From this page you may access a number of MLPA Initiative web sites, including the internet mapping service (IMS), the decision support tool (Doris), and pages describing how to access the MLPA Initiative's geodatabase. To access the official MLPA web site hosted at the California Department of Fish and game, click here.

Internet Mapping Service
The Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Internet Mapping Service is a web-based map that displays all of the public data layers available in the Initiative's database. Using any standard web browser, such as Internet Explorer, Netscape (Mozilla), or Safari, you may view and query data pertaining to the distribution of resources within the California marine environment. Data were compiled by scientists and GIS analysts at a variety of organizations, including the California Department of Fish and Game, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, The Nature Conservancy and the University of California Santa Barbara. Click here to view the map.

Doris: Marine Protected Area Decision Support Tool
Doris, named after the Greek nymph who represents the bounty of the sea, is a web-based application used for designing marine protected areas (MPAs). Users with a password may view the same layers that are available in the IMS, draw prospective MPAs, share these MPAs with other users (or keep them private), and assemble MPAs into packages. Finally, users may generate reports on the resources captured within individual MPAs or packages relative to the amount of those resources represented in the entire study region. Click here to access Doris. You may download the Doris User's Manual here.

Geodatabase
All of the data within the MLPAI geodatabase is publicly available. You may view all of the data using the IMS site or, if you prefer, you may download these data to your local machine. Please follow this link to a page that describes how you may use ArcGIS to access the MLPAI geodatabase and export files to your desktop.

Metadata Service
Most of the data within our database has metadata, or information that describes those data. All of these metadata are available through our metadata service which may be accessed via Internet Explorer or through an ArcIMS connection in ArcCatalog. To search and view metadata via Internet Explorer, click here. If you have ArcGIS, click here for directions to connecting to our metadata server via ArcCatalog.