local charter fishing boats to monitor four MPAs. Volunteer anglers from the local fishing community team up with graduate students by fishing for rockfish while painstakingly recording the weight and species of every fish they catch and release. They’ve caught over 40,000 fish in the past five years, and have noted how great the fishing is by the relative abundance of some species inside the MPAs. Another monitoring project is Reef Check, which teams PhD researchers up with citizen scientists who strap on SCUBA gear to survey shallow and deep rocky habitats, kelp forests, rocky shores, estuaries, beaches and other key ecosystems along the central coast. They monitor ecologically and economically important species of fishes and invertebrates, and human activities including fishing and recreational use. One consistent theme in these studies is that citizens of the coast are vital to the success of the marine reserves. Volunteers have been involved in scores of monitoring and outreach projects. Citizen science efforts like MPA Watch have trained hundreds of volunteers to monitor beach and coastal use in and around protected areas like Natural Bridges and Año Nuevo. Save Our Shores’ Dockwalker program is another great example of an organization working with coastal citizens to help the MPAs. The Dockwa ?\? ???[H ?\?\?[???X][? ?]??]\??[??\?\?Y[?X??]T\?[??? X? ???X[? ??X?[? ????? ?[???[ ???? ?[? \?? ???? ?\?HXZ?[?? ?\?] ? ? H [?\??]\? \??? \?? Z\??]??Y X?][? ???[K?X?]\?H[?Y][? ?[?X?[???Y ? ? ?]? ?[Y?H[??] \?KX[?H????X] \?H?[ X???Y X?][?[[?\? ?]]?H\?^\?[?[?? ?X?? ???[\????H ?????[ ?[????[?? ?X\??[?HX??]X\?[?HY?H ??\?\?Y[????[?? ??]?[?H?\? ?[Y???Xx?&\??]?X\?[?H ??X?Y\?X\?\?H[?[??\?Y[?[? H?] \?K??H ? Y Z[?? [H ?] H\??\?[??H??]^?[? ?? [?Y\?? ?H\?HX\??[??X??] H?[ ?[??H??[?Y?] ? ^H ??YH ?X\?[?HX???\?[\?[??X??Z[???] \? ?]?\? ?? \?H X?\?[? H ???\????B??