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3. SANCTUARY USES
The Channel Islands National
Marine Sanctuary supports scientific, recreational, and commercial
uses, many of which depend on the unique environment and abundant
resources of the area. The multiple use character of the sanctuary
contributes to its significance and is an important consideration
for this management plan.
(a) Recreation
The marine environment of the
sanctuary provides an ideal setting for a variety of recreational
activities. The predominant uses are boating (sailing and power
boating), windsurfing, sport fishing, diving, and nature viewing
(i.e., pelagic birding, whale watching). Several activities such
as tidepooling and island hiking also represent uses dependent on
the aesthetic resources of the sanctuary.
The most important means of
recreational access to the sanctuary is by boat although chartered
small aircraft appear to be increasingly used for wildlife observation.
Boat access to the sanctuary is provided at the large marinas and
harbors between Santa Barbara and Newport. Private boat owners from
Santa Barbara and Ventura tend to use Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and
Anacapa Island areas while boaters from Los Angeles use the Santa
Barbara Island area.
Access to the sanctuary for
out-of-state tourists and non-boat owners is provided at the same
major staging points. Regular boat trips are available daily during
the summer and on weekends, or by charter at other times during
the year, to East Anacapa and Santa Barbara Islands through Island
Packers Company operating out of Ventura Harbor. Special dive tours,
trips to other islands, and fishing boat charters are offered seasonally
with departures from Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles area
harbors and marinas.
Boating, and other water-oriented
uses such as fishing, diving, and scenic viewing, are the most popular
recreational activities within the sanctuary. All the islands are
popular destinations for sailboats and yachts for both one-day outings
and overnight cruising. Several island anchorages are used year-round
although they tend to be busiest on weekends between June and September.
Santa Cruz Island, with its many protected coves, is most heavily
used by private boaters (Fagan and Pomeroy, 1979; Davis and Choven,
1982). Anacapa Island also receives heavy boating use because of
its proximity to the mainland. A survey undertaken in 1982 established
boating use of the sanctuary at approximately 42,085 boat-days (Davis,
pers. comm.).
Sportfishing is most popular
in the waters north of Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and Anacapa Islands
and in the waters surrounding Santa Barbara Island. Past surveys
indicate that the sanctuary supports some 20,000 to 30,000 angler-days
annually (CF&G, 1979). The most commonly taken species are spiny
lobster, abalone, rock scallop, kelp bass, sand bass, sheepshead,
rockfish, halibut, sculpin, and cabezon (Grant, pers. comm.).
The northern islands are considered
prime diving destinations by southern California divers. Although
colder, the waters tend to be clearer than on the mainland and the
fauna more abundant and diverse. Divers primarily use the kelp dominated
reefs for underwater photography, harvesting abalone, lobster and
rock scallop, and spearfishing. Sites frequently used by dive boat
operators include Talcott Shoal, Wilson and Richardson Rocks, SmugglerÖs
Cove, FrenchyÖs Cove, East Fish Camp, Gull Island, and Webster Point
. In addition to day-long excursions, dive clubs organize three-day
excursions around all the northern islands.
Sightseers and nature viewers
account for a growing proportion of sanctuary visitors. Whale watching
during the gray whale migration season is becoming increasingly
popular. Estimates for the 1983 January to March season indicate
that about 22,000 people went on the larger commercial tours offered
to the northern Channel Islands to view whales (Pillsbury, pers.
comm.). Kaza (1981) estimates that about 67,400 people participated
in such tours in 1981 from Los Angeles.
Sanctuary visitors also include
the hikers and wilderness campers who travel through the sanctuary
to visit the NPS-managed islands. In 1980, 133,422 visitors came
to East Anacapa Island, FrenchyÖs Cove, Santa Cruz Island (PrisonerÖs
Harbor and Pelican Cove), and Santa Barbara Island, the park areas
currently receiving the most visitor use (Whelan, pers. comm.).
In addition, landowners on Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands issued
approximately 1,038 permits (Santa Cruz Island Company pers. comm.)
and 150 (Vail and Vickers Company, pers. comm.) respectively to
private boaters to visit these islands in 1980.
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