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Frequently Asked Questions

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This section lists questions and answers that are commonly requested about Marine Protected Areas.

What is a marine protected area?
The term "marine protected area" has been used by marine management programs for several decades and has been defined in many ways. The definition provided in the President's Executive Order is "any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by federal, state, territorial, tribal, or local laws or regulations to provide lasting protection for part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein."

Are there different kinds of MPAs? Can they have different purposes?
MPA is a general term for places given special protections for natural or historic marine resources by local, state, federal or tribal authorities. Some people confuse marine reserves, which are no-take areas, as the only type of MPA. Many MPAs are multiple-use areas, where a variety of uses are allowed. There are many different kinds of MPAs in U.S. waters including national parks, wildlife refuges, monuments and marine sanctuaries, fisheries closures, critical habitat, habitat areas of particular concern, state parks, conservation areas, estuarine reserves and preserves, and numerous others.

MPAs complement other management measures such as fishery regulations and pollution controls.

Where do most MPAs exist in the U.S.?
When looking at MPAs in the United States, it's easiest to take a regional perspective. Although MPAs are found in every region of the United States, the West Coast – California, Oregon, and Washington – has the highest number of MPAs. However, the region with the largest area of MPAs is the Pacific Islands. This is because of the designation of the Papahãnaumokuãkea Marine Monument, which is one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world.

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Are MPAs the only solution for improved marine resource management?
MPAs by themselves are not a panacea for improved marine resource management. They are an additional tool that places an emphasis on spatial parameters. MPAs are most effective when used in conjunction with other management measures and are difficult to develop in isolation. If established, MPAs must be adequately supported by strong science; through the enforcement of any conservation measures that have been enacted; and the monitoring of effectiveness to verify that the site is fulfilling the goals for which it was created. To do otherwise will result in designation of ineffective "paper parks."

Do MPAs close access to fishing and other recreational use of the resource?
There are many types of Marine Protected Areas in the United States, and most do not prohibit fishing and recreational uses throughout their boundaries. Existing MPAs encompass a wide range of characteristics and have been established for a variety of different purposes. While a few sites exist as no-take marine reserves, the vast majority of MPAs, both in terms of numbers and area, are open for fishing, diving, boating, and other recreational and commercial uses.

What is the authority for designating MPAs?
There are many different kinds of MPAs created by many different local, state, tribal, or federal authorities. Federal authorities include the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, and the National Park Service Organic Act.

These authorities direct the Departments of Commerce and the Interior to manage marine areas for a wide variety of objectives, ranging from sustainable use of natural resources to near complete prohibitions on consumptive uses. Under these authorities, MPAs have been used for years to protect marine life habitats and historic shipwrecks, rebuild fisheries, provide recreational opportunities, recover endangered species, and support local economies that depend on ocean resources.

Executive Order 13158 on MPAs does not provide authority to establish new MPAs, or require that existing MPAs become more restrictive.

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Do MPAs exist worldwide?
Around the globe, MPAs are recognized as an important tool in marine conservation. Countries such as New Zealand and Australia, for example, have been managing MPAs for over three decades. The world's political leaders made significant political progress on MPAs at the global level at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa, by agreeing to the common target of establishing marine protected areas consistent with international law and based on scientific information, including representative networks by 2012. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) took on board these recommendations and responded in 2004 by requiring that all Parties establish protected areas that are planned and managed as a system or network. Today, while there are over 5,000 MPAs worldwide, we still have a long way to go, with only 5.9 % of territorial seas, and less than 0.5% of high seas protected in 2008.

What determines the size, number, and location of MPAs?
The optimum size, number, and location of MPAs are determined by the management goals of a particular area. There are three basic designs that are most useful: a small single area, a large single area, or a network of areas. A small area may be used to protect a unique habitat, a site-specific life cycle event (such as spawning aggregation that occurs in a single area), or a unique shipwreck. A large single area may be used to protect species nursery grounds, representative habitat from either fishing pressure or destruction of habitat, or a large collection of historic vessels. A network of MPAs may be used to protect habitats needed for the diversity of life stages common among marine species to ensure that larval transport occurs throughout an entire region.

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What is Executive Order 13158 and when was it signed?
Executive Order 13158 on Marine Protected Areas was issued May 26, 2000. It directs federal agencies to work with government and non-governmental partners to increase protection and sustainable use of ocean resources by strengthening and expanding a national system of MPAs. The Order itself does not change any existing MPAs. It does not establish any new MPAs.

The Executive Order directs federal agencies to use existing discretionary authority to enhance or expand protections as appropriate, recommend new MPAs as appropriate, and avoid harm to the extent practicable. All actions concerning the management and establishment of MPAS are left to the discretion of the local, state or federal authorities that currently have those powers.

The Executive Order calls for using science and public input to inventory and assess the effectiveness of the existing collection of U.S. MPAs. It charges NOAA and the Department of the Interior with several specific tasks including: (1) creating an inventory of existing U.S. MPAs; (2) creating a national MPA website to provide information on MPAs; (3) establishing a national MPA Center to provide science, tools and strategies for MPA effectiveness; (4) establishing an MPA Advisory Committee to provide non-federal recommendations; and (5) consulting with government and non-governmental stakeholders.

What are the specific requirements of Executive Order 13158?
Executive Order 13158 directs federal agencies to work with non-federal partners to protect significant natural and cultural resources within the marine environment by establishing and implementing a science-based, comprehensive, representative national system of MPAs, including, where appropriate, enhanced, expanded or new MPAs. It directs federal agencies to the extent practicable, to avoid harm to the resources protected by national system MPAs.

The Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Department of the Interior (DOI) were given the following specific tasks to help fulfill this goal:

  • Establish an MPA Advisory Committee to provide non-federal recommendations (DOC)
  • Establish a website for information on MPAs (DOC & DOI)
  • Publish and maintain a national inventory of MPAs (DOC & DOI)
  • Establish an MPA Center to provide science, tools and strategies to assess the effectiveness of existing and any future MPAs and develop the Framework for a national system of MPAs (NOAA)
  • Consult with government and non-governmental stakeholders (DOC &DOI)

The Environmental Protection Agency was specifically directed to propose new regulations to protect the marine environment from pollution (EPA).

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Does the Executive Order establish new MPAs?
The Executive Order does not establish any new MPAs nor does it provide new regulatory or statutory authority to establish new MPAs. Rather, it calls for an evaluation, including an inventory, of the current collection of MPAs; the creation of a publicly accessible resource center on MPAs; and the establishment of an MPA Federal Advisory Committee to provide expert guidance throughout implementation of the Executive Order. New MPAs may be established consistent with public review processes specified in existing statutes, such as the National Marine Sanctuaries Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Does the Executive Order replace existing MPA authorities?
The Executive Order does not order the creation of new authorities or supersede existing regulatory or statutory authorities to protect marine resources. It merely establishes a framework through which federal and state agencies can better coordinate their resource protection initiatives. In fact, the Executive Order specifically states that the work of the MPA Center is intended to support, not interfere with, agencies' independent exercise of their own authorities.

How can MPAs enhance fisheries?
Scientific research shows that MPAs can protect and enhance certain fisheries. Because MPA protections apply throughout a discrete area, they are effective at protecting fish stocks at various life stages in which fish are dependent on specific habitat types or locations. For instance, MPAs that prohibit certain fishing gear types can be used to protect spawning aggregation sites or nursery areas, such as estuaries, that are particularly vulnerable to fishing.

Marine reserves, a type of MPA in which consumptive uses such as fishing are prohibited, may actually enhance fisheries. In the absence of fishing pressure inside reserves, fish are able to grow to maturity and to increase in overall abundance. This leads to increased reproductive potential inside reserves, and the subsequent increased production of eggs and larvae, which can be transported by currents of the reserves to replenish nearby fishing grounds.

What is the scientific evidence in support of MPAs as an additional marine resource management tool?
MPAs can be powerful tools to help manage, protect and sustain the nation's valuable marine resources and the people and economies that depend on them. Numerous scientific papers published in the last five years in peer reviewed science journals report the use of MPAs to restore and rebuild fisheries and protect and conserve sensitive species and habitats. Many of these studies and reports are catalogued in the MPA Library.

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What is the national system of MPAs?
The national system of MPAs is the voluntary group of MPA sites, networks and systems established and managed by federal, state, tribal and/or local governments that collectively enhance conservation of the nation's natural and cultural marine heritage and represent its diverse ecosystems and resources. Although managed independently, national system MPAs work together at the regional and national levels to achieve common objectives for conserving the nation's important natural and cultural resources.

Why do we need a national system of MPAs?
Over the past century, MPAs have been created by a mix of federal, state, and local legislation, voter initiatives, and regulations, each established for its own scientific purpose. As a result, the nation's collection of MPAs (reserves, refuges, preserves, sanctuaries, areas of special biological significance, and others) is fragmented, complex, confusing, and potentially missing opportunities for broader regional conservation through coordinated planning and management. In 2000, a broad coalition of scientists petitioned the White House to create a national system of MPAs to improve conservation of the nation's marine ecosystems, cultural resources, and fisheries. Presidential Executive Order 13158 was signed on May 26, 2000, directing the Department of Commerce to work with the Department of the Interior, other federal agencies, states, territories and stakeholders to establish a national system of MPAs to integrate and enhance the nation's MPAs, bringing these diverse sites and programs together to work on common conservation objectives.

What are the benefits of joining the national system of MPAs?
Benefits of joining the national system include the opportunity compete for national system grants; the opportunity to work with other MPAs in the region and nationally on issues of common conservation concern whose solutions may reach beyond their jurisdiction; greater public and international recognition of individual MPAs, their programs and the resources they protect; and the opportunity to influence federal and regional ocean conservation and management initiatives (such as integrated ocean observing systems, including MPAs on navigational charts, and highlighting MPA research needs). In addition, the national system provides a venue for coordinated regional planning about place-based conservation priorities, as well as an opportunity to engage stakeholders on MPA issues outside a specific proposal. It will leverage scarce resources toward cross-cutting management needs, and initiate collaborative science and technical projects to support conservation priorities. Moreover, managing MPAs as a system will improve ecological viability by identifying potential new sites that enhance connectivity among regional networks of MPAs.

How does a specific MPA become part of the national system?
Eligible MPAs can become part of the national system by applying to the National Marine Protected Areas Center through their managing agency or program. To be eligible for the national system, a site must meet three criteria: (i) fit the definition of an MPA; (ii) have a management plan that has clear goals and objectives and calls for monitoring and evaluation of those goals; and (iii) contribute to at least one priority conservation objective of the national system as described in the Framework. Cultural resource MPAs must meet additional cultural resource criteria.

Will the national system create new MPAs?
The national system has no authority to create new MPAs. These will continue to be created under existing federal, state, territorial, tribal and local authorities. However, to ensure that the national system ultimately represents and protects the nation's key resources and ecosystems, the MPA Center will work with partners and stakeholders on a regional basis to identify significant ecological areas and cultural resources, and analyze gaps in current place-based conservation efforts. MPA management agencies can then use this information to inform their plans about future protection efforts.

What is the MPA Center's role in the national system?
The MPA Center does not manage any MPAs, but provides coordination, analytical and technical support to MPAs participating in the national system.

How are ocean and coastal stakeholders involved in the national system?
Stakeholders were extensively involved in the development of the Framework, the road map for the national system, and will continue to be involved in its implementation. In addition, a 30-member Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee comprised of stakeholders from around the U.S. provides ongoing advice to the Departments of Commerce and the Interior about the national system. The Committee includes representatives of commercial and recreational fishing, state and tribal resource agencies, environmental organizations, natural and social scientists and others.

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What is the role of the MPA Federal Advisory Committee?
The MPA Federal Advisory Committee is charged by the Executive Order with providing advice to the Departments of Commerce and the Interior concerning implementation of Section 4 of the Executive Order. This includes development of a national system of MPAs (a network of federal, state, territorial, and tribal sites), and the provision of information, tools, science, and strategies to strengthen the stewardship of the nation's marine protected areas.

How are members to the MPA Federal Advisory Committee selected?
Candidates for the MPA Federal Advisory Committee are selected jointly by representatives of the U.S. Departments of Commerce and the Interior. After undergoing a background investigation, Committee members are appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Commerce. The Committee is made up of individuals with diverse backgrounds and experience who represent parties interested in use of MPAs as a management tool. Committee members, 30 in all, serve a four-year term. They represent a broad stakeholder community, including scientists, academia, commercial and recreational fishermen, other resource users, state and tribal resource managers, and environmentalists.

What is the National Marine Protected Areas Center and what does it do?
The National Marine Protected Areas Center is housed within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Its main purpose is to provide the science, information, tools, and strategies to assess the effectiveness of existing and any future MPAs. It supports the MPA Federal Advisory Committee, and oversees the process to collect an inventory of marine protected areas. It also seeks to raise the national dialog about MPAs by working with federal and non-federal partners and communities.

What is the Marine Protected Areas Inventory?
The Marine Protected Areas Inventory (MPA Inventory) is a database of federal, state, commonwealth, territory, and tribal sites across the United States. The inventory provides regional, local, state, and federal managers, scientists, non-governmental organizations, and others with a tool to better analyze and understand management capabilities, effectiveness, and evaluation processes. It is the first step for building a list of the nation's MPAs.

Is the MPA Inventory complete?
The MPA Inventory contains information about most MPAs in the United States. However, because the world of marine conservation is dynamic, the MPA Inventory is a living database. Additional information about existing MPAs, such as the incorporation of information about priority conservation objectives addressed by each MPA, is ongoing, as is the inclusion of information about new or previously unidentified MPAs. Individuals with data are asked to contact mpainventory@noaa.gov.

Can I search the MPA Inventory?
The MPA Inventory is not currently searchable. However, the MPA Center has created an online MPA Viewer that allows users to visualize MPA boundaries and provide access to the MPA Inventory data in an interactive web-based mapping environment. This mapping tool serves data on over 1,600 MPAs nationwide, offering easy access to spatial boundaries, conservation based classification data, and site management information.

How does the MPA Inventory relate to the list of MPAs called for in the Executive Order?
The MPA Inventory will be used to identify existing sites and/or programs that meet the criteria for nomination to the national system. If an MPA joins the national system, it will be included on the List of National System MPAs. The List of National System MPAs is available on the mpa.gov web site.

Who can I contact to get more information about Marine Protected Areas?
For more information, you may send an email to: mpainfo@noaa.gov.

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