MPA News
What Scientists Want in an MPA Study Site: Interview with Callum Roberts
For a scientist’s view on what researchers look for when considering MPA study sites, MPA News interviewed Callum Roberts of the University of York (UK). Roberts has conducted fish censuses at several MPAs in the Caribbean, and is author of multiple papers and reports on the effect of marine reserves on fish populations (MPA News 3:6). MPA News: What criteria do you consider when searching for a field site to study? ROBERTS: The key factors for me are, firstly, the suitability of the site for answering some question(s) of importance to science and management. The “and” is critical here. I…
Finding International Funding for MPAs: Places to Search
For the MPA manager facing a future of tight government budgets and increasing program demands, the search for additional funding becomes an essential task. While there are various self-financing mechanisms from which to choose – e.g., user fees and income from associated commercial operations (MPA News 2:8) – there is another option available: soliciting donor organizations for funding. MPA News has received requests from readers, particularly in developing nations, seeking advice on how to contact donor organizations working at the international level. Rather than continue to respond solely in a case-by-case manner, we put together the following brief guide on…
MPA Perspective: Basis of MPA Success Lies in the Objectives
Editor’s note: The author of the following perspective piece, Nancy Dahl-Tacconi, is currently on leave from the Marine Group of Environment Australia. She is conducting research for her Ph.D. on incorporating participatory processes and scientific methods in the measurement of MPA management effectiveness. In this piece, she draws on her own observations and experience in the MPA field, both in Australia and Indonesia. By Nancy Dahl-Tacconi Popular themes in recent MPA literature have been the importance of stakeholder participation and transparent performance-assessment processes. To overcome obstacles toward these ends – such as the high cost of maintaining open communication with…
Notes and News
British Columbia publishes MPA inventory The Canadian province of British Columbia has released an inventory of its provincial MPAs, offering a model that could be useful to practitioners pursuing their own MPA-inventory processes. The 560-page report Provincial Marine Protected Areas in British Columbia details a full range of values (environmental, cultural, recreational, and extractive) for each of the 104 MPAs it documents, and also provides these values for non-protected areas adjacent to each MPA. In addition, the report offers a GIS-based gap analysis of the provincial MPA system’s representativity. The report is available online in PDF format at http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/dss/rpts/index.htm. For…
Stretching Your MPA Budget: How to Do More with Less Funding
When MPA practitioners face the challenge of meeting their conservation goals with a budget that is less than optimal, there are two options available to them: seek more funding from other sources, and find ways to minimize costs. Because the “seek more funding” option can entail significant work without guaranteed returns, many practitioners have become adept at finding ways to stretch the limited funding they have. In the tightly budgeted world of MPA planning and management, frugality is a necessary virtue. This month, MPA News interviewed two managers – one from the US, one from Zanzibar – about the challenge…
Improving Applications of Science in MPA Design and Management
Last month, MPA News presented findings from a November 2001 workshop to discuss the role of socioeconomic concerns in successful MPAs, convened at the 54th annual meeting of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (MPA News 3:8). This month, we present findings from a parallel workshop that discussed how to improve the application of science in MPA design and management. This latter workshop – involving more than 30 individuals from 10 countries – identified several priority areas for filling gaps in the use of MPA science. The science workshop Improving Applications of Science in MPA Design and Management identified the…
New England (US) Groundfishery Could Face Additional Closures
The New England groundfishery, off the northeastern coast of the US, faces the specter of increased closures by management as a result of a lawsuit brought by conservation groups to limit bycatch and prevent overfishing. In papers filed in March with the presiding federal court, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposed a remedy of extending one major closure and creating a new one to decrease fishing mortality. It is up to the court to accept the NMFS proposal or draft another solution, which could include removal of the groundfishery from NMFS jurisdiction, as requested by the conservation groups that…
California MPA Process Ordered to Start Over: Too Little Input from Fishermen
Public protests about potential fishery closures off the coast of the state of California (US) have led state officials to scrap a two-year process to plan a network of marine reserves, and start over. State officials agreed with recreational fishermen, commercial fishermen, and other groups that stakeholders had not had enough input in the planning process. A new process, expected to begin this month, will involve representatives from an array of stakeholder groups in the study of potential closures. The effort to plan a series of closures stems from the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), a state law passed in…
Letter to the Editor
Dear MPA News: As former manager of three US National Marine Sanctuaries (Key Largo, USS Monitor and Channel Islands), I would like to offer the following perspective to the MPA definition discussion that has been proceeding in the “Letters from Readers” (MPA News 3:7, 3:8). Briefly, unless we have control over pollutants coming in from the land, air and external currents, we are trying to manage the proverbial “submarine with three screen doors”. We might have success on the land side, but the air and current sides are often international (as well as large-scale national) problems, and not easily mitigated….
Notes and News
New MPA plan for Victoria enshrines compensation of fishermen In a revision of its plan for a series of marine national parks in state waters, the Australian state government of Victoria has developed a compensation scheme for fishermen affected by the new parks. Under the revised plan, financial assistance would be available to eligible fishery license holders to cover increased fishing operating costs and reduced catches directly related to the MPAs. The plan also calls for creation of an assessment panel to determine compensation amounts and an appeals tribunal. Last year, the ruling Labor government introduced a version of the…