CARLSBAD -- The worried look on some faces was a clear sign the state's campaign to designate new protected areas in local coastal waters had migrated south from Northern and Central California.

"Well, it's here," said Ken Corwin, owner of Ken's Custom Reel at Oceanside Harbor. "I wish it wasn't, but it is."

State officials have been trying for nearly a decade to figure out a way to implement the Marine Life Protection Act, a 1999 law that ordered the redesign of existing protected areas and the designation of new ones deemed necessary to restore collapsing fish populations.

But an initial effort at the beginning of the decade collapsed, in part because of inadequate funding and partly because scientists met privately to map out a system of reserves without any public participation.

"We're in a day and age where we can't sequester a group of scientists for six months and have them propose a solution," said Melissa Miller-Henson, program manager for the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative, a public-private partnership that is spearheading the renewed effort.

"The public didn't take very kindly to that," Miller-Henson said. "By the time it went out to the public, the public was in an uproar."

State officials hope this time around will be different. And they have had some success farther up the coast, where they managed to create a 204-square-mile fish sanctuary along the Central Coast in September.

But Eric Poncelet, a San Francisco consultant for the initiative, said Southern California presents more complex challenges because of the region's huge population, large number of fishermen, numerous beach cities and active environmental groups determined to restore marine ecosystems.

As Corwin said, "Now we're down to where everybody lives."

Corwin is anxious about the possible outcome, which could come in the form of new fishing restrictions in certain areas in 2010.

"This is my livelihood we're talking about here," said the father of three children, ages 11, 14 and 15. "I need to feed my kids. And if the fishermen are affected, my business is affected because I deal with nothing but fishermen."

Corwin repairs fishing gear and sells tackle. He was among 115 people who came out for an open-house-style workshop at a hotel here last week, marking the beginning of what could be a two-year process to redesign the system of protected areas off the coast from Santa Barbara to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Miller-Henson said it is not a foregone conclusion that a major expansion is inevitable. The law's mandate was simply to create a system that provides adequate protection for fish species and ecosystems, she said.

In the first two efforts, however, reserves expanded substantially.

Evan Fox, principal planner for the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative, said the Central Coast reserves that once covered less than 4 percent of the state waters in that area now encompass 18 percent.

On the North-Central Coast, the before and after percentages are 3.5 percent and 20 percent.

State jurisdiction over the ocean runs from the shoreline to three miles out. The federal government determines what happens beyond that.

But in those other efforts, as in the one now getting under way in Southern California, the fishing industry is getting the opportunity to influence the outcome from the get-go, and not just in public hearings that follow the unveiling of any proposal. The partnership is working to put together a stakeholders group of about 30 people, and representatives were looking around the hotel room last week for potential candidates.

They quickly learned that many of the fishermen were backing the candidacy of "Big" Joe Exline, secretary of the 500-member Oceanside Anglers Club.

Exline was optimistic.

"If people participate and have their voice heard, then we'll have a good outcome," he said.

Officials also were talking to Chugey Sepulveda, senior research scientist for the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research in Oceanside, about the possibility of serving on a science advisory team.

Sepulveda said his institute is studying the spawning and movements of white sea bass along the San Diego County coast.

"All of that will be valuable in this process," Sepulveda said.

Hugh Cobb of Carlsbad, owner of Pacific Coast Bait & Tackle, said the process will prove valuable.

"I'm not alarmed, really," said Cobb, 75. "It's obviously that something needs to be done."

There are lot fewer fish than when he first went out to catch fish at 14.

And Rudy Gonzalez, who belongs to the 700-member Oceanside Senior Anglers, said he isn't worried about losing his favorite fishing spot.

"I've lived here long enough that I have a lot of fishing spots," he said.

For more about the effort, visit www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa. Those who were unable to attend last week's workshops are invited to e-mail comments to mlpacomments@resources.ca.gov.

Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 745-6611, Ext. 2623, or ddowney@nctimes.com.