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Marine Reserves - Marine Protected Areas
 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a new solution to the ongoing decline of marine ecosystems, and a hot topic in marine conservation. Human activities are restricted in MPAs, and these restrictions range from partial restrictions of one or a few activities to full protection from all human activities. There is good evidence that MPAs have positive ecological and conservation effects, but arguments about their social and economic effects and their role in fisheries management remains controversial. Strong proponents of MPAs argue that large MPA networks should be established quickly, for precaution and for learning. Others argue that very detailed information and analysis is necessary to develop before MPAs, or networks of MPAs, can be designed intelligently. Many advocates and scientists have suggested that 30% of the oceans should be protected fully. One problem is that objectives for marine ecosystems (and valuation of their components and services) vary considerably among stakeholders. Follow this link to learn about the Conservation Science Institute Rapid Response Marine Protected Area Assessment Program.
Conservation Science Institute is a leader in MPA research, planning, and development:
1. Anne Salomon, a CSI Fellow, is coordinating a research program on MPAs, exemplified by two of her recent publications (Salomon 2002, Salomon et al. 2002). This work is a plea for designing marine reserves intelligently.
2. CSI's Science Director convened the West Coast Scientific Advisory panel on Marine Reserves in 1997, which led to a consensus paper by Murray (1999) as well as California MPA initiatives. This lead to a variety of MPA initiatives including the network of marine reserves proposed for the Channel Islands.
3. CSI has published several additional papers describing our work on MPAs. One includes a review of the California MPA planning process (Okey 2003). Another includes a spatially explicit analysis of MPA effects in the Galapagos Islands (Okey et al. Corrected proofs).
Literature cited:
Murray, S. N., R. F. Ambrose, J. A. Bohnsack, L. W. Botsford, M. H. Carr, G. E. Davis, P. K. Dayton, D. Gotshall, D. R. Gunderson, M. A. Hixon, J. Lubchenco, M. Mangel, A. MacCall, D. A. McArdle, J. C. Ogden, J. Roughgarden, R. M. Starr, M. J. Tegner, and M. M. Yoklavich. 1999. No-take reserve networks: Sustaining fishery populations and marine ecosystems. Fisheries 24:11-25.
Okey, T. A. 2003. Membership of the eight Regional Fishery Management Councils in the United States: are special interests over-represented? Marine Policy 27:193-206.
Okey, T. A., S. Banks, A. F. Born, R. H. Bustamante, M. Calvopiña, G. J. Edgar, E. Espinoza, J. M. Fariña, L. E. Garske, G. K. Reck, S. Salazar, S. A. Shepherd, V. Toral-Granda, and P. Wallem. Corrected proofs. A trophic model of a Galápagos subtidal rocky reef for evaluating fisheries and conservation strategies. Ecological Modelling.
Salomon, A. K., N. P. Waller, C. McIlhagga, R. L. Yung, and C. Walters. 2002. Modeling the trophic effects of marine protected area zoning policies: A case study. Aquatic Ecology 36:85-95.
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