SAN DIEGUITO LAGOO, Calif. - Coastal protection groups are pressing California to prioritize so-called "blue carbon" ecosystems in the fight against climate change.

Dozens of groups have sent a letter to the head of the California Natural Resources Agency - asking for action to protect existing wetlands and near-shore areas, and restore those that have been degraded.

Gilly Lyons, an officer with the Conserving Marine Life in the United States program of The Pew Charitable Trusts, is among those who signed the letter.

"The request from the signers is to protect biodiversity, to store and sequester carbon, and to mitigate the effects of climate change that we're already living with," said Lyons, "things like ocean acidification, storm surges, coastal flooding, etc."

The letter comes during the public comment period for a draft of the CNRA's new "Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy," to be finalized early next year.

Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order requiring state agencies to act to accelerate the natural removal of carbon and build climate resilience, especially in lower-income communities.

Angela Kemsley is conservation and communication manager at the group WILDCOAST, which is currently restoring two lagoons in San Diego County. She said natural features like eelgrass beds are important tools in climate mitigation.

"They're actually much more efficient at storing this carbon than land-based plants," said Kemsley. "And so, they're able to take a bunch of carbon out of the atmosphere, store it in the soil - and that helps to fight climate change."

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 90% of California's historic wetlands have been drained for agriculture and development over the past century.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife just announced a marine warden discovered an endangered Pacific leatherback sea turtle dead, drowned by old crab-fishing gear left off the Farralon Islands near San Francisco.

Today, the agency's Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group is meeting to discuss how to respond.

Geoff Shester, California campaign director and senior scientist for Oceana, said sea turtles and whales can get trapped in vertical ropes extending from a buoy on the water's surface to the trap on the ocean floor.

"When they do encounter something like a rope, they often spin around in circles and kind of do some twists to try to get unwrapped," Shester explained. "But unfortunately, they start to panic and can even get more entangled. The rope was wrapped around it. So, it was essentially pinned and was underwater, so then, it couldn't get to the surface to breathe or escape."

This year's crab fishing season has already been delayed twice and now could be pushed into the new year. Federal research shows Pacific leatherback sea turtles have declined off California by 90% over the last 30 years and are at risk of going extinct due to gear entanglements, loss of nesting habitat and poaching.

Shester wants the state to approve newer, ropeless pop-up gear which can sit on the ocean floor until the fishing crew returns.

"We're calling on the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to strengthen those rules, both for lost gear and also to authorize the use of pop-up gear," Shester emphasized. "So that there are more options for fishermen to stay on the water and fish in a whale- and turtle-safe method."

The state estimates Dungeness crab fishing crews lose between 7,000 and 14,000 traps each fishing season, and fewer than 5% are retrieved.

Lawmakers and scientists in Massachusetts are working to bolster the state's growing "blue economy."

Several pieces of legislation aim to create a "blue workforce pipeline" in marine biotechnology, commercial fishing and more.

Wally Fulweiler, professor of earth, environment and biology at Boston University, said a healthy ocean makes for healthier coastal communities and "blue jobs," such as oyster reef restoration will stick around as long as coastal ecosystems are cared for.

"Humans are part of the system, and I think we have to figure out a way that we can all kind of work within that system," Fulweiler urged. "I think oyster aquaculture is one way forward there."

Fulweiler pointed out oysters improve water quality, provide food and support livelihoods. Currently valued at more than $8 billion, the state's blue economy grew nearly 40% over the past decade.

Lawmakers hope to create more pathways for students interested in ocean-related careers, including more educational grants to remove some of the financial and technical barriers to accessing the ocean sciences. Fulweiler stressed tackling the challenge of climate change and its effects on our oceans will take an all-hands-on-deck approach.

"If we can lower that entry point -- basically not use technology as a gatekeeper -- I think we might get a better understanding of how ecosystems work," Fulweiler contended. "We may be able to get more voices and ideas to the table."

Fulweiler added new voices could help ensure emerging technologies, including offshore wind energy and large-scale fishing, can minimize any ecological harm.

This story was produced with original reporting from Ethan Brown for The Sweaty Penguin.

A new analysis by Oceana found crews in the California set gillnet fishery have severely underreported the number of seals and sea lions caught and killed or injured over the past 20 years.

Researchers estimate fishing crews are reporting marine mammal bycatch just 6% of the time.

Caitlynn Birch, Pacific marine scientist for Oceana, said it proves the need for government observers onboard the boats.

"It's well known by fishery managers that self-reporting is unreliable," Birch asserted. "However, there's no enforcement. If there's no third-party, federal fishery observer out there, they're not going to say that they killed a sea lion?"

The National Marine Fisheries Service stopped posting observers on fishing boats around 2017. The Marine Resource Committee of the California Fish and Game Commission meets Nov. 16 to consider a suite of measures to protect wildlife, including a new observer program.

The Commission and the Department of Fish and Wildlife are working to update management of the set gillnet fishery, improve data collection and reduce bycatch.

Birch argued fishery managers need observers on the vessels or electronic monitoring in order to accurately quantify the fisheries' impacts on wildlife.

"If we don't have correct data we're flying blind," Birch contended. "In terms of trying to manage a fishery that has high rates of bycatch and interacts with protected species."

Log books from 2005 and 2012 showed fishing crews self-reported an average of 12 incidents per year where set gillnets caught a California sea lion or harbor seal. Federal officials estimated the real number is 212 per year, based on fishery data acquired on trips where an observer was on board.