Balance of marine rules

Strolling the sands or tide-pooling in Laguna Beach — not to mention fishing, surfing, scuba diving or kayaking — could be subject to future restrictions if the city’s coast is designated as a state marine reserve, as city officials are proposing.

A state-appointed blue ribbon task force will meet next week in Long Beach to recommend boundaries and rules for new marine protected areas, which encompass the coastal stretch of Orange County.

A proposed set of restrictions under the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act range from a 3-mile no-fishing zone to a citywide ban on fishing and lobster catching. The task force has indicated it does not intend to prohibit uses such as swimming, wading, diving and boating in the zones, but such restrictions would be allowed under the law. The six-member task force, chaired by Catherine Reheis-Boyd, chief executive of the Western States Petroleum Assn., will vote on a recommendation to the California Fish and Game Commission, which is expected to make a decision in November.

The Department of Fish and Game has created three alternatives for the task force to consider:

 Plan 1: Middle Ground: state marine reserve designation for all of Laguna Beach; state marine conservation area designation for Crystal Cove, Upper Newport Bay and Bolsa Chica Wetlands;

 Plan 2: Fishermen’s Plan: state marine reserve designation for central Laguna Beach; conservation area designation for Crystal Cove, North and South Laguna, Bolsa Chica Wetlands, and Upper Newport Bay.

 Plan 3: Conservation plan: state marine reserve designation for all of Laguna Beach, Upper Newport Bay and Bolsa Chica Wetlands; marine conservation designation for Newport Coast.

All the proposals would make some or all of Laguna Beach a state marine reserve, in which fishing or the taking of shellfish or other life would be illegal, and swimming, surfing, diving and boating could be limited.

The Laguna Beach proposals have drawn the most opposition from the fishing and boating community.

The Laguna Beach City Council voted 4 to 1 on June 16 to support a marine reserve designation along the entire coast of Laguna Beach, from Abalone Point to the rocky point south of Three Arch Bay, except for about one-quarter mile in each direction at the mouth of the sewer outfall at Aliso Creek, due to the high level of pollution at that site.