Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA)
Enacted in 1999, this California state law requires the state to review and improve the protection it gives marine wildlife and habitats.

Marine Protected Area (MPA)
This is a general term including areas that offer all levels of protection, from sites that just manage water quality to areas that are fully protected from human disturbance or “no-take”. MPAs have been created all over the U.S. and all over the world to help replenish ocean areas. Some examples include the Florida Keys, New Zealand, Italy, and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef National Park.

State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA)
This type of Marine Protected Area, or MPA, allows some level of commercial and/or recreational fishing. Examples include areas where both sport and commercial fishermen can fish from shore, but not by boat in deeper waters, or areas where only certain species may be taken by either sport or commercial fishermen.

State Marine Park (SMP)
In California, this term refers to areas where only sportfishing is allowed and commercial activity is prohibited. The amount of sportfishing may be limited in a marine park, such as a site that allows only shore fishing or catch and release fishing.

State Marine Reserve (SMR)
These are the most protective of all California MPAs, prohibiting the removal or destruction of any wildlife or habitat with their borders.

National Marine Sanctuaries
These are areas created by Congress under the 1972 National Marine Sanctuaries Act. There are thirteen of them around the country, four of which are in California: Channel Islands, Monterey Bay, Cordell Bank and the Gulf of the Farallons. Despite their protective name, most Sanctuaries offer little real protection for the wildlife and habitats inside them beyond a prohibition on oil exploration.