MPA News
Network of Marine Reserves Designated in Central California
In August 2006, the Fish and Game Commission of the US state of California unanimously approved a proposal to designate a network of marine protected areas along the state’s central coast, encompassing 18% of Central California’s coastal waters. Totaling 204 square miles (528 km2), the proposed network of MPAs will now undergo environmental and regulatory review before taking effect, which could occur in early 2007, say officials. The proposed network consists of 29 MPAs each extending seaward from the coast for three nautical miles, the outer boundary of state waters. Approximately 94 square miles (243 km2) of the network would…
Notes & News
Croatia designates first major protected area dedicated to marine conservation In August 2006, Croatia designated its first protected area with a primary goal of marine conservation: the 526-km2 Losinj Dolphin Reserve, which comprises nearly 2% of the nation’s territorial sea. Several other protected areas with marine components already existed in Croatia, but were designated primarily for terrestrial conservation. The Losinj Dolphin Reserve is reportedly the first Mediterranean MPA dedicated specifically for the protection of one dolphin population – a population of roughly 100 bottlenose dolphins that has shown a decline in number over the past decade. The designation bans development…
Letter to the Editor: Use of MPAs should be flexible, not rigid
Dear MPA News: The article “Protecting the Spawning and Nursery Habitats of Fish” in your August issue (MPA News 8:2) cast a refreshing light on design of MPAs. Here we read about the skillful use of a variety of management tools instead of the single-solution approach of the rigid “no-take area”, which requires little or no science. The article suggests flexible use of tools such as seasonal closures to protect spawning aggregations and stresses that “the appropriate measures depend on the biology of the species, nature of the fishery, and local management and social contexts.” Identification of mangrove sites “with…
Protecting the Spawning and Nursery Habitats of Fish: The Use of MPAs to Safeguard Critical Life-History Stages for Marine Life
Marine protected areas are often designated to protect sites of high biodiversity or scenic character, like coral reefs. But many fish species that inhabit such places as adults have rarely spent their entire lifetimes there. “Nursery grounds” such as seagrass beds or mangroves provide protective habitat for juvenile-stage fish before they migrate to their adult habitat. And sites where adult fish gather on a seasonal basis to spawn can be located elsewhere as well. Such habitats encompass critical life-history stages for marine life, and their protection from harvesting or other pressures can help ensure the maintenance of broodstock and sustainability…
MPA Perspective: Anatomy of an Advocacy Campaign
Editor’s note: The effort to secure strong protective measures for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) in US waters, culminating in President George W. Bush’s proclamation of the 362,000-km2 NWHI Marine National Monument (MPA News 8:1), involved many organizations, politicians, scientists, resource users, and others. The substantial support in favor of no-take regulations from Hawaiian residents and organizations was instrumental in influencing the direction of state-level planning for NWHI waters (MPA News 6:11), and was cited by President Bush in his federal-level decision. Among these proponents of protection, one organization took a comprehensive approach to advancing the issue. The Pew Charitable…
MPA News Reader Poll: Which MPA is the “World’s Largest”?
For decades, the 344,400-km2 Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in Australia was widely cited as “the world’s largest MPA”. Then, in June 2006, the US designated the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) Marine National Monument, covering 362,000 km2 of marine area. So that means the NWHI site is now the world’s largest MPA…right? It might not be that simple. There are marine areas under conservation management that are much larger in size than either the Great Barrier Reef or NWHI. The question is, do they qualify as MPAs? MPA News has always taken an expansive view on what constitutes a marine…
Notes & News
New website for Mediterranean MPA managers MedPAN, an EU-funded initiative to network MPA managers in the Mediterranean, has launched a website, at http://www.medpan.org. The website, available in English and French, features a directory of Mediterranean MPAs by country, MPA-related documents, a gallery of Mediterranean MPA photos, and the project newsletter (MedPAN Bulletin), as well as an “extranet” resource center that is accessible to Mediterranean MPA managers upon request (e-mail cpiante@wwf.fr to request access). The extranet offers management tools, working documents, presentations from MedPAN workshops, and an updated directory of Mediterranean MPA managers, among other materials. The aim of MedPAN is…
US Designates “World’s Largest” MPA in Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
US President George W. Bush has designated a giant marine protected area around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), a long stretch of coral islands, seamounts, banks, and shoals that extend westward from the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of 139,793 square miles (362,000 km2), the NWHI Marine National Monument is being touted by US officials as the largest MPA in the world, surpassing Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (344,400 km2). The monument holds what are considered to be the healthiest and least-disturbed tropical coral reefs under US jurisdiction, as well as thousands of marine species, including abundant populations…
MPA Perspective: MPAs in Indonesia: What Progress Has Been Made Since 1984?
Editor’s note: Lida Pet-Soede is director of the marine and turtle program for WWF-Indonesia. By Lida Pet-Soede In 1984, a detailed plan for development of an Indonesian system of MPAs was produced for the nation’s Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation. Financed by IUCN and WWF, the six-volume document supported the Indonesian government’s goal of establishing and effectively managing 10 million hectares of marine protected areas. At the time, there were eight MPAs in Indonesia – nearly all of them small with little or no management. The IUCN/WWF plan offered criteria for identifying candidate sites, a list of…
Research Spotlight: Project Seeks Answers to What Makes an MPA Effective, Among Other Questions
An international project is underway to find scientific answers to some of the biggest questions in the MPA field. Operated by Conservation International (a US-based NGO) at its Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, the project seeks to distill the ecological and socioeconomic factors that determine MPA success or failure, among other questions (see box at end of article). The Marine Management Area Science, or MMAS, Program is designed around two central goals: to assess if marine management areas (a term that encompasses MPAs) are working, and to use science to improve site effectiveness. The program is ambitious. Not only does…