At Año Nuevo State Beach, tide pools teem with marine life. Vibrantly colored nudibranchs and starfish scour this ever-changing habitat while hermit crabs navigate millennia-old depressions in the coastal rock they call home.
The flourishing ecosystem found in these rocky pools is indicative of its location within the Año Nuevo State Marine Reserve (SMR). This strongly protected marine protected area (MPA) is part of California’s extensive MPA network, established by the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) and finalized across the state in 2012.
Overseen by the Fish and Game Commission (FGC) and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), this network of 124 MPAs reaches from Del Norte County down to San Diego County, and it is a crown jewel for ocean conservation on a national and global scale. In addition to its ecological benefits and