The effort to create the preserves stems from legislation passed in 1999, when Gray Davis, then the governor, signed the California Marine Life Protection Act.  The new law required the state to establish fully protected ocean areas, ultimately along its entire coast, to help replenish dwindling fisheries, conserve biological diversity and protect habitats that scientists say have been ravaged by over-fishing and chemical contamination.  “These ocean areas are our underwater Yosemites,” said Kate Wing, a policy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group that supports the effort. “To me, this is saving for our collective retirement, putting aside and investing now so there will be a payoff 20 to 50 years down the road.”  The first phase of the plan approved Friday designates 29 offshore areas for protection beginning as early as July. The entire protected area between Point Conception and Half Moon Bay would cover 1,150 square miles and offer some type of protective status to nearly 20 percent of the state’s waters off the Central Coast.  Of the overall area, 8 percent, or 13 of the 29 offshore areas, would be completely protected, forbidding all human activity. The remaining waters would allow limited sport and commercial fishing.  Regulators have said the protection plan is scheduled for completion by 2011. The next phase sets aside underwater ocean refuges that extend beyond Half Moon Bay and stretch to Point Arena, about 100 miles north of San Francisco.  A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A26 of the New York edition with the headline: California Adopts First Phase of Ocean Preserves. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
A plan approved by wildlife regulators will create a statewide system of protected areas where fishing and other human activities would be limited or banned.