Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

• Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Sanctuaries, and Conservation Reserves are types of protected areas

General

• Terrestrial reserves have long been a cornerstone of terrestrial conservation

• Aquatic equivalents to terrestrial reserves exist in aquatic environments

• MPAs are littoral or sub-tidal terrain with water and associated flora, fauna, and historical/cultural features

• MPAs are preserved by law to protect part or all of the enclosed environment

History

• The first MPAs were established in Alaska in 1925 to protect waters important to whale and seal populations
• MPAs grew in popularity in the 1950s due to scuba diving, which allowed more human interaction with underwater environments

Objectives of Aquatic Reserves

• Protect rare species and/or habitats
• Conserve representative habitats
• Promote research and education
• Create harvest refugia
• Control tourism and recreation
• Maintain aesthetic and traditional values

How Reserves Work

• The goal is to increase population levels of species that have been reduced in unprotected areas
• Expected outcomes inside reserves include higher population levels compared to non-protected areas

Individuals in Reserves

• Reach older ages

• Grow to larger size

• Become similar to pristine populations (pre-commercial overfishing)

• As the population grows inside the reserve, individuals begin to spill over into unprotected areas

• This improves fisheries in the surrounding, non-protected zone

Reserve Success

• Reserves benefit across several trophic levels
• A study surveyed 89 reserves finding planktivorous fish, carnivorous fish, and invertebrates

Reserve Role

• Reserves play a key role in the rehabilitation of lake trout populations in Lake Superior
• Peer-reviewed research shows MPAs effectively protect biodiversity
• MPAs are effective if they prohibit extractive and destructive uses and key factors for positive outcomes are in place

Science Needed

• The need for more science should not be a reason "not to act" to create more protected areas
• Science plays a big role in determining the best way to use MPAs to protect different species
• Assessment of how well things are working, and suggesting ways to improve if objectives are not being met is needed

Problems and Challenges: Mobility

• Sedentary species and species with low dispersal need small reserves
• Species with very high dispersal abilities may not be enclosable
• Many species are in-between

Size: Principles of Reserve Design

• Representation of all habitats, Replication of similar habitats multiple times, and a Network of multiple reserves arranged to accommodate fish movement and create redundancy are needed
• Protecting 20-30% of total habitat area may be needed

Assessment

• Most reserves have not been assessed based on their management objectives
• More assessment data is needed to determine if reserves are achieving their goals
• Assessment provides necessary information for making appropriate adjustments and supports adaptive management strategies

MPA's Precautionary Approach

• There has been more "precautionary" approaches to management in recent years
• Precautionary principle: strict management first, and relaxed later if research shows it's not necessary
• This highlights uncertainty and risk and reverses "burden of proof" to industry or harvesters

Summary

• Protected areas have increasingly been used as conservation tools
• Key needs moving forward include, clearly defined goals, effectively evaluated, representing all biogeographic zones, appropriate size of reserves for different purposes, individual reserves large enough to meet goals, and total area protected needs to be larger to reverse aquatic ecosystem damage