Your help is needed with the first significant test in the upcoming Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) process.

Kayak anglers will only have a significant say in the matter if we earn a spot on the South Coast Regional Stakeholder’s Group. The RSG is responsible for collaboratively creating reserve network proposals that meet the standards of the law while minimizing impacts on current uses.

I’m submitting myself as a nominee representing the kayak fishing community. For those who don’t know me, my name is Paul Lebowitz. I’m the inaugural director of the Kayak Fishing Association of California, a grassroots organization dedicated to preserve and expand kayak fishing opportunities across the entire state, but especially in Southern California, kayak fishing’s epicenter. I’m also a huge promoter of a sport that’s provided me incredible enjoyment over the past decade, becoming not only a lifestyle but a vocation. I write about the sport for Western Outdoor News and many other regional and national publications. In short, I love kayak fishing and I’m ready to devote countless hours to keeping our ocean access.   

I’m asking for your help. Please send a letter, email, or phone call supporting my nomination to a couple of key decision makers: the Executive Director of the MLPA Initiative and the Director of the DFG. Their contact information and a sample letter are included below.

Paul Lebowitz
Director, Kayak Fishing Association of California

The major point – Kayak anglers deserve representation on the MLPA South Coast Regional Stakeholder’s Group

Other minor points to touch on:

- Kayak anglers are low impact. Keeping us on kayaks benefits the resource.
- Kayak anglers are limited to where we can get on the water safely. MPAs sited without our input could indirectly cause injury by forcing kayak anglers into less than ideal launch sites.
- Southern California is the birthplace of modern kayak fishing, the epicenter of the sport.
- We’re part of the recreational fishing mainstream – but unique. There will be real economic impact if we are knocked from the water.
- Kayak anglers are committed to participating in the MLPA public process, as we’ve already demonstrated in the early stages of the South Coast project.