User perceptions about marine wilderness on Australia's Great Barrier Reef

Wilderness traditionally has been a terrestrial resource designation. This study examined user perceptions related to the existence of wilderness in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP), and raises questions about the efficacy of the GIS based Australian National Wilderness Inventory (ANWI) as a method of inventorying and analyzing wilderness settings in the absence of such perceptions. Three hundred eighty‐three users of the GBRMP were surveyed. Results indicated that over 80% of the respondents believed that wilderness existed in the park, and that it existed both above and below the surface of the water. Characteristics of wilderness related to human presence, natural features, and remoteness were found to be important to marine wilderness. Responses revealed that remoteness (physical distance) from human development may warrant less weight in the designation of marine wilderness than implied as necessary by the ANWI. We discuss implications for selecting areas as wilderness and using the wilderness designation in marine settings.     

Impacts of the 2004 Tsunami on Surin Marine National Park,Thailand

The impacts of the tsunami in 2004 on the reefs in Surin Marine National Park, Thailand, varied with the location and exposure of the reefs. Channel areas between islands were severely damaged. Areas with steep reef slopes were damaged by sand slides or coral collapse more than areas with low slopes. Massive, sub-massive, and encrusting corals were more resistant and resilient to the direct impact of the tsunami than branching, tabulate, and foliose life forms whereas the latter were more tolerant of temporary coverage by sand. Sub-massive corals were the most tolerant overall and survived sand coverage, breakage, and overturning. Live coral cover measured three months after the tsunami was significantly greater than immediately post-tsunami as broken, moved, or sand-covered corals, recorded as impacted in the initial survey, had survived and were regenerating. Low turbidity, lack of pollution, and mild currents possibly contributed to rapid recovery and limited long-term effects of the tsunami. Impact assessment shortly after a major disturbance may give an initial measure of damage but subsequent surveys must be undertaken to identify long-term effects. Understanding patterns of reef damage can help to formulate reef zoning and protection strategies in response to catastrophic events, but also in advance of such events to improve likely resilience of the marine park to disturbance.     

User Fee System for Marine Ecotourism: The Tubbataha Reef Experience

The Tubbataha Reefs Natural Marine Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea, Philippines, is an offshore marine protected area well known throughout the scuba diving community for its coral reefs and marine diversity. To address the perennial problem of park financing, the Tubbataha Management Board developed a fee collection and permit system in cooperation with the diving community. A willingness-to-pay survey conducted among divers in 1999 showed that the average diver was willing to pay U.S.$41 per visit. Using these results, a two-tiered pricing scheme was developed for foreign and local divers. After two years of fee collection, the total fee collected amounted to U.S.$65,000, which covered 28% of the annual recurring costs and nearly 41% of the core costs to protect Tubbataha. The experience shows the contribution of willingness-to-pay surveys in instituting user fees for long-term sustainable financing.     

Planning considerations for preservation and use of the national seashores

This article reviews the historical development of the category of national park known as “national seashore,”; and traces the evolution of basic planning and management policies that are applied to such areas. Also reviewed is the current sequential approach applied by the National Park Service in all its planning efforts, including a discussion of the impact of the National Environmental Policy Act on park planning. Several examples are provided to illustrate a variety of planning problems common to the sashore environment. Finally, comments are provided on the future promise of seashore and barrier island conservation and development, as well as the future role of other agencies and private organizations.     

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.     

Institutional and Conceptual Barriers to Climate Change Adaptation for Coastal Cultural Heritage

Climate change is increasing the speed at which tangible coastal cultural heritage is changing in character or being lost through weathering, erosion, and inundation. Damages to coastal archeological sites, loss of access to historical sites, and the alteration of cultural landscapes will force changes in the way researchers can study sites, tourists can enjoy places, and descendant communities who have lived in particular areas for time immemorial, and local community members can utilize and relate to landscapes. In the USA, the National Park Service is a primary coastal cultural resource management organization. The National Park Service has been working on climate change adaptation for cultural resources for over a decade; however, there are few examples of parks in which long range climate change adaptation plans for cultural resources have been implemented. Building from 20 semi-structured interviews with cultural resource managers in three parks, we found that institutional structures within the National Park Service, as well as historical conceptual framings specific to the research, recreational, and interpretive values of cultural resources act as barriers to managers’ ability to design and implement climate change adaptation plans. Institutional barriers managers discussed include the dependence of climate change adaptation decisions partnership projects and the leveraging of budgetary and staff resources within NPS that may affect climate change adaptation capacity. We found that park managers often saw impacts in parks that may be associated with climate change, but found it difficult to separate normal maintenance from climate change affected deterioration, which may lead to status quo management actions rather than revised planning for a changing future regime. Conceptual barriers managers discussed revealed a conflict between preservation needs of research versus interpretive uses and while NPS guidance recommends prioritization of cultural resources for preservation at the park level, regional managers were more focused on this topic than park managers. As NPS moves forward with climate change adaptation planning, opportunities to develop and improve cultural resource preservation with new technologies, improved prioritization schemes, and include public input in resource preservation may help coastal managers overcome these barriers.     

Abrolhos 2000 : Conserving the Southern Atlantic's Richest Coastal Biodiversity into the Next Century

The Abrolhos bank, an area of continental shelf off the coast of Bahia, Brazil, has the most biologically diverse coral reefs in the entire southern Atlantic Ocean. The coral reefs and nearby coastal ecosystems constitute a global conservation priority and are the target of the Abrolhos 2000 project, initiated by Conservation International as part of its global marine conservation strategy. Although portions of the Abrolhos reefs are located within a marine park, they are not afforded adequate protection due to insufficient conservation resources and a failure to be part of a broader integrated coastal management program. Through partnerships with government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, local communities, the private sector, and other stakeholders, Abrolhos 2000 is working to provide these needs while establishing local capacity for conserving coastal and marine ecosystems. The project's initial successes provide examples of useful strategies for making integrated coastal management work in the context of emerging economies.     

Designing a Network of Coral Reef Marine Protected Areas in Hainan Island,South China

Overexploitation of reef resources and increasing coastal tourism have severely damaged the health of coral reef ecosystems around Hainan Island, South China. Only some reef sites are protected, and the effectiveness of the marine protected areas (MPA) appears inadequate. Networks of MPAs have been widely proposed as a more effective tool for reef conservation. However, little is known about the overall state of the island's coral reefs, and no guidelines exist for MPA network building in China. In this study, the information currently available on the distribution and condition of Hainan's coral reefs is comprehensively used to assess reef status, and to identify other reef areas prior to protection. An MPA network around the island is proposed in terms of monitoring, legal, and management aspects to improve the conservation effectiveness. This could also serve as a model for developing MPA networks for other coastal areas with respect to coral reef conservation.     

天津临港工业港区吞吐量水平和船型预测

临港工业型港区与一般商港的不同之处在于港区的直接经济腹地是临港工业区,港区主要服务于临港工业区内部企业在建设和运营期间的原材料、产成品和其他货物的运输,其中部分码头泊位也提供对外商业中转运输服务.针对天津临港工业区内企业的发展需求,重点研究临港工业港区的货物种类、流量和流向的发展趋势,预测未来几年港区的到港船型和吞吐量...     

Effective Public Participation is Fundamental for Marine Conservation—Lessons from a Large-Scale MPA

The Representative Areas Program (RAP) was, at the time, the most comprehensive process of community involvement and participatory planning for any environmental issue in Australia. The RAP was a key component of the widely acclaimed rezoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and although completed in 2003, many lessons learned are still relevant today. This paper provides an analysis of the comprehensive public participation program that significantly influenced the final planning outcome. It provides insights into a fundamental component of effective marine planning, assessing what worked well and what did not in terms of public engagement. Some aspects of the public participation program were innovative, and some were more effective than others. The outcome was one-third of the Marine Park was declared as highly protected no-take zones in 2004, with the remainder of the park also zoned to provide lower levels of protection. The methods used to engage the public and the 25 lessons discussed in this paper should be of interest for practitioners, policy makers and academics elsewhere aiming for “good practice” approaches to achieve environmental conservation.     

Water quality and shellfish management in tillamook bay,Oregon

The contamination of shellfish by pathogenic bacteria and viruses is a concern of shellfish producers, distributors, and consumers. To address these water quality concerns, the National Shellfish Sanitation Program has classified shellfish growing waters as approved, conditionally approved, or prohibited. The Tillamook estuary is one of Oregon's primary shellfish harvest areas. Degradation of water quality in Tillamook Bay has been linked to oyster bed closures, declines in salmonid populations, and decreases in recreational use of estuarine resources. In this study, water quality concerns related to shellfish management are addressed by examining the patterns of fecal coliform bacteria (FCB) concentration in Tillamook Bay. A oneway analysis of variance was used to compare log‐transformed FCB concentrations in prohibited, restricted, and conditional shellfish management areas. We found (I) a difference in Tillamook Bay water quality between all three areas and (2) a change in FCB concentrations through time in each management area. Since the designation of shellfish management areas affects the economy and public health, monitoring practices need to be reevaluated in order to draw more refined conclusions about water quality trends in Tillamook Bay.     

Food supply mechanisms for cold-water corals along a continental shelf edge

In recent years it has been documented that deep-water coral reefs of the species Lophelia pertusa are a major benthic habitat in Norwegian waters. However, basic information about the biology and ecology of this species is still unknown. Lophelia live and thrive under special environmental conditions of which factors such as temperature, water depth, water movement and food supply are important. The present work explores the hypothesis that Lophelia forms reefs in places where the encounter rate of food particles is sufficiently high and stable over long periods of time for continuous growth. This is done by relating the distribution of reefs with the results of numerical ocean modelling.Numerical simulations have been performed with an idealized bottom topography similar to what is found outside parts of the Norwegian coast. In the simulations the model is first forced with an along slope jet and then with an idealized atmospheric low pressure. The model results show that the encounter rates between the particles and the water layer near the seabed are particularly high close to the shelf break. This may indicate that many Lophelia reefs are located along the shelf edges because the supply of food is particularly good in these areas.A sensitivity study of the particle supply in the area close to the seabed for increasing latitude has also been done. This shows that the Ekman transport in the benthic layer tends to create a steady supply of food for benthic organisms near the shelf edge away from the equator.     

Artificial Reefs as Restoration Tools: A Case Study on the West Florida Shelf

Artificial reefs are one of a number of tools that should be considered by scientists and managers when planning coastal zone restoration and/or mitigation projects. In this article, the details of one project from the West Florida Shelf are presented. Two types of artificial reefs were used to mitigate pipeline construction impacts on natural hardbottom ledges in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The project's primary objective was to avoid the paradigm of building artificial reefs as fish attraction devices, and to instead implement a design that would mimic, not augment, natural hardbottom conditions. Fish assemblage parameters (species richness and commercial fish abundances) were compared between the artificial habitats and natural hardbottom reference sites. Results indicate that species richness trends are similar among artificial and natural reefs, while certain commercial fish abundances are significantly higher on the artificial reefs. Recommendations for future restoration/mitigation projects using artificial reefs are discussed.     

Community Participation in Marine Protected Area Implementation: A Case Study of the Sitka Local Area Management Plan

This article has two goals: (1) to consider the underlying semantic confusion surrounding the promotion of “social science” in the design and establishment of marine protected areas and (2) to demonstrate the successful community processes that led to the designation of Sitka, Alaska's Local Area Management Plan (LAMP) for halibut fishing in the vicinity of Sitka. Uniting a collection of diverse “social” issues creates ambiguity in actual problem solving—extensive generalization can not resolve a specific issue. The Sitka LAMP is a specific case with clear details and a traceable history of success, designed to sustain the healthy status of Sitka's local halibut resource. The development of the Sitka LAMP designation demonstrates the importance of community collaboration and exhibits methods that could potentially be modeled in other locations.     

可渗透岛礁环境下的波浪运动研究

文章应用边界单元法,依据波浪绕射理论研究了潜淹没岛礁上的波浪运动问题。研究中分析了岛礁的渗透性、排布的数量、环礁泻湖的深度等因素对于岛礁消波作用的影响,获得了不同岛礁环境下波浪的透射系数、反射系数。研究发现,可渗透岛礁的消波效果比不可渗透岛礁差,且孔隙率越大,岛礁对于波浪的消波效果越小;单个岛礁对长波有明显的消波作用,而对中短波几乎没有影响;但随着岛礁排布数量的增加,岛礁群对于中波的消波效果增加;环礁的消波效果受到泻湖深度的影响,在一定范围内,泻湖的深度越大,环礁对于中短波的消波效果越好,但当泻湖深度达到一定数值后,继续增大深度,消波效果基本没有提高。     

Exploring Public Knowledge,Attitudes, and Perceptions of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument

With the increase in development of large marine protected areas (LMPAs) worldwide, there have been calls from social scientists to gather better empirical information about the human dimensions of LMPAs. Of the social research done on LMPAs to date, most has focused on the perceptions of stakeholders closely connected to their implementation, and little research has explored the general public's response. This paper presents the results of a phone survey conducted in the US territories of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to assess residents' knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument—a LMPA designated offshore in 2009. The survey was administered in 2012 to 500 randomly-selected residents from each territory. Findings suggest: (1) public awareness of the Monument prior to the survey was low; (2) residents generally supported designation of the Monument; (3) most residents did not believe that the Monument would affect them or their community; and (4) knowledge and perceptions of the Monument varied between fishing and non-fishing households. This research illustrates that awareness and views differ between stakeholders and those of the general public, which should be used to inform social research on LMPAs and outreach for LMPA managers.     

特别敏感海域和特殊区域的对比研究

为了减少航运活动对海洋环境产生的危害,国际海事组织分别提出了基于MARPOL公约的"特别区域"和"特别敏感海域"的两个概念,以对一些需要特别保护的海域采取更加严格的措施进行保护。在对这两个概念的提出背景和法律依据进行探讨的基础上,对两种保护区域的申请标准和程序,及相关的保护性措施等进行了比较深入的对比研究,并就目前这两种保护海域最新发展的现状进行了综述。提出应积极推行国际公约及法规来保护我国的海洋环境。     

Demographic indicators of the relative need for artificial reefs in Florida

Abstract

Artificial reef development involves pfonning from a number of perspectives including biological, océanographie, engineering, and social. This article reviews previous studies and identifies demographic variables that affect the use of artificial reefs by recreational anglers. An index of relative demand was created employing eight components: number of coastal county resident boat anglers, nonresident boat anglers, tourist boat anglers, nonboat anglers, number of fishing clubs, number of charter/party boats, number of registered pleasure boats, and the rate of county population growth. By comparing the magnitude of the index to the number of existing artificial reefs off of Florida's 35 coastal counties, an estimate of relative need was graphically portrayed on a state map. Indian River county on the Atlantic coast and Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, Citrus, Levy, Lee, and Charlotte counties on the central Gulf coast are the areas with the greatest demand relative to existing reef supply.     

The Reimplementation of the Ra'ui: Coral Reef Management in Rarotonga,Cook Islands

This research focuses on coral reef health in the South Pacific region, an area of high global coral diversity. Coral reef health surrounding two study sites in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, has been assessed in areas that have not been previously surveyed. Each study site has distinct differences based upon marine management practices. Marine management practices are identified and described and some historical reasons as why they exist are discussed. Data are also presented on the ecological condition (coral coverage, number of coral species, clonal condition, disease, and presence and absence of bioindicators). This interdisciplinary research methodology includes both ecological and social data collection to further understand human- environment interactions. In comparing the reefs with different management practices, I argue that the implementation of traditional marine social institutions as exemplified in this case study of the Ra'ui in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, is an effective conservation management tool and is improving coral reef health. The Ra'ui site has significantly higher species diversity/Mortality Index ( F = 2.63).     

A Socioeconomic Perspective of Environmental Degradation at Kepulauan Seribu Marine National Park,Indonesia

Kepulauan Seribu was designated as a marine protected area to promote and protect a healthy marine ecosystem and its biodiversity. However, despite numerous efforts to protect the area, the park continues to be impacted by both external and internal factors. External factors include domestic sewage, vessel traffic, industrial effluent, and urban run-off from metropolitan Jakarta. Meanwhile, internal factors include the problems created by tourism development and the impacts of the economic activities of the park's residents. The ongoing political and economic crisis in Indonesia, which has plagued the country since 1997, has amplified the pressure on the resources and on the well being of the park. This study traces and analyzes the intrinsic causes of the internal problems using a socioeconomic perspective. We suggest that alleviation of poverty and marginality of the park's residents should be prioritized, and that park management should be based on consensus building and participation of all stakeholders.