MPA News
Tortugas Working Group Gets Consensus on Reserve, Is Challenged by Anglers
The working group of Tortugas 2000 — a year-long collaborative process to create an “ecological reserve” in the Tortugas region of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) — reached consensus in May on the recommended boundary for a zone in which all consumptive activities would be prohibited. Subsequently approved in June by the official advisory council of the Sanctuary, the recommended reserve is currently undergoing a draft supplemental environmental impact statement, due this October. While the proposal makes its way through the bureaucratic process, working group members — representing an array of stakeholders — are waiting to see how…
“Learning by Doing,” Canada Adds Pilot MPAs and Looks Long-Term to Zone National Waters
Building an ambitious national MPA program from the ground up, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has established six “pilot MPAs” in the past year and has plans for more soon. With an adaptive approach that emphasizes scientific research and the testing of protection strategies, DFO seeks to “learn by doing”: through its pilots, it will determine whether the areas should be formally designated as MPAs and how they can best be managed, say officials. DFO assumed responsibility for coordinating the nation’s marine protected area programs in 1997 with the launch of Canada’s Oceans Act, and it has moved…