Marine Protected Areas Tools for Sustaining Ocean Ecosystems (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-9
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This opposition continues despite compelling empirical evidence and strong theoretical arguments indicating the value of using reserves as a tool to improve fisheries management, to preserve habitat and biodiversity, and to enhance the esthetic and recreational value of marine areas. The controversy persists because we lack a scientific consensus on the optimal design and use of reserves and we have only limited experience in determining the costs and benefits relative to more conventional management approaches.
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These concerns have stimulated interest in and debate about the value and utility of approaches to marine resource management that provide more spatially defined methods for protecting vulnerable ocean habitats and conserving marine species, especially marine reserves and protected areas. Based on evidence from existing marine area closures in both temperate and tropical regions, marine reserves and protected areas will be effective tools for addressing conservation needs as part of integrated coastal and marine area management.
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, National Park Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service requested that the National Research Council's Ocean Studies Board assemble a committee of experts to examine the utility of marine reserves and protected areas for conserving marine resources, including fisheries, habitat, and biological diversity. Although there are other, equally important goals, for MPAs, including recreation, tourism, education, and scientific inquiry, examination of these objectives was not part of this committee's specified statement of task and hence receives less emphasis in this report.
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There are multiple goals for establishing MPAs, such as conserving biodiversity, improving fishery management, protecting ecosystem integrity, preserving cultural heritage, providing educational and recreational opportunities, and establishing sites for scientific research. However, the focus of this report is on conserving biodiversity and improving fishery management through the use of
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The latter may include water current and circulation patterns, identification of upwelling zones and other features associated with enhanced productivity, water quality (nutrient inputs, pollution, sedimentation, harmful algal blooms) , and habitat maps.
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The boundaries of many MPAs, such as those in the National Marine Sanctuary Program, have been drawn based on specific topographic features, but deciding on the size of marine reserves (i.e., no-take zones) requires greater consideration of the biological features to meet specific management goals.
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Reserves present unique opportunities for research on the structure, functioning, and variability of marine ecosystems that will provide valuable information for improving the management of marine resources. Whenever possible, management actions should be planned to facilitate rigorous ex
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Institutional Structures Integration of management across the array of federal and state agencies will be needed to develop a national system of MPAs that effectively and efficiently conserves marine resources and provides equitable representation for the diversity of groups with interests in the sea. The recent executive order issued by the White House on May 26, 2000, initiates this process through its directive to NOAA (Department of Commerce)
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Hence, our relative inexperience in using marine reserves to manage living resources should not serve as an argument against their use. Rather, it argues that implementation of reserves should be incremental and adaptive, through the design of areas that will not only conserve marine resources, but also will help us learn how to manage marine species more effectively.
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