Found a wiki for it here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Life_Protection_Act
Interesting...
Lawsuits
On January 27, 2011, a number of member organizations of the Partnership for Sustainable Oceans led by Robert C. Fletcher (a former California Department of Fish and Game Chief Deputy director) filed a lawsuit challenging closures of certain fishing areas under the California Fish and Game Commission (CGFC).
The plaintiff's challenged the legality of the CGFC's ability to impose its own regulation and claimed that the commission had violated the state's Administrative Procedures Act and the California Environmental Quality Act.
As part of administrative state government process, the Game and Fish Commission is required by law to disclose to the public all matters concerning MLPA research, regulation and closures. The BRTF (Blue Ribbon Task Force) and MPT (Master Plan Team), who were charged with the task of conducting research and establishing a conservation plan, had been executively ordered not to disclose the information it had obtained and produced by order of California Resource Secretary Mike Chrisman. Documents obtained in the PRA lawsuit included an email dated April 7, 2007 and advised BRTF members to “give your own notes verbally and throw them away after."[5] This constituted a breach of the California Public Records Act, which states that "the people have the right of access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business".
On March 10, 2011, a California Superior Court ruling found in favor of the plaintiffs citing that the BRTF and MPT had failed to produce evidence that it complied with the California Public Records act while conducting research from April 2007 through November 2009. It cited that the practices used by the privately funded BRTF and MPT under the GFC did not comply with "open and transparent" processes as outlined in the Public Records Act and ordered the California Game and Fish Commission to pay all legal fees incurred by Mr. Fletcher and his team.[6]
