‘Salmon are going the way of the buffalo unless we do something’

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — In a major victory for coastal advocates, a Santa Barbara judge refused to approve a controversial deal that would have allowed access to Hollister Ranch’s coastline only to landowners, their guests, visitors with guides, and those who could boat or paddle in from two miles away. The public backlash over this deal was fierce. Hundreds of beachgoers emailed the state, worried that coastal officials were giving up the access fight at Hollister in favor of landowners.

Five possible routes for moving the train tracks off the eroding Del Mar bluffs were outlined this week by regional transportation officials.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — In a major victory for coastal advocates, a Santa Barbara judge refused to approve a controversial deal that would have allowed access to Hollister Ranch’s coastline only to landowners, their guests, visitors with guides, and those who could boat or paddle in from two miles away.

The City of Encinitas will receive 45,000 cubic yards of sand just south of Ponto State Beach as a result of the Encinitas Beach Hotel Project. The city's Opportunistic Beach Fill Program finds opportunities to obtain beach-quality sand from upland or dredging projects in the region.

Remember the too-crazy-to-be-true plan to spray pesticides on oyster beds out on the Washington coast? It’s back. And this time, it doesn’t want to answer any pesky scientific questions.

NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Law Enforcement is offering up to a $20,000 reward for information after more than 12 sea lions were found shot around West Seattle since September.

If you remember your high school biology lessons, you might recall that starfish aren’t really fish at all. Properly called sea stars, these spiny-skinned predators are an important part of ecosystems up and down North America’s west coast. In less than a decade, however, more than 20 species of sea stars—including the sunflower star, a keystone predator with a wide range—have been ravaged by a poorly-understood ailment known as sea star wasting disease.

Over 35,000 Comments Submitted by Oregon Communities Demanding the Department of State Lands Deny a “Removal-Fill” Permit for Canadian Fossil Fuel Company Pembina.

New research digs into the history, ecology, and pragmatics of efforts to turn oil rigs into human-made reefs.

Have you noticed? Santa Barbara has become a bona fide cruise port. Over the years when traveling north on the Highway 101, I’ve occasionally spotted a cruise ship anchored off of Santa Barbara. Lately, I’ve noticed that more often. That got me curious.

If you haven’t explored our coast south of the OB pier, I recommend you try before they are gone completely. These cliffs and pocket beaches south of the OB pier have historically served locals and surfers as a refuge from the more touristy beaches to the north. You’ll find an interesting mix of sand crabs and other wildlife, yogis and homeless, remnants of eroded structures, breathtaking sunsets, litter, and graffiti.

Before the Carlsbad Desalination Plant in Southern California began operations in 2015, scientists at UC Santa Cruz recognized an important opportunity to study the effects of the high-salinity brine that would be discharged from the plant into coastal waters.

Bay Area commuters may have another way to get to work on the horizon: hovercraft. Especially for those living or working in the South Bay, San Jose and Silicon Valley.

During the government shutdown, while nobody was looking, a herd of elephant seals took over a popular California beach and forced authorities to close the area to visitors.

An “underwater zombie apocalypse.” That’s how wildlife veterinarian Joe Gaydos of the University of California (UC), Davis, describes “sea star wasting disease,” a blight that has decimated more than 20 species of sea stars from Mexico to Alaska since 2013.

CALIFORNIA - Oceanside plans to better regulate its short-term vacation rentals by hiring a full-time enforcement officer, requiring licenses and annual fees, and streamlining the tax collection process.

"I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied.” Those were the eloquent words of poet John Masefield.

Using data from underwater robots, scientists have discovered that beaked whales prefer to feed within parts of a Navy sonar test range off Southern California that have dense patches of deep-sea squid.

LOS ANGELES — Thirteen miles from the coast, marine biologist Bruno Pernet was himself surrounded by concrete, asphalt and an assortment of roughly 10,000 seashells. There were the iridescent shells of black abalone, the chalky shells of California Venus clams and the sun-bleached shells of Pismo clams.

(CNN)Animal control in the western United States just got more extreme. A new law allows people to kill sea lions that have been devouring the region's endangered salmon and steelhead -- as long as they first get a permit.

The Port of Long Beach (POLB) is receiving more than $147 million in public and private funds to develop six projects for zero-emissions equipment and advanced energy systems for its operations. These projects are intended to demonstrate the feasibility of meeting the goals outlined in the 2017 Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP), which called for a transition to zero-emissions cargo-handling equipment by 2030 and zero-emissions trucks by 2035. CAAP pertains to both POLB and the Port of Los Angeles.

It’s hard to know what lurks beneath the ocean surface. A massive, 30-foot mammal could be swimming beneath you — and you may not even know it. That’s what happened on Saturday, Jan. 26 when a gray whale cruised over to a lone surfer who was sitting on a board between Balboa Pier and Newport Beach.

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is leading an effort to consider birds in their planning of wind energy development off the shores of California, including in three areas approximately 25 to 50 miles off the coasts of Humboldt Bay, Morro Bay, and Diablo Canyon – areas designated as having wind energy potential.

Can City Hall Find a Way to Save Beaches and Property Before It’s Too Late? The seas off our beaches are rising. Is it too late to adapt to the change? That’s the task that’s fallen into the laps of Melissa Hetrick and Dan Gullett, two experienced long-range planners for the City of Santa Barbara.

On thousands of miles of coastline dense with housing, businesses and recreational offerings, it is daunting to imagine how communities will be able to effectively manage the effects of rising seas. The project is being led by the city of Ventura and a joint powers authority of six coastal communities and the counties of Ventura and Santa Barbara that was formed to address coastal erosion (BEACON).

As dramatic as king tides can be when they flood the streets of Seal Beach or the Peninsula in Long Beach, an aerial perspective of waves battering the coast takes the drama to another level.

The U.S. Coast Guard has signed off on a Jones Act waiver for America’s Finest, a $75 million vessel commissioned by Fishermen’s Finest, according to a press release issued by U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) earlier this month.

You may have heard a lot of talk about king tides. But what are they exactly? Well in this Virtually Rick we’re going to take a dip into what they are and what they do.

A teenager in Northern California has collected more than 50,000 golf balls — weighing some 2.5 tons — from the bottom of the ocean over the past two years. Now, working with scientists at the Stanford University, Alex Weber has co-published a new paper in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin on the dangerous microplastics and toxins being released into the ocean as the golf balls degrade.

The confluence of California’s two great rivers, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, create the largest estuary on the West Coast. Those of who live here call it, simply, the Delta.

OLYMPIA — Washington may become the first state to designate an official state clam, according to a proposal co-sponsored by local 19th Legislative District lawmakers Rep. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen, and Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen.

Once the Most Abundant Fish in the San Francisco Delta, Smelt Numbers Dangerously Decreasing

DEL MAR — For Del Mar natives, as well as the hundreds of surfers and visitors that traverse its paths, the bluff is a treasured and unique jewel. But several recent bluff failures between August and December have put residents and officials alike on high alert.

A federal agency is currently taking public comment on plans to lease areas off California’s coast to wind energy development. Proposed for areas of the ocean roughly 20 miles offshore, the wind farms would consist of dozens of connected floating turbines generating electricity, conveyed to shore—and the energy grid—via a seafloor cable.

With the recent widespread reports of sea-level rise triggered by global warming, the California Coastal Commission — a state agency which regulates coastal development — plans to release a proposal in early-2019 which provides guidelines to local jurisdictions on how to combat the potential impacts.

The Navy is nearing completion of plans for a cleanup area called Site 32, 60 acres that lie on the old airfield west of the Alameda Point Antiques Faire. The site requires remediation because investigators uncovered radium-226 there. The Navy mixed radium-226, a naturally occurring mineral, with paint to allow dials and markers to glow in the dark. Repeated exposure to high levels of radium can cause cancer.

Climate change is transforming the state’s coast but with habitats hemmed in by cliffs, condos and farms, pre-emptive action is needed to preserve biodiversity

HUMBOLDT – Sea level rise could change the way the state deals with coastal development, as expansion and construction of dikes will fill wetlands but also protect large agricultural areas that double as freshwater habitat.

A higher than average number of whales got tangled up in fishing gear, lines and debris off the United States in 2017, the most recent year of data. In all, NOAA Fisheries reported 76 confirmed cases of large whales found entangled. That's according to a national report the agency released last month.

MONTEREY — Will sustainably-caught swordfish receive a wave of support from Central Coast fishermen, consumers and restaurateurs?

News this month that the number of whales found entangled off the West Coast had decreased in 2017 prompted optimism among some. But, already preliminary numbers for 2018 are headed back toward the record highs of just a few years ago.

Behind the exclusive gates of Hollister Ranch are some of California’s most-coveted beaches and surf breaks. Few have had the chance to visit them. But earlier this month, after decades of pushback and stalemates, state officials passed through these gates with the cooperation of the ranch’s powerful landowners. For the first time in years, they traversed the pristine 8.5-mile shoreline to establish initial boundaries that could be used for an ambitious public access program.

San Francisco - The longtime regional conservation planning group stalled in 2018. Now we need to work together to build the future.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) [recently] announced the selection of three projects to restore wetlands that sequester greenhouse gases (GHGs) and provide other ecological co-benefits.

Owners of short-term lodging units in San Clemente have opined against the city’s laws that govern them since they were adopted in 2016. Now that the first 18-month grace period on those types of vacation dwellings has passed, entities are looking for clemency from the courts.

Local surf fans were left scratching their heads when the Big Wave Tour announced it would not be holding the Mavericks Challenge surf contest this week, despite reports of large, dangerous surf poised to crash along the San Mateo County coastline.

APTOS — The latest in a series of beach-access disputes came to a head Tuesday morning as work crews demolished a wall and a fence blocking off both sides of what officials say is a public walkway overlooking Rio Del Mar Beach in Aptos.

Researchers, including two Oregon State University scientists, argue in a new study that a paradigm shift is needed for assessing bridges' tsunami risk.

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (KGO) -- Monday at Mavericks was projected to be one of the biggest and most epic surfing days of the decade at the famous Half Moon Bay surf spot and it lived up to that billing.

MOSS LANDING – From the deck of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, miles of glistening water extend through patches of fog. Other than the gentle sound of the waves lapping up against the rocky shoreline, the deep, dark ocean seems silent. But beneath the ocean’s calm surface is a cacophony of sounds waiting to be heard.

With funding from the sea grant program, the Monterey’s Center for the Blue Economy developed an interactive software platform to help regional decision makers define different factors in regards to sea level rise and combine economic and other data to determine the maximum benefit of various strategies.

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. —Five years ago, Facebook billionaire Sean Parker held an extravagant wedding in Big Sur, after which he agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle violations of California’s coastal laws because his crews built rock walls, a stone bridge, a cottage, dance floor and other structures in a sensitive redwood forest — without permits.

(CN) – In no uncertain terms, members of the California Coastal Commission put property owners in a wealthy enclave north of Los Angeles on notice that their days of blocking the public from accessing an 8-mile stretch of pristine coast will soon be over.

An announcement this week that a strong recovery in the the West Coast’s biggest fishery would now permit dramatic increases in harvest levels was celebrated by fishermen and conservationists alike, and provided further proof that a healthy ecosystem can go hand-in-hand with a profitable fishing industry and thriving coastal communities.

(Oregon Coast) – Major wave action is taking place on the Oregon coast right now, which has been cause for a high surf advisory in effect through 10 a.m. on Thursday. Bringing 25-foot waves at times, it’s not a good time to be on the beaches. In fact, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), there will likely be more such warnings for Friday and then again early in the week.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Federal officials said Tuesday they are increasing catch limits for several species of West Coast groundfish that were severely depleted more than a dozen years ago in a crisis that posed a threat to the commercial and sports fishing industries.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will host a meeting in San Luis Obispo this week to share information on the possibility of offshore wind developments along the California coast. This includes plans to add hundreds of 700-foot-tall floating turbines on sites off Diablo Canyon and Piedras Blancas.

After years of debate, home-sharing, made popular by online platforms like Airbnb, will now be regulated after the City Council's vote Tuesday.

Through a combination of subterfuge, embargoed evidence, and tight lips those ensconced in San Francisco's surf scene tend to do everything in their power to keep the city's seasonally world-class surf to themselves. But while they've historically done a good job of keeping things under wraps–doing their damnedest to dissuade the multitudes of techies who've descended upon the city's ocean adjacent neighborhoods from entering the lineups–a non-profit organization is trying to introduce surfing to the city's underrepresented populations.

LIVE OAK — Once asserting that it did not need new permission to keep the small “Privates” beach locked and privately accessible, the Opal Cliffs Recreation District agreed this week to maintain free daily coastal access, with a scaled back security gate in place by summer.

As holiday lights begin to brighten local neighborhoods, members of Monterey County’s $2.85-billion hospitality industry are wrapping up a year spent supporting the community they call home.

OCEANSIDE — As the city continues to mull over how it will regulate short-term vacation rentals moving forward, The Coast News decided to take a look at how various people are doing business within that realm and how proposed regulations might affect them.

Coastal erosion and more intense winter storms may require policymakers to take another look at how they plan for future development. A new Oregon State University study, based in Tillamook County, examined how beach access and property would be impacted by sea level rise and coastal erosion if planning policies stayed the same.

Up and down the California coast, aging power plants are being replaced by sleeker, more efficient and more environmentally sensitive units — or are being shut down altogether.

Killer whales are diving to record depths to pinch expensive catch from commercial fishing lines, expanding their role as an apex predator to the very depths of the ocean, Deakin researchers have found.

At the confluence of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers, a winter of heavy rains could inundate about 1,200 acres of riverside woodland for the first time in 60 years. That’s by design: Here, a few miles west of Modesto, work crews removed or broke several miles of levee last spring and replanted the land with tens of thousands of native sapling trees and shrubs.

Channel Islands and Ventura harbors and the Port of Hueneme are set to receive $14.8 million in federal funding.

The damage caused Friday, Nov. 30 was the worst yet in the area plagued by battering seas. Earlier this summer, fire rings that have been used for sunset bonfire rituals for decades crumbled after being battered by storms.

A hamlet study backs a recommendation to enact a "strategic retreat" of downtown businesses inland to combat the threat, but East Hampton Town is mulling a $15M-$17M beach restoration project.

As one of the first swells of the winter season appeared along the Southern California coast, surfers hit the water before the expected storm and rain rolled in. The waves were building through Wednesday morning, and were expected to be 4 to 6 feet high by the afternoon.

Ocean Shores, like most of Washington state’s coast, will be prone to a tsunami when an earthquake strikes off the Strait of Juan de Fuca – or even a distant tsunami like Japan or Alaska. But getting to high ground is going to take a hefty walk for many residents. And, for a city that boasts a lot of retired residents, the concern is real.

Hourglass Project targets good paying jobs

Seaside Signal - Authors of a new county housing study came to Seaside to unveil results from the report. “This process is not over,” announced project manager Brendan Buckley of Johnson Economics, a co-author of the study. Buckley and Jamin Kimmell of Angelo Planning Group presented two hours of numbers confirming what many in the audience already knew: there’s not enough workforce housing and for too many, housing is completely out of reach.

MOSS LANDING — Bright morning sun filters through low hanging fog, illuminating the sparkling slough and the white feathers on a regal egret in the distance. Commuters creep by on Highway 1, between Elkhorn Slough and Moss Landing Harbor. Mark Silberstein, director of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation, says the last time he stood at this same viewpoint he could see a whale breach.

A lab at Oregon State University’s marine science center in Newport is studying whether society and the marine environment are ready for sea otter reintroduction.

For 24 of the past 26 years, Eric Emanuel and his family enjoyed quiet living on Monterey Avenue, a Pacific Grove street lined with quaint homes built in the 1920s. Then two years ago, the duplex two doors down from him was sold and the new owners obtained two short-term rental licenses from the city, one for up to seven occupants and another for up to five. The quiet was shattered by the comings and goings of vacationers.

The U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that it will share information on current planning activities for possible offshore wind development along the California coast during a public information meeting on December 13, 2018, in San Luis Obispo, California.

For decades, one family fought to keep Malibu to themselves—but its natural beauty proved irresistible

Solana Beach City Council unanimously approves a new public recreation fee – which is charged to the bluff-top homeowners to compensate for the amount of beach lost through the construction of seawalls.

Volunteers with the Tolowa Dunes Stewards will begin working under a grant this month that will allow the nonprofit to incorporate heavy equipment and paid crews in its ongoing efforts to remove European beachgrass from the dunes.

HOW THE STATE LAW PROVIDING PUBLIC ACCESS TO ALL CALIFORNIA BEACHES MAY HAVE BEEN IN JEOPARDY

SUISUN CITY — The Suisun City Council on Tuesday awarded The Dutra Group a contract to dredge the Suisun City Marina and Whispering Bay – after a year’s delay.

Conservation advocates have long touted the need to preserve Sonoma County’s bucolic landscape, but a report released last week for first time assigned a dollar value to those open spaces and their natural resources.

Scripps Oceanography-led study finds even most sustainable fishing not enough to support livelihoods in Gulf of California

Both sides in the salmon farming debate recognize that there are gaps in research, studies and investigations but they disagree on what to do about it.

The U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will share information on current planning activities for possible offshore wind development along the California coast during a public information meeting on Dec. 13 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Coastal officials knew decades ago it would take money to open Hollister Ranch to the public.

A.P. Moller - Maersk expects tariffs to take a bite out of the ocean shipping industry in 2019, according to executives on a recent earnings call.

Inclusion of several Point Reyes National Seashore ranches on the National Register of Historic Places will play a role in the ongoing review of the future of these ranches in the park, according to park officials.

The first time I drove to the Point Reyes Lighthouse, I was horrified to see large cattle ranching operations on National Park Service lands. The adverse impacts of ranching on soils, water quality, vegetation, wildlife and visitor experience were undeniable: piles of manure, muddy trails, accelerated erosion, weed-infested pastures and gigantic heaps of rotting vegetation called silage (pasture plants are mowed and then fermented to feed livestock when there is no grass available). During the four years I worked at Point Reyes, I never drove past the ranches without shaking my head.

Located in the center of the Pacific Ocean 124 miles from land, the Mariana Trench is the deepest natural point on Earth. The closest thing to the “middle of nowhere,” it takes days to get there and days to get back. For decades the trench has been shrouded in mystery with large portions of it unexplored.

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Monday awarded more than $3 million to support four projects that will help improve water quality in and around Long Beach as part of the Port Community Grants Program.

Actor Liam Hemsworth shared a poignant photo Tuesday showing the Malibu home he shared with singer Miley Cyrus reduced to ashes. “It’s been a heartbreaking few days. This is what’s left of my house. Love,” he wrote in the caption.

Aquarium announces plans for new sea otter facility and research group convenes in Newport to talk of future sea otter reintroduction in Oregon.

San Diego researchers are hoping a sophisticated set of experiments will give them a better understanding of how the ocean helps modulate the planet’s climate. Scripps Institution of Oceanography scientists just landed a second multimillion-dollar, five-year grant from the National Science Foundation so they can get a better understanding of the ocean’s effect on the atmosphere.

A federal judge has issued an order declaring the federal government violated environmental protection laws when it approved permits for fracking and acidizing (otherwise referred to as well stimulation treatments, or WSTs) from platforms offshore California.

Friends of the Earth has delivered more than 38,500 comments opposing a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) plan to increase aquaculture production in the USA.

As of today, the fast-moving Woolsey Fire that continues to blaze through Malibu has burned 83,000 acres and destroyed 177 structures. There are two confirmed deaths and nearly 250,000 people displaced, the LA Times reported. The Woolsey fire is currently 10% contained and, unfortunately, more Santa Ana winds are forecasted to blow throughout today, and into Monday, as firefighters battle for the fourth straight day.

Homeowners at the inlet to the Buena Vista Lagoon are fighting a plan to permanently open the lagoon to the sea.