The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is dedicated to collaborating with the public in its effort to protect the marine environment. In the ten years since its designation, researchers, managers, and community members have helped the Sanctuary to identify resource protection issues and strategies to augment our management scheme. As part of the Sanctuary’s management plan review process, these recommendations were honed through a series of scoping meetings and public workshops. Fifteen specific issues that were of principal concern to the public and the Sanctuary were identified as areas for discussion in a working group context. The effects of bottom trawling on benthic habitats has been a frequently raised concern and one which the Sanctuary has agreed to address as an important part of this process. More...