Implementation of Marine Protected Areas
Human activities threaten the sustainability of marine biodiversity and ecosystems. To address human impacts Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) may be established as countermeasures. MPAs are government involved programs that target areas facing the most marine wildlife threats. Maintenance of MPAs requires involvement from government at the federal and local level, fishing agencies, and stakeholders. MPAs aim to preserve marine habitats by placing restrictions on human involvement and industry practices. MPAs are necessary to balance community livelihood and industry profit without placing irreversible strain on marine habitats. MPAs prevent overfishing, support tourism growth, and can be sustained with …show more content…
MPAs are not only active in coastal regions, but are utilized to protect estuaries, open ocean, Great Lakes, and inter-tidal zones (Wenzel and D’Iorio 2011). They have been implemented in countries including but not limited to the United States, New Zealand, the Philippines, Canada, and Australia. To better understand the complex networks involved in MPAs, MPAs can be classified into the following categories: “no-take zones, no-impact zones, no access zones, uniform-multiple-use zones, zoned multiple-use, and zoned multiple-use with no-take area(s)” (Wenzel and D’Iorio 2011). Some MPAs may place regulations on oil-drilling while others, like Uniform-multiple-use zones, may permit recreational activities. MPAs can serve a multitude of purposes that target specific needs of the marine ecosystem in that area. Despite this, some fisheries criticize MPAs because MPAs place pressure on fishing agencies by restricting areas from extraction (Hilborn 2016). It is possible that the benefits of MPAs may outweigh the inconveniences caused to local fisheries. Without MPAs to enforce fishing regulations, it is possible that overfishing may occur. Overfishing in Indonesia’s Karimunjawa National Park reduced fish population because MPAs policies were not adhered to (Weigel et al., 2014). Overfishing cannot sustain fish biomass as it would deplete fish population and may cause irreversible …show more content…
Catarina Fonseca, Carlos Pereira da Silva, Helena Calado, Fabiana Moniz, Chiara Bragagnolo, Artur Gil, Mike Phillips, Margarida Pereira and Miguel Moreira in their study Coastal and Marine Protected Areas as Key Elements for Tourism in Small Islands (2014) examined MPA impacts in Pico Island tourism. Fonseca et al. (2014) argue that “[t]ourism can play an important role in small islands’ economies … through job creation, tax revenues, and increased value of local products”. Fonseca et al. (2014) found that MPAs are ideal locations for tourists to experience attractions in nature where tourists can participate in popular activities like whale watching, bathing, and diving. Fonseca et al. (2014) conducted their study by surveying tourists visiting Pico Island. The focus of the questionnaires ranged from activities tourists partook on their visit, opinions of MPAs, and popular attraction sites. From the 134 questionnaires, Fonseca et al. (2014) found that while 21.6 percent of participants visited Pico island for its mountain landscape “and natural values”, 20.1 percent of participants chose the “maritime tourist activities” that were offered on the island. When asked which areas where tourists visited most, “84.3 percent of respondents pointed protected areas other than those already mentioned”, MPAs accounted for 34.3 percent of participants, 66.4 percent of respondents chose “Lajes village (where most of the
Human activities threaten the sustainability of marine biodiversity and ecosystems. To address human impacts Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) may be established as countermeasures. MPAs are government involved programs that target areas facing the most marine wildlife threats. Maintenance of MPAs requires involvement from government at the federal and local level, fishing agencies, and stakeholders. MPAs aim to preserve marine habitats by placing restrictions on human involvement and industry practices. MPAs are necessary to balance community livelihood and industry profit without placing irreversible strain on marine habitats. MPAs prevent overfishing, support tourism growth, and can be sustained with …show more content…
MPAs are not only active in coastal regions, but are utilized to protect estuaries, open ocean, Great Lakes, and inter-tidal zones (Wenzel and D’Iorio 2011). They have been implemented in countries including but not limited to the United States, New Zealand, the Philippines, Canada, and Australia. To better understand the complex networks involved in MPAs, MPAs can be classified into the following categories: “no-take zones, no-impact zones, no access zones, uniform-multiple-use zones, zoned multiple-use, and zoned multiple-use with no-take area(s)” (Wenzel and D’Iorio 2011). Some MPAs may place regulations on oil-drilling while others, like Uniform-multiple-use zones, may permit recreational activities. MPAs can serve a multitude of purposes that target specific needs of the marine ecosystem in that area. Despite this, some fisheries criticize MPAs because MPAs place pressure on fishing agencies by restricting areas from extraction (Hilborn 2016). It is possible that the benefits of MPAs may outweigh the inconveniences caused to local fisheries. Without MPAs to enforce fishing regulations, it is possible that overfishing may occur. Overfishing in Indonesia’s Karimunjawa National Park reduced fish population because MPAs policies were not adhered to (Weigel et al., 2014). Overfishing cannot sustain fish biomass as it would deplete fish population and may cause irreversible …show more content…
Catarina Fonseca, Carlos Pereira da Silva, Helena Calado, Fabiana Moniz, Chiara Bragagnolo, Artur Gil, Mike Phillips, Margarida Pereira and Miguel Moreira in their study Coastal and Marine Protected Areas as Key Elements for Tourism in Small Islands (2014) examined MPA impacts in Pico Island tourism. Fonseca et al. (2014) argue that “[t]ourism can play an important role in small islands’ economies … through job creation, tax revenues, and increased value of local products”. Fonseca et al. (2014) found that MPAs are ideal locations for tourists to experience attractions in nature where tourists can participate in popular activities like whale watching, bathing, and diving. Fonseca et al. (2014) conducted their study by surveying tourists visiting Pico Island. The focus of the questionnaires ranged from activities tourists partook on their visit, opinions of MPAs, and popular attraction sites. From the 134 questionnaires, Fonseca et al. (2014) found that while 21.6 percent of participants visited Pico island for its mountain landscape “and natural values”, 20.1 percent of participants chose the “maritime tourist activities” that were offered on the island. When asked which areas where tourists visited most, “84.3 percent of respondents pointed protected areas other than those already mentioned”, MPAs accounted for 34.3 percent of participants, 66.4 percent of respondents chose “Lajes village (where most of the