MPA News
MPA Perspective: Using Regional Workshops to Understand the Human Dimension of MPAs
Editor’s note: Bryan Oles, Charlie Wahle, and Sarah Fischer work with the (US) National MPA Center, established in 2000 within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide science, information, and tools for an effective national system of MPAs (http://www.mpa.gov). Marc Miller and Patrick Christie are on the faculty at the School of Marine Affairs, University of Washington, USA. By Bryan Oles, Charles M. Wahle, Sarah Fischer, Marc L. Miller, and Patrick Christie How often have you heard it said that people are the key to the success or failure of marine protected areas? This message is echoed repeatedly…
Kiribati Designates Large MPA, to Be Funded by Endowment
The Pacific island nation of Kiribati (pronounced Kee-ree-bahss) has designated one of the world’s largest MPAs in a bid to guard against overfishing and climate change. The nearly uninhabited Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), encompassing 184,700 km2 with eight atolls and two submerged reef systems, covers an area more than half the size of Germany. Located midway between Fiji and Hawai’i in the Central Pacific, the PIPA contains near-pristine coral ecosystems, with more than 120 species of coral and hundreds of species of fish, including the world’s highest population densities of Napoleon wrasse, according to scientists. The protected area will…
MPA Perspective: New Zealand Seafood Industry Proposes Huge Closures – Cynicism or Pragmatism?
Editor’s note: Kevin Stokes is chief scientist for the New Zealand Seafood Industry Council (SeaFIC). He also chairs the advisory board for Victoria University of Wellington’s Centre for Marine Environmental and Economic Research. Prior to his work in New Zealand, Stokes served as chair of the European Commission’s Scientific, Technical, and Economic Committee on Fisheries, and was the UK delegate to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Advisory Committee on Fisheries Management. By Kevin Stokes The recent proposal by the New Zealand fishing industry to place 1.2 million square kilometers of the nation’s ocean floor off-limits…
MPA Perspective: MPA Management Policies in West Africa: Recommended Guidelines for Balancing Conservation and Development
Editor’s note: Bertrand Cazalet is a Ph.D. student in public law at the University of Perpignan, France. From 2002-2005, he assisted the European Commission-funded CONSDEV project, described in the following essay. By Bertrand Cazalet In 2002, the European Commission funded a three-year project to develop options for improving governance of coastal and marine protected areas in West Africa. Called the CONSDEV Project (“Coherence of Conservation and Development Policies on Coastal and Marine Protected Areas in West Africa”), the project studied existing protected areas in the nations of Mauritania, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau. Partners on the project included IUCN, Banc d’Arguin National…
Notes & News
Project underway to assess global development of MPA systems A worldwide project is underway to review advances in the development of MPA systems at different spatial scales (regional, national, and sub-national), with the ultimate goal of distilling lessons learned and speeding progress in the effective designation of MPAs. In line with the target first set by the World Summit on Sustainable Development to establish “comprehensive, effectively managed, and ecologically representative” systems of MPAs by 2012 (MPA News 4:3), the project will look at the extent to which such parameters have been incorporated. The project is being led by the UNEP…
Use of Volunteers in MPA Management: Opportunities, Challenges, and Advice
Budgetary shortfalls are a chronic challenge for MPA managers worldwide. It is rare for a MPA to have the funds to pay for all the equipment, material support, and personnel it needs to fulfill its purpose. To meet management goals within financial constraints, the use of volunteers can be invaluable. Many MPAs have set up formal programs to recruit, train, and retain volunteers for a wide array of projects – resource monitoring, enforcement, facility maintenance, and more. But the management of volunteers can also present challenges, including the time required to train and oversee these personnel, which can be substantial…
MPA Perspective: Managing Recreational Fishing in MPAs through Vertical Zoning: The Importance of Understanding Benthic-Pelagic Linkages
Editor’s note: The authors of the following essay work with the National Marine Protected Areas Center of the USA, established in 2000 to provide science, information, and tools for an effective national system of MPAs (http://www.mpa.gov) By Charles Wahle, Rikki Grober-Dunsmore, and Lisa Wooninck Policy-makers and stakeholders increasingly demand that new MPAs have clearly articulated conservation objectives and that user restrictions be demonstrably linked to significant environmental threats. These concerns are often reflected in disputes over whether a proposed MPA must be a no-take reserve to be truly effective, or whether recreational fishing for pelagic species could be permitted without…
Letters to the Editor
Ballantine’s view on New Zealand MPA policy Dear MPA News: As reported in the February 2006 issue of MPA News (7:7), the New Zealand government has issued a Marine Protected Areas Policy and Implementation Plan, available at http://www.biodiversity.govt.nz/seas/biodiversity/protected/mpa_policy.html. My views on it are below: (A) The bad side The document’s Foreword states, “The aim is to have 10% of New Zealand’s marine environment in some form of protection by 2010.” This suggests that 90% of NZ’s marine environment will have no form of protection by 2010 – ignoring the fact that all of NZ’s seas have some form of protection…
Notes & News
New Zealand proposes large no-trawl zone in EEZ Deep-sea fishing industry leaders and the New Zealand government have proposed that a total of 1.2 million square kilometers of the nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) be placed off-limits to bottom trawling and dredging. The network of closures would amount to nearly one-third of the nation’s EEZ. NZ Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton anticipates having regulations in place to implement the proposed closures by 1 October 2006, following a period of public comment. The proposed closures would extend from subantarctic waters south of Campbell Island to the subtropical Kermadec region, comprising a range…
Displaced Effort, License Buyouts, and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park: Interview with Stephen Oxley
When no-take marine reserves are designated, fishing effort that formerly occurred within those areas must move elsewhere. The displaced fishing effort can lead to increased pressure on non-protected areas, and ecological degradation can result in some cases – an unsatisfactory result for managers and fishermen alike. A solution to the problem of displaced effort is to reduce fishing effort in conjunction with designating reserves. The reduction in effort – achieved through buyouts of fishing boats or licenses – can counteract the movement of fishing activity outside the new reserves. Nonetheless, the pairing of buyout programs and reserve designations has rarely…