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Fishermen warn of biofouling and trawl conflicts as California Coastal Commission presents Ocean Rainforest kelp project
Summary
The California Coastal Commission updated the committee on the Ocean Rainforest kelp aquaculture project (submerged cultivation lines at ~10–15 m depth). Presenters said monitoring and decommissioning plans are still being refined; fishermen raised concerns about mussel biofouling, lost buoys and anchors, entanglement risk, shell accumulation and potential long‑term impacts to trawl grounds.
Heather McNair (California Coastal Commission) presented an overview of a kelp cultivation project that would use suspended cultivation lines seeded with giant kelp placed roughly 10–15 meters below the surface. "It's a mix of muddy bottom and sand out here, but it's too deep for kelp to grow from the benthos... their design is this... grow surface area here," Heather said. The project design places cultivation lines and buoys that would keep kelp suspended well above the seabed.
Fisherm…
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