Sanctuary Advisory Councils: Involving the Public in the National Marine Sanctuary Program

Scientists work with marine protected area (MPA) managers to design MPAs that will protect marine resources, maintain biodiversity, promote tourism, and enhance biological production. It has become increasingly clear that scientific input is not the only requisite for ensuring establishment of these areas. Understanding the political institutions and management systems that govern these areas is as important for establishing MPAs as understanding the natural resources in the area. Recent studies have found that the success of establishing and managing MPAs can be attributed to increased public participation in the management process. This article looks at the public's involvement in the management of the U.S. equivalent of MPAs, the National Marine Sanctuaries. In particular, Sanctuary Advisory Councils are examined as one mechanism through which the public can participate in the management of marine sanctuaries. The article concludes with comments on the evolving role of these councils in marine resource management.     

Do Marine Protected Areas Affect Human Nutrition and Health? A Comparison between Villages in Roviana,Solomon Islands

The implementation of marine protected areas (MPAs) for fisheries management has increased recently due to the perceived role of MPAs in conserving biodiversity, increasing fish stocks, and enhancing the food security of coastal communities. However, it is unclear whether MPAs may restrict the availability of marine resources and decrease overall food security and the health of the people. In the Roviana Lagoon of the Solomon Islands, we conducted cross-comparisons of villages with MPAs and a village without an MPA to assess whether MPAs influenced local perceptions of governance, environmental change, livelihood strategies, and actual human nutrition and health. Results showed that residents of villages with effective MPAs had higher energy and protein intake than those who had no MPA or an ineffective MPA. We conclude that “no-take” marine reserves do not have adverse effects and that when MPAs are effectively sustained they may enhance local nutrition and health.     

Development of a Model for Enhancing Justice in MPA Designation and Zoning and its Application to Taiwan’s South Penghu Marine National Park

Abstract

Multi-purpose marine protected areas (MPAs) are prevalent world-wide as institutional mechanisms deployed in the marine environment to manage multiple uses, conserve resources and protect ecosystems. Yet some people may experience disadvantage following the implementation of new MPAs. One understudied aspect of MPAs is the distribution of advantages and disadvantages and how best to address the “justice” concerns that they raise. This article identifies a framework of principles, methods and tools to address these concerns. It devises a “MPA justice model” and demonstrates its applicability to a Taiwanese case study. In 2014, Taiwan proclaimed its first multiple-purpose MPA, the South Penghu Marine National Park and the case study shows ways that the MPA’s socio-economic sustainability could have been better accomplished. The article focuses on future MPA establishment that incorporates distributional fairness and procedural legitimacy into MPA site designation and zoning design - but might also be adapted to use retrospectively in MPA review processes.     

Distribution of drifting seaweeds in eastern East China Sea

In offshore waters with relatively low primary production, drifting seaweeds composed of Sargassum species form an identical ecosystem such as an oasis in desert. Commercially important pelagic fishes such as jack mackerel (Trachurus japonicus) and yellow tail (Seriola quinqueradiata) spawn in East China Sea pass their juvenile period accompanying drifting seaweeds. Therefore drifting seaweeds are very important not only in offshore ecosystem but also fishery resources. However the distribution of drifting seaweeds in East China Sea has scarcely known. Then we conducted two research cruises of R/V Hakuho–Maru in May 2002 and in March 2004. During the cruises, drifting seaweeds were visually observed from the bridge and sampled with a towing net. The observation revealed that the drifting seaweeds were distributed along the front between the Kuroshio Current and coastal waters and mainly composed of one seaweed species, Sargassum horneri (Turner) C. Agardh from spring to early summer. There are no reports on geographical distribution of this species in the coasts south of southern Kyushu Island in Japan. Kuroshio Current flows northeastward there. Buoys with GPS attached to drifting seaweeds released off Zhejiang Province, China, in March 2005 to track their transport. Their positions monitored by ORBCOM satellite showed that they were transported to the area in East China Sea, where the drifting seaweeds were observed during the cruises, in 2 months. These facts suggest that S. horneri detached from Chinese coast in March or months earlier than March could be transported to fringe area of continental shelf and waters influenced by Kuroshio Current from March to May. Therefore the Sargassum forests, especially S. horneri, along the Chinese coast play a very important role in the ecosystem of the East China Sea as a source of drifting seaweeds.     

Small-Scale Sicilian Fisheries: Opinions of Artisanal Fishers and Sociocultural Effects in Two MPA Case Studies

Marine resource management and related stakeholder conflicts have been clearly defined in recent decades as pressing issues worldwide. This article provides a comparative study of the management regimes of the Gulf of Castellammare Fishery Reserve and the Egadi Islands Marine Reserve in Sicily, Italy. What managers in these two reserves have neglected to include in management is a social science evaluation scheme to ensure the development of more effective overall management. This is a significant problem in both Italy and the rest of the Mediterranean, where few sociocultural and economic studies have been conducted. Using data collected with standard anthropological field methods, analysis was conducted on how artisanal fishers are impacted by reserves, the extent of their knowledge regarding regulations, their opinions on management, and demographics. The results indicate that while fishers in the two case studies are all aware of the marine reserves where they fish, most fishers are not well informed of the associated regulations. Fishers feel alienated from the management process, and would feel more comfortable with reserve managers and regulations if they were involved in management. The article concludes by showing how such data could help to develop more useful and practical management practices in both these and other MPAs with similar problems.     

Ship ballast water as a main vector of marine introductions in the Mediterranean Sea

Marine invasive species are currently recognized as one of the most significant threats to global biodiversity. Marine bioinvasions are more likely in the Mediterranean Sea because of its wide temperature range, degraded habitats, historical and high volume of shipping traffic, and high occurrence of aquaculture. One of the main vectors of marine introductions globally and Mediterranean-wide is commercial shipping. Of the 3,000–4,000 species transferred around the world via commercial vessels, approximately 30% of these species may have been redistributed in the Mediterranean. Ships and marine invasive species arriving in the Mediterranean are mainly from temperate to cold-water regions. Standardized research and management approaches between countries are required to address the threat of ballast water borne marine invasives on a global scale. Regionally, a Mediterranean program involving the different states is currently needed to develop a common line of research and management operations.     

Performance Indicator Importance in MPA Management Using a Multi-Criteria Approach

Much has been written about the usefulness of marine protected areas (MPAs) as a management tool. Their performance has been measured using biological and ecological indicators. However, objectives of management also include economic and social responsibilities. As such, stakeholder objectives in MPA management are frequently incompatible. This has been attributed to the variety of stakeholders with an interest in how MPAs are managed. This article considers the development of a performance indicator hierarchy for the Egadi Islands Marine Reserve, and a multi-criteria approach implemented to define compromise positions between stakeholders in decision-making. Data was obtained from a pairwise comparison survey using the analytic hierarchy process to investigate preferences of stakeholder groups for performance indicators in evaluating marine protected area management. The analysis showed that although there are five key stakeholder groups, none are homogenous in prioritizing performance indicators and that none are clear with respect to what the MPA means for them.     

Island Villagers’ Willingness to Work or Pay for Sustainability of a Marine Fishery Reserve: Case of San Miguel Island,Philippines

Establishment of marine reserves or marine protected areas (MPAs) has emerged as a major coastal resource management tool in the Philippines. A major sustainability constraint is the enforcement of MPA and fisheries regulations. We contribute to the literature of using stated preference methods to investigate the local residents’ willingness to work (WTW) and willingness to pay (WTP) for the continued existence of the San Miguel Island (SMI) fishery reserve in Bicol Region, Philippines. We surveyed 435 respondents in three villages. The lower-bound mean WTW is 3.5 days/mo for residents in the “owner” village and 1.9 days/mo for residents in adjacent villages. Using a fraction of mean daily income to impute the monetary equivalent of WTW, the result is more than 3 times higher than the Php16 to 25/mo (US$0.34 to 0.75/mo) estimated mean WTP. We hypothesize that labor market in this rural village is incomplete so residents have stronger preference for money than for time. However, further investigation on the opportunity cost of time and understanding the labor market is warranted when using WTW in a valuation framework. Some policy implications are: (1) considering use of voluntary labor as management option for MPAs and (2) establishing “own village” MPAs may increase residents’ conservation value.     

Predicting Stakeholder Support for Fishery Policies

Fisheries management has been used to address declining fisheries and threats to livelihood and food security. Past research suggests that public support for fishery policies is a necessary component for sustaining the long-term success of fisheries management. This study predicted public support by examining fishers’ perspectives on co-management and fish catch since the establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs), a commonly employed fisheries management tool. Data were obtained from onsite surveys (n = 505) with fishers from three municipalities in Cebu, Philippines: Oslob, Santander, and Samboan. Structural path analyses revealed that beliefs about co-management and fish catch predicted support for fishery policies (R² = 59%). Separate path analyses for each municipality showed that co-management had greater influence in predicting public support for fishery policies in Oslob and Santander. Fish catch was a better predictor for public support for fishery policies in Samboan. Results can help local governments, non-governmental organizations, and fishery managers to prioritize, plan, and improve fisheries management in municipal waters.     

The marine electronic highway in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore—an assessment of costs and key benefits

The Straits of Malacca and Singapore are an important trade route linking the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean. They are also rich in resources and support a range of activities that benefit the economies of the littoral states (Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore). This important shipping route is a very congested waterway and the authorities are keen to improve navigation facilities to promote ship safety and reduce the risk of groundings, collisions and accidents. This will also help to protect the marine environment from the effects of pollution and hence reduce its damaging impact on activities related to the Straits, e.g. fisheries and tourism. The Marine Electronic Highway (MEH) is an attempt to bring together maritime safety technologies and environmental management systems. The paper examines the costs of providing such a highway and considers some of the benefits which could accrue from its implementation. The analysis, conducted in the form of a cost-benefit study, clearly shows the economic viability of the scheme.     

Large-scale physical controls on phytoplankton growth in the Irminger Sea, Part II: Model study of the physical and meteorological preconditioning

The upper water column in the Irminger Sea is characterized by cold fresh arctic and subarctic waters and warm saline North Atlantic waters. In this study the local physical and meteorological preconditioning of the phytoplankton development over an annual cycle in the upper water column in four physical zones of the Irminger Sea is investigated. Data from four cruises of the UK's Marine Productivity programme are combined with results from a coupled biological–physical nitrogen–phytoplankton–zooplankton–detritus model run using realistic forcing. The observations and model predictions are compared and analyzed to identify the key parameters and processes which determine the observed heterogeneity in biological production in the Irminger Sea. The simulations show differences in the onset of the bloom, in the time of the occurrence of the maximum phytoplankton biomass and in the length of the bloom between the zones. The longest phytoplankton bloom of 90 days duration was predicted for the East Greenland Current of Atlantic origin zone. In contrast, for the Central Irminger Sea zone a phytoplankton bloom with a start at the beginning of May and the shortest duration of only 70 days was simulated. The latest onset of the phytoplankton bloom in mid May and the latest occurrence of the maximum biomass (end of July) were predicted for the Northern Irminger Current zone. Here the bloom lasted for 80 days. In contrast the phytoplankton bloom in the Southern Irminger Current zone started at the same time as in Central Irminger Sea, but peaked end of June and lasted for 80 days. For all four zones relatively low daily (0.3–0.5 g C m^− 2d^− 1) and annual primary production was simulated, ranging between 35.6 g C m^− 2y^− 1 in the East Greenland Current of Atlantic origin zone and 45.6 g C m^− 2y^− 1 in the Northern Irminger Current zone. The model successfully simulated the observed regional and spatial differences in terms of the maximum depth of winter mixing, the onset of stratification and the development of the seasonal thermocline, and the differences in biological characteristics between the zones. The initial properties of the water column and the seasonal cycle of physical and meteorological forcing in each of the zones are responsible for the observed differences during the Marine Productivity cruises. The timing of the transition from mixing to stratification regime, and the different prevailing light levels in each zone are identified as the crucial processes/parameters for the understanding of the dynamics of the pelagic ecosystem in the Irminger Sea.     

Marine Protected Areas in the Canadian Pacific: Do They Fulfill Network Criteria?

As a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Canada has committed to establishing a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) that effectively conserves at least 10% of coastal and marine areas by 2020. Research shows that the most effective MPAs are large, well enforced, no-take, and designed as part of a network. Canada's Pacific MPAs, designated site-by-site, cover approximately 3% of Canadian Pacific waters. We investigated how these MPAs could effectively contribute to Canada's national network by analyzing the implementation of management intent through the application of fisheries closures and conducting a preliminary assessment of their size and spacing relative to scientific guidelines. Fisheries closures outside of MPAs were similarly assessed. Results showed that 90% of existing MPAs were intended to exclude commercial fishing, yet only 2.5% fully or partially met this goal, therefore management intent was not achieved. Further, existing MPAs were small, 75% less than 10 km² in size, but were reasonably spaced, from one to 50 km apart. While a suite of fisheries closures may be better suited to effectively contribute to a network than MPAs without fisheries closures, they would require permanent designations and management plans to meet network inclusion criteria.     

Fisheries–Marine Protected Area–Tourism Interactions in Moalboal,Cebu, Philippines

The development of Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) in the Philippines has been underway for more than 30 years. As coastal communities continue to face dwindling resources from both the land and sea, marine protected areas (MPAs) have been regularly utilized as a community-based marine conservation tool. Recently, marine tourism has begun to exert influence as a driver utilized by local communities to promote the establishment of MPAs. Revenue generated through user-fee systems has begun to influence and shape broker–local–tourist (BLT) interactions in Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines. In this article, an account of the social dynamics surrounding MPAs is presented, sources of tension are identified, and recommendations proposed.     

Caught in a Maelstrom: Implementing California Marine Protected Areas

The first attempt to implement the 1999 California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) to establish marine protected areas (MPAs) ended contentiously in 2002. The initial MLPA process is examined by a statutory analysis and an analysis of stakeholder network relationships and beliefs. The failure of the initial MLPA process can be understood by a combination of factors: (i) Insufficient financial support from the California State government; (ii) Unclear, unranked and inconsistent statutory objectives; (iii) The application of a science-based process that excluded affected stakeholders; (iv) Implementing officials who lacked expertise in designing and managing political processes; and (v) A community of stakeholders who were polarized into coalitions of proponents and opponents of MPAs. The article concludes by discussing limitations of its methods and analysis and by offering strategies for learning from policy failures.     

Economic Valuation of Coastal and Marine Resources: Bohol Marine Triangle,Philippines

This article provides results on the net benefits generated from the natural resources in the Bohol Marine Triangle (BMT) in the Philippines. The BMT spans over 112,000 ha and its coastal ecosystems are rich in biodiversity and provide economic opportunities to the coastal communities. With a 10% discount rate, the accumulated total net benefits for the BMT resources over a 10-year period is US$11.54 million. Tourism and the municipal fisheries are the most important direct use values of the coastal and marine resources of the BMT accounting for 44% and 39% of the total net benefits. Annual revenues attributed to ecosystems were as follows: coral reefs, US$1.26 million; beach/intertidal area, US$1.12 million; marine waters, US$646,501; mangrove, US$239,561; and seagrass, US$105,990. The large market values indicate the dependence of the local community on the BMT coastal and marine resources. In the same way, non-market values show the important life-support functions of coastal and marine ecosystems. The net benefits reflect the magnitude of potential losses due to improper management of coastal and marine resources in the BMT. This valuation highlights the importance of the coastal services to the BMT economy and draws attention to the benefits the local stakeholders derive from BMT coastal resources. Policy measures can now take into account these values to justify a sufficient investment in coastal management efforts to sustain the flow of coastal services in the interest of current and future generations.     

Anaerobic digestion of marine biomass for practical operation

Marine biomass such as seaweed and fishery waste is a potential energy source although it has not yet been practically utilized. This work focuses on renewable energy technologies, particularly anaerobic digestion, for the utilization of various organic wastes as energy resources. Primarily fundamental data for the efficient operation of an anaerobic digestion plant with marine biomass was obtained and a practical operation method was proposed using a simple model based on the carbon mass balance. Batch-processing experiments for seaweed, fishery waste and vegetable waste were carried out and each digestion characteristic was presented. The results indicate that fishery waste is the most efficient even though the accumulation of ammonium ions may inhibit methane production. Seaweeds are not efficient in either the production rate or the yield of methane gas. We investigated the efficient continuous operation for 6 biomass input scenarios with the proposed model. The results show that seaweed can be a useful supplement for the efficient operation.     

Establishment of Community Managed Fisheries’ Closures in Kenya: Early Evolution of the Tengefu Movement

Community-based management (CBM) could be an essential tool to prevent the depletion of marine resources in the Western Indian Ocean region. In Kenya, political pressure to strengthen local governance, has led to adoption of CBM as a way of reducing over-exploitation and managing the competing uses and impacts on the marine environment. Several communities in Kenya have embraced CBM and have set aside or closed previously fished areas to enhance recovery of fisheries and biodiversity. These community fisheries closures (locally called tengefu), despite being degraded, may recover to finfish abundances and biodiversity levels similar to established MPAs or above thresholds for maintaining some ecological services. Communities see their direct involvement and control of these tengefu as more likely to result in benefits flowing directly to them. Community closures are also important for articulating and resolving community values and strengthening their management capacity. Here, we describe the evolution of the tengefu movement in Kenya and combine information from focus group discussions, interviews, underwater surveys and boundary marking to evaluate the current status, opportunities and challenges facing these tengefu. We show that in some cases community closures suffer from slow and incomplete national and local legislative processes, challenges to compliance, and weak management.     

Marine Protected Area Costs as “Beneficial” Fisheries Subsidies: A Global Evaluation

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are now generally accepted as important tools in the protection of coastal biodiversity. It is also likely that they play a positive role in enhancing fisheries. Yet currently, less than 1% of the global oceans are protected, although international agreements have targets ranging from 10–30% coverage. Despite its minuscule size, we consider the current MPA “network” to be beneficial to fisheries, and its running or maintenance cost, therefore, to be a positive contribution to the sustainability of fisheries, or a “beneficial” subsidy (“harmful” subsidies enhance fishing capacity and effort). A method was derived from data in Balmford et al. (PNAS, 101: 9694–9697) to estimate the annual cost of maintaining MPAs as a function of their size, and of the degree of development of the country in question. We provide national costs of the 53 countries that jointly contribute 95% of global fisheries catch and, assuming that this type of subsidy, in a given country, cannot exceed 15% of the ex-vessel value of its fisheries catches, estimated a global MPA subsidy to fisheries of 870 million US$. Given that total subsidies to fisheries currently range from 30–34 billion US$ annually (without MPA costs), this amounts to only 2.5–2.8% of total subsidies to fisheries being devoted explicitly to the maintenance of the biodiversity that sustains them.     

日渐崛起的中国海洋工程市场

2009年11月,南通中远船务工程有限公司向Sevan公司交付了世界上第一艘圆筒型钻井平台——＂Sevan Driller＂。这艘自航式钻井平台的工作水深达到12,500英尺,最大钻井深度40,000英尺。这意味着,经过几十年的经验与技术积累,中国的海洋工程制造商已经做好了与国际同行竞争的准备。     

How Are Our MPAs Doing? Challenges in Assessing Global Patterns in Marine Protected Area Performance

Without effective management, protected areas are unlikely to achieve the high expectations the conservation and development sectors have for them: conserving biodiversity and alleviating poverty. Numerous marine protected area (MPA) assessment initiatives have been developed at various spatial and temporal scales, including the guidebook How is your MPA doing? These management assessments have been useful to sites to clarify and evaluate their objectives, yet efforts to examine broader regional or global patterns in MPA performance are only beginning. The authors conducted exploratory trend analyses on How is your MPA doing? indicator data collected by 24 MPAs worldwide to identify challenges and areas for future work. Wide variability across sites with regard to the indicators examined and the constructs used to measure them prevented a true meta-analysis. Managers assessed biophysical indicators more often than socioeconomic and governance constructs. Investment by the conservation community to support collecting and reporting high-quality data at the site level would enable a better understanding of the variation in MPA performance, clarify the contribution of MPAs to both biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation, and help drive better MPA performance. The absence of rigorous and consistent monitoring protocols and instruments and a platform to turn raw MPA monitoring data into actionable information is a critical but under-recognized obstacle to cross-project learning, comparative analyses, and adaptive resource management.