U.S. Launches National Marine Protected Areas System

In an effort to conserve critical natural and cultural marine resources, the Departments of Interior and Commerce announced that they are joining with federal, state and territorial agencies to form a National System of Marine Protected Areas.

While Marine Protected Areas have been established throughout the United States for decades, there has not been an overarching mechanism to coordinate effective ecosystem management. About 100 federal, state, territory and tribal agencies manage the nearly 2,000 MPAs across the country, often with no coordinated strategy.

Dolphins in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary off the California coast, now part of the National System of Marine Protected Areas. (Photo by Shane Anderson courtesy NOAA)

Existing Marine Protected Areas were invited to nominate themselves for inclusion into the national system beginning in November 2008. The second round of nominations will open later this year.

Initially, 225 existing Marine Protected Areas managed by various agencies will enter the system. The goal, Dr. Lubchenco said, is to enhance protection of marine resources, build partnerships to address issues affecting MPAs, and improve public access to scientific information and decision-making about marine resources.

The new national system does not bring state, territorial or local sites under federal authority, nor does it restrict or change the management of any marine protected area, Lubchenco said.

Marine Protected Areas are areas where natural or cultural resources are given greater protection than in the surrounding waters. These areas may be in the open ocean, in coastal areas, inter-tidal zones, estuaries or in the Great Lakes.

The majority are multiple-use areas, which allow fishing, diving, boating, swimming and other uses in addition to conservation. "No-take" Marine Protected Areas allow human access but prohibit extraction or destruction of natural or cultural resources. They are sometimes used as research and monitoring zones, to protect spawning or nursery grounds, or to protect ecologically important deep-water habitats. Some are Areas of Special Biological Significance or state or national parks.

"We will continue to work with federal, state, tribal and local governments and stakeholders to share best practices for effectively achieving common marine conservation goals," said Lubchenco.

The value of Marine Protected Areas for protecting biodiversity and restoring fish populations within ecosystems is well documented, Lubchenco says. Many sites in the initial group have been the subject of scientific studies comparing commercially and recreationally important fish populations both inside and outside the boundaries of the protected area.

In the Tortugas North Ecological Reserve in the Florida Keys, for instance, studies on the number of fish populations were conducted before and after establishment of the reserve. Scientists found that three species of commercially important fishes increased in abundance and size within three years inside the reserve.

Bags of shark fins for sale in Hong Kong where they are prized for shark fin soup. (Photo by Brad Weatherbee courtesy IUCN Shark Specialist Group)

On Capitol Hill Wednesday, Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, reintroduced the National Oceans Protection Act, which is comprehensive legislation to preserve oceans and Great Lakes.

Senator Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, introduced the Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Amendments Act of 2009, which increases funding for the Prescott grant program to assist in saving stranded marine mammals.

And Senator John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, introduced the Shark Conservation Act of 2009 which would end shark finning in all U.S. waters.

"Shark finning fueled by the foreign fin trade has led to serious population decline and disruption of our waters," said SenatorKerry. "We need much stronger solutions to end this illicit trade and current protections haven’t gotten the job done. We need to get serious."

As a result of increasing exploitative shark finning practices, scalloped hammerhead, white, and thresher sharks have each declined an estimated 75 percent in the past 15 years. Kerry’s bill strengthens the provisions of the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000 by closing a loophole for shark fin transport and strengthening enforcement measures to ensure sharks are transported with their fins attached.

In the House, Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo, a Democrat from the U.S. territory of Guam, was pleased to see her bill H.R. 860, the Coral Reef Conservation Act Reauthorization and Enhancement Amendments of 2009, pass out of the House Natural Resources Committee and head to the House floor.

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