ONLINE: The Goleta Kelp Reef Restoration Project

Little understood by the public, kelp is a soft buffer that helps to retain wider beaches, protects coastal real estate, and reduces greenhouse gases. The 1982-83 El Nino storms caused the loss of kelp forests that were once 1000 feet wide and went from El Capitan to Carpinteria and resulted in the loss of Goleta Bay’s kelp beds and beaches. Another reason for the decline of the kelp beds is that the boulders, which come off the hills and hold kelp, wear down over time and the system had not been recharging. The Fish Reef Project, named Goleta Kelp Reef Restoration Project, aims to create 220 acres of offshore reef systems with manufactured fish reef units and quarry rock. This process will give kelp a place to attach, grow, and kick off the recovery of kelp forests and critical habitats for many forms of marine life, including sea otters.

Chris Goldblatt, a 40-year veteran of our local waterways, founded the Fish Reef Project (https://www.fishreef.org/) to ensure long-term ocean health by turning empty seafloor into thriving marine ecosystems and home, breeding and feeding grounds to millions of marine mammals, sea birds, turtles, fish, lobster, abalone, scallops, marine algae and much more. These manufactured fish reefs will reduce pressure on natural reefs, thus reducing over-fishing while helping to restore damaged natural reef systems. Goldblatt has a BS in Fisheries & Business from Humboldt State, and has been a guest lecturer at UC Santa Barbara and an International Seabed Authority observer, contributor, and speaker since 2014. In 2018, he was the Invited Guest Speaker at the Civil Society Forum of the Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. An early pioneer of the sustainable seafood movement, Goldblatt is also an accomplished author, business owner, fisherman, diver, and fishing boat owner and operator.