More outcomes and insights from IMPAC3

More outcomes and insights from IMPAC3

French Polynesia announces process to designate a 700,000-km2 MPA; New Caledonia reiterates intent for large MPA

At the MPA-focused ministerial meeting following IMPAC3, the government of French Polynesia announced that a process is underway to designate nearly 700,000 km2 of the waters around its Marquesas Islands as a protected area.  The MPA is likely to be multi-use, although details on its management or zoning have not yet been decided.  "This protected and managed marine area will be based on a desire to preserve a unique heritage, but also on sustainable development for the benefit of people," said the country's minister of marine resources, Tearii Alpha.  The French Polynesia announcement (in French) is at http://web.presidence.pf/index.php/mrm-filtre/630-la-polynesie-dans-le-concert-mondial-pour-la-preservation-des-aires-marines

More outcomes and insights from IMPAC3

Regional recognition system for well-managed MPAs is already underway in Coral Triangle region

In our November-December 2013 issue, MPA News profiled two programs that aim to recognize (or certify) good management of MPAs worldwide, site-by-site – the IUCN Green List of Well-Managed Protected Areas, and the Global Ocean Refuge System developed by the Marine Conservation Institute.

While those programs remain in development, a regional recognition system for well-managed MPAs is already underway in Southeast Asia and Melanesia.  Launched in August 2013, the Coral Triangle Marine Protected Area System Framework and Action Plan (CTMPAS) aims to foster the development of a network of effectively managed MPAs across the region's six countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste).  The recognition system considers a range of factors from biodiversity criteria, to governance, to the fulfillment of fisheries and climate adaptation needs, to connectivity linkages within the region, and more.

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Perspective: Designating Marine Conservation Zones in England – a phased approach

By Sue Wells, Natural England

As described in MPA News November-December 2013, 27 new MPAs were designated in England in November 2013.  Called Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs), these are a new type of MPA for the UK, designed to complement the existing MPA designations and to contribute to the developing UK MPA network.  As described by Jen Ashworth in MPA News January-February 2011, recommendations for MCZs were developed by four regional stakeholder projects working concurrently so that the planning for this new network involved an "all-at-once" approach.

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Notes & news: Great Barrier Reef – Marine World Heritage – MPA governance – Climate change and MPAs – European MPA coverage

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park approves dredging plan

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) has approved a proposal to dump three million cubic meters of dredge spoils inside the marine park area.  The dredge spoils, to be produced during the substantial expansion of a coal export terminal at Abbot Point (adjacent to the park), could smother nearby coral and seagrass habitats, according to more than 200 scientists who urged GBRMPA in a letter to oppose the proposal (www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-29/scientists-lobby-to-halt-expansion-of-queensland-port/5225068).

Are catch shares compatible with ecosystem-based management? Experts respond

Are catch shares compatible with ecosystem-based management? Experts respond

Governments around the world are striving to implement ecosystem-based management (EBM) for their marine environments. At the same time, there is a trend toward applying catch shares to manage fisheries. Catch shares are systems in which the privilege to harvest a specific area or portion of a fishery's total catch is assigned to particular individuals or groups. (More details are in the box at the end of this article, "Common types of catch shares".) According to one study, 20-25% of global landings by volume and 15-20% by value are now managed under catch shares (http://catchshares.edf.org/sites/catchshares.edf.org/files/Global_Catch_Share_Fisheries_Map.pdf).

With the growing popularity of catch shares as a management tool, questions on how well this tool combines with others – like EBM – have emerged. EBM, for example, moves away from single-species or single-sector management and toward approaches that consider ecosystems as a whole. Catch shares, meanwhile, have primarily focused on allocation of single species – although there are increasing examples of multi-species fisheries, too, that have used catch-share programs.