biological samples to examine the biological and physical oceanic environment, conducting drone surveys of kelp canopy cover, or working at land-based aquaculture facilities to increase capacity for rearing animals such as abalone or sunflower sea stars, etc.). Currently, large-scale restoration of these ecosystems is bottlenecked by a lack of trained workforce and the infrastructure required for them to complete the work. This presents an opportunity for simultaneously addressing representation in the restoration workforce as well as workforce capacity gaps.

PCOR Initiative partners are working to develop the curriculum framework for a new marine restoration certificate program at Mendocino College, as well as working to launch a first-of-its-kind marine workforce development pilot program in Mendocino County. This pilot program will also explore including SCUBA training as part of the workforce development training. These efforts aim to advance a skilled marine restoration workforce that can support implementation of marine restoration projects in Mendocino County, and that could be scaled across the state of California in coming years.