Why Sanctuary - by Andrew Christie
Note: This is a one-time article about the importance of marine sanctuaries
October 2009 Why Sanctuary?
There can't be anyone left who still needs to hear that we face serious and escalating
threats to ocean resources which, once lost, are likely to be irretrievable. It was
out of recognition of that fact - and the fact that California's coast and marine
environment generates more than $10 billion annually to the state's economy - that
the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the largest and most geographically diverse
National Marine Sanctuary in the United States, was established in 1992, extending
from the Marin Headlands to Santa Rosa Creek in San Luis Obispo County.