The Canal Luis Peña Natural Reserve was identified by the Coastal Zone Management Program of Puerto Rico as an area of ecological value that deserves to be protected and was submitted to be considered as a natural reserve to guide the development of public and private property.
The effort to designate the Luis Peña Canal as a natural reserve responded to a titanic movement on the part of the Culebra Fishermen's Association, the residents of the island municipality, the scientific community, the academy and the government to protect the marine resources of these territorial waters, the submerged land under them and the maritime terrestrial zone. After 18 years of effort, June 11, 1999, it was designated as a natural reserve and for the same year, the DNER submitted the administrative order of no fishing for it.
The DNER, fulfilling its ministerial duty and in response to citizen interest, carried out the pertinent processes to include the area for its designation as a natural reserve.