MPA News
Letter to the Editor
No-take areas are not one-size-fits-all solution Dear MPA News: The Pew Fellows report discussed in the June issue (MPA News 6:11) is troubling. To say that 10-50% of all marine ecosystems should become no-take zones ignores reality. In each part of the sea where protection is necessary, there are areas where no-take is justified within MPA boundaries, and areas where other types of management are more appropriate. In a scientific manner, certain key areas of MPAs should be identified and given full protection because of their vital functions, while the remaining portions should be managed in other ways for particular…
Notes & News
Study: Total fish biomass could take 20+ years to recover inside reserves A new study in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series finds that total fish biomass inside no-take marine reserves could take more than 20 years to recover to its maximum level following closure of the area. The study, by Tim McClanahan of the Wildlife Conservation Society (an international NGO) and Nicholas Graham of the University of Newcastle (UK), examines the size structure and biomass of total fish populations in four coral MPAs in Kenya, repeatedly sampled from the 1980s onward. Analyzed across the four sites, biomass of the…
Note from the Editor
Dear reader, This issue of MPA News marks the beginning of our seventh year of publication. We have come a long way. When MPA News was launched in July 1999, the project goal was simply to help MPA practitioners worldwide learn from each other’s experience. The project team never imagined that MPA News would eventually have subscribers in more than 100 countries – a mark we hit this past year. It is gratifying that the project has proven to be useful enough to warrant that readership. More importantly, we are grateful for the assistance of the hundreds of experts worldwide…
Applying Lessons from Rainforest Protected Areas to MPA Management: Interview with Tom Struhsaker
In a paper published in the May 2005 issue of the journal Biological Conservation, biologist Tom Struhsaker of Duke University (US) wrote that the most successful rainforest protected areas in Africa are those with a combination of characteristics, including public support, strong law enforcement, large size, and low human population densities nearby. His research, involving a survey of dozens of scientists and managers at 16 African parks and wildlife preserves, also concluded that investment in economic development around parks – such as for agriculture or ecotourism – does not necessarily correlate with park success in meeting conservation goals. In fact,…
Hawai’i Resource Managers Propose State Marine Reserve for NWHI
The board responsible for managing natural resources for the state of Hawai’i (US) has approved a proposal to designate a no-take marine reserve in all state waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, or NWHI. Boundaries of the proposed 2645-km2 NWHI State Marine Refuge would extend three nautical miles from the islands and atolls of the archipelago (excluding Midway Atoll, which is a national wildlife refuge and not part of the state). Nearly all extractive activity, including commercial and recreational fishing, would be banned. The exception: allowance of traditional practices of Native Hawaiians, which could include limited harvest. For the reserve…
MPA Perspective: Science, Participation, and Politics in MPA Management
Editor’s note: Nancy Dahl-Tacconi is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Queensland, Australia, studying the roles of science and social context in evaluating effectiveness of MPAs. She is also employed with the Marine Protected Areas Taskforce of the Australian Department of Environment and Heritage (DEH). The views expressed in this essay are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of DEH. By Nancy Dahl-Tacconi, University of Queensland Once upon a time, there was a young MPA lost in the first review of its management plan. The plan, drafted in a rush five years earlier by an understaffed management…
Notes & News
IMPAC1 update: availability of financial assistance for attendees Financial assistance to individuals to help reduce their cost of attending the First International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC1) – to be held this 23-28 October in Geelong, Australia – has been made available through a grant to the congress from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. To qualify, applicants must be from one of the geographic areas of interest to the foundation: the Gulf of California (Mexico); Palau; the Federated States of Micronesia; Papua New Guinea; the Solomon Islands; Fiji; Indonesia; and the Philippines. For more information on applying, visit the…
Letters to the Editor
Georges Bank scallops and fishery closures Dear MPA News: I am writing in response to Russ Babcock’s query regarding the effects of long-term closures on Georges Bank sea scallops, Placopecten magellanicus (MPA News 6:10). As discussed below, while scallop abundance and biomass have increased substantially within the closed areas, there is no clear evidence indicating that the closures have enhanced recruitment or landings in the areas remaining open to fishing. Three large areas on Georges Bank and Nantucket Shoals were closed to groundfish and scallop gear for most of the time since December 1994. The closed areas historically accounted for…
Sportfishing, MPAs, and the Debate Over Management
Discussions of fishing and MPAs often center on fishing for food, whether conducted for commercial or subsistence reasons. But recreation is an increasingly common purpose of fishing activity, particularly in developed nations. Researchers have estimated that hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide fish for enjoyment and sport – sometimes keeping their catches, sometimes releasing them to perhaps be caught again another day. Like any activity conducted on such a large scale, recreational fishing has effects on the environment. The nature of these effects is poorly understood, however, and the debate over them holds implications for management of sportfishing in MPAs….
MPA Profile: The Seaflower MPAs, Colombia: Cooperative, Consensus-Based Planning with Stakeholders
Designated: 2004 Description: These are three adjoining, multiple-use marine protected areas, totaling 65,000 km2, in waters of Colombia’s San Andres Archipelago in the southwestern Caribbean. The archipelago as a whole is a UNESCO biosphere reserve (designated 2000), and comprises 300,000 km2 of marine area. Legal status: The three MPAs are the first official “Marine Protected Areas” under Colombian law. Other types of protected marine sites also exist in Colombian waters, although primarily as part of otherwise terrestrial national parks. Planning: The four-year process of mapping and zoning the Seaflower MPAs has been cooperative, involving local stakeholder groups (fishers, dive tourism…