The U.S. national marine sanctuary program: An analysis of the program's implementation and current issues

Abstract

The U.S. National Marine Sanctuary Program was established in 1972 by Title III of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. §1431 et seq.). In this article, we discuss the development of the sanctuary concept, and the original intent of Congress, and analyze how it was applied by the sanctuary program. Differences in interpretation of the program's purpose are examined, including discussion of the multiple‐use management concept, an important but controversial management technique used in the sanctuaries. The continuing efforts by Congress and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to clarify the program's purpose are investigated. The program's administrative history is explained and the current sanctuaries and active candidates are briefly described. In light of the 1988 reauthorization of the Marine Sanctuary Act, the current issues facing the program are analyzed. Finally, we draw conclusions and make recommendations for the program's future.     

Ecological and economic principles in park planning: The Assateague national seashore model

Abstract

The National Park Service is required by law to conserve nationally significant resources for public benefit. Susceptibility to local short‐term economic pressures and a lack of understanding of resource dynamics can jeopardize mandate compliance. Assateague National Seashore is an example of a dynamic barrier island where early understanding of ecologic factors should have preceded its establishment and must precede its management and development. Research conducted on a similar system has demonstrated the dramatic environmental impacts and high maintenance costs associated with an inappropriate recreation management scheme. Alternatives are available which minimize resource degradation and maintenance costs without restricting visitation. To better ensure incorporation of long‐run ecologic and economic criteria into the decision‐making process, a proposal is put forward which recognizes the need for an expanded research effort and close adherence to early planning steps.     

Title iii of the marine protection,research and sanctuaries act: Issues in program implementation

Abstract

Legislation authorizing the national marine sanctuary program was enacted a decade ago. Since this time, six national sanctuaries have been designated and several additional offshore sites have been reviewed. This paper reviews issues associated with implementation of the program since its inception and focuses on four sites which have undergone review as illustrative of primary programmatic issues: The Channel Islands and Point Reyes‐Farallon Islands National Marine Sanctuaries; the Flower Garden Banks; and Georges Bank.     

The ultimate strength of doubler plate reinforced Y-joints under compression loading

It is common practice in the offshore industry to solve the punching shear problem due to compression by using doubler plate. The finite-element method is a useful tool for studying this problem. The aim of this paper is to study the static strength of doubler plate reinforced Y-joints subjected to compression loading. The finite-element method is adopted in numerical parametric studies. The individual influences of the geometric parameters βand τd （ doubler plate to chord wall thickness ratio） and ld/d1 （ dubler plate length to brace diameter ratio） on the ultimate strength are made clear. The results show the size of plate may have important effects on the strength of reinforced joints. It is found that the ultimate strength of Y-joints reinforced with appropriately proportioned doubler plates can be greatly improved nearly up tothree times to un-reinforced Y-joints.     

Noaa's civil penalty policy: Time for a change

Abstract

This article explores the lack of uniform penalty assessment in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) civil penalty policy under the Fishery Conservation and Management Act (the Magnuson Act). The author sugests that NOAA's inconsistent penalty assessment invites noncompliance by fishers because they view the penalties as unfair and arbitrary. In particular, deterrence is undermined by the absence of a provision that removes the economic benefits of noncompliance. NOAA's policy is contrasted with the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) civil penalty policy, which uniformly assesses penalties while tailoring the penalty to the individual facts of the case and effectively removing the economic incentives of noncompliance. If NOAA implemented a policy similar to EPA's, NOAA would secure increased Magnuson Act compliance and higher penalty amounts.     

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.     

Characterization of Ship Traffic in Right Whale Critical Habitat

Collisions with ships are a significant threat to the endangered North Atlantic right whale. To reduce this threat, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) established the Mandatory Ship Reporting System (MSRS) in July 1999. Under this system, all commercial ships, 300 gross tons or greater, are required to report to a shore-based station when entering either of two areas surrounding designated critical habitat: one in waters off the northeastern United States and the other off the southeastern United States. Information reported to the system includes entry location, destination, intended route, and speed. Reporting ships receive an automated message indicating precautionary steps to be taken to avoid hitting whales. Ship tracks between sequential ship locations were estimated by using a geographic information system (GIS) and mapped to illustrate traffic patterns within the MSRS. In the northeast, 69% of all valid tracks transited right whale critical habitat areas. All but two southeastern tracks intersected critical habitat. “High-use” traffic corridors were identified within the system. The majority of ships (59%) traveled at speeds greater or equal to 14 kn, a reported speed at which large whales may be critically injured. This characterization provides a portrait of ship traffic in right whale aggregation areas that can be used to develop measures to reduce the threat of ship strikes to right whales.     

The cost of not holding back the sea: Toward a national sample of economic vulnerability

Abstract

National and regional estimates of U.S. economic vulnerability to greenhouse‐induced sea‐level rise are produced from a sample of 30 discrete regions scattered evenly along the coastline. Scenarios that envision 50 cm, 100 cm, and 200 cm of greenhouse‐induced sea‐level rise are considered. They can be expected to place $39.2, $65.6, and $133.3 billion, respectively, (1989 dollars) of existing development in jeopardy through 2050, and $133.3, $308.7, and $909.4 billion through 2100. Sampling error and consideration of the uncertainty with which we currently view future greenhouse‐induced sea‐level rise places the 25th and 75th percentile values of expected cumulative vulnerability at $38.5 and $76.7 billion through 2050 and $132.6 and $362.4 billion through 2100. Not surprisingly, the southeast displays the largest potential vulnerability, with the northeast ranking second above both the Gulf coast and the west coast.     

Assessing the Impacts of Gender Integration in Ghana’s Fisheries Sector

Abstract

This article presents the results of an impact assessment of a component of a large scale USAID sustainable fisheries management project initiative aimed at integrating gender and strengthening the role of women in fisheries management in Ghana. The assessment is based on a literature review and qualitative field data collection. It assessed gender integration from three entry points: improving the Ghanaian policy environment for gender in fisheries, empowering women post-harvest processors, and engaging women gleaners in fisheries co-management. The assessment found that an important milestone was the adoption and implementation of the Ghanaian Fisheries Sector’s National Gender Mainstreaming Strategy in 2016. Summarizing the impacts on local post-harvest processors and gleaners, the assessment found that female post-harvest processors have increased capacity, confidence, and engagement in fisheries management. Gender mainstreaming efforts have succeeded in challenging cultural norms about women’s role in fisheries. Women have been exposed to sustainable fisheries management and are better equipped with the knowledge and leadership skills to advocate for good fisheries practices, which they actively demonstrate.     

Notes and Comments

Comment by John R. Clark

Comment by Kem Lowry

Comment by Stephen B. Olsen

Response by Jens Sorensen     

Widening the Panama Canal and U.S. ports: historical and economic impact analyses

ABSTRACT

The economic history of the U.S. illustrates how the role of many cities has been changed by being seaports or located on navigable rivers or lakes. Based on the widening of the Panama Canal in 2016, the West Coast ports that include the west coast seaports of California, Oregon, and Washington were expected to become less important, while the freight shares of the East Coast and Gulf ports would increase. By how much it has been not easy to measure or predict so far, but this study attempted to define some of the key parameters in the measurement. As well as several relevant background topics, both the demand- and supply-side versions of the National Interstate Economic Model, have been applied for the measurement of economic impacts. U.S. port authorities and policy makers at the local and national levels who respond and develop plans for coping with the new realities of the Panama Canal are able to understand the extent to which changes in shippers’ and land-mode transporters’ behaviors would undermine the logistics and the costs of their activities. Therefore, this study is important for a diverse spectrum of port development strategies in the U.S. to respond to the Canal expansion.     

Environmental assessment in the Prc: Third phase of the Qinhuangdao coal port

Abstract

The use of environmental impact assessment (EIA) is relatively recent in the People's Republic of China (PRC). China is committed to a reversal of the environmental degradation resulting from its industrialization and the central government has initiated a requirement for environmental planning and assessment for large development projects. Today large scale harbor developments are subject to the requirements of the National Environmental Protection Law (1979) and the Marine Environmental Law (1982). Because the third phase expansion of the coal port of Qinhuangdao would increase the ports’ capacity to handle coal by 30 to 50 million tons, an EIA was required.

Since 1981, the Environment and Policy Institute of the East‐West Center (EWC), Honolulu, has had a program of research focusing on the environmental impacts of coal transportation. On the basis of workshops in China that centered on the problems associated with planning coal transportation projects, the Ministry of Communications of the PRC invited the EWC to participate in the environmental assessment for the third phase coal port expansion at Qinhuangdao. A 10‐member team with specialities in environmental assessment and port environmental problems from five countries representing the EWC worked with a 25‐member team from four different agencies of the PRC Ministry of Communications.

This article describes the environmental regulations in the PRC that affect this harbor expansion, discusses the process by which the EWC assisted the PRC in the preparation of the environmental assessment and evaluates the assessment product against PRC regulations and U.S. standards. The most important contribution of the EWC was the provision of guidelines adapted from the EIA experience in several countries which will assist the PRC in the environmental evaluation of future pon expansion projects.     

Gender Issues within the Population-Environment Nexus in Philippine Coastal Areas

Sixty percent of the Philippine's population resides in the coastal zone. Women and men in coastal communities depend chiefly on the sea for subsistence. Over fifty percent of the dietary protein requirements of coastal communities are derived from municipal fisheries and shallow coastal habitats (reef fishes, marine plants, and mangroves). Coastal populations are young and expanding at rates that exceed regional and national averages. Expanding human pressures and man-made disturbances (over harvesting, destructive fishing, siltation, etc.) that offset natural processes are destroying habitats and creating protein food security crises and increasing malnutrition. At the same time conflicts among users of coastal resources are escalating. Access constraints, gender inequities, and cultural barriers stymie options for women and men to plan their families and create alternative livelihoods. National and local government agencies are addressing food security concerns through vertical policies and programs (e.g., fisheries management, integrated coastal management). The IPOPCORM project uses a cross-sectoral approach and quasi-experimental evaluation design to test the hypothesis that food security will be achieved more quickly when coastal resources management (CRM) and reproductive health (RH) management are implemented together. The purpose of this article is to review the project's experience and highlight the trends observed in program monitoring and evaluation during 2001–2004, which suggest better impact on RH, CRM, and gender indicators in the sites where the synergistic approach is being applied.     

Environmental improvement on Narragansett Bay as a result of section 312 implementation of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act

Abstract

Section 312 of the Clean Waters Act was implemented in 1980 and requires all vessels including recreational boats already equipped with Marine Heads (toilets) to install one of three types of USCG approved Marine Sanitation Devices. These regulations govern all lakes and coastal waters extending to the end of the U.S. territorial sea and is intended to prevent untreated effluent from reaching the marine environment. As provisions of the Clean Water Act are exempt from provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, no Environmental Impact Statement was written concerning the impacts to the marine environment and the cost to the boating public. The study based on a small survey conducted on Narragansett Bay during the summer of 1980 develops several empirical models to estimate the total costs of MSD conversions. These estimates assume that all recreational boats longer than 21 feet were to comply with Section 312 regulations. Biological Oxygen Demand generated waste by both the resident and visiting fleets have also been estimated and costs per lbs. of BOD equivalent made. Based on these estimates the quantity of waste prevented from entering the receiving waters equals that of a community with less than 700 people. The capital investments of on‐board treatment approximates 30 ¢/gallon, nearly 1000 times the cost of treating municipal waste.     

The once and future experience of the California coastal conservancy

Abstract

This paper examines the activities of the California State Coastal Conservancy. It will examine the agency's procedures and identify those factors critical to its success. Finally, suggestions for improvements in its operations are given.     

Segmentation of complex objects＇ sonar images using parameter-fixed MRF model

The effective method of the recognition of underwater complex objects in sonar image is to segment sonar image into target, shadow and sea-bottom reverberation regions and then extract the edge of the object. Because of the time-varying and space-varying characters of underwater acoustics environment, the sonar images have poor quality and serious speckle noise, so traditional image segmentation is unable to achieve precise segmentation. In the paper, the image segmentation process based on MRF （Markov random field） model is studied, and a practical method of estimating model parameters is proposed. Through analyzing the impact of chosen model parameters, a sonar imagery segmentation algorithm based on fixed parameters＇ MRF model is proposed. Both of the segmentation effect and the low computing load are gained. By applying the algorithm to the synthesized texture image and actual side-scan sonar image, the algorithm can be achieved with precise segmentation result.     

A review of the Effect of α/W ratio on fracture toughness （Ⅱ） experimental investigation in LEFM

In part I of this series, experimental investigation in EPFM （elastic-plastic fracture mechanics） had been discussed. In this paper, experimental investigation in LEFM （ linear elastic fracture mechanics） is given. Fracture toughness tests had been carried out on three different strength steels, using both through-cracked specimens with different α/W ratio and semi-elliptical cracked specimens with variable crack size and shape. Results show that the fracture toughness KIC increases with decreasing α/W when α/W 〈 0.3 for three-point-bend specimens, and that for α/W 〉 0.3, it is independent of α/W. Shallow crack specimens, both through-cracked and surface-cracked, gave markedly higher values than deeply notched specimens. However, the effect of crack shape on fracture toughness is negligible. Results also show that the LEFM approach to fracture is not tenable for design stresses where αc is often very small, far less than 2.5 （ KIC/σy）^2.     

An empirical model for estimating berth and sailing times of mega container ships

ABSTRACT

We provide two empirical models for calculating the sailing time and berth time of maritime container liner networks to effectively model the ambiguity associated with sea and port contingency for ex-ante decisions of fleet deployment and route planning. The models are based on recorded AIS data of 110 mega vessels including all the operating container mega vessels with a capacity of 16,000 TEU or more during the summer of 2015. The models are able to estimate the sailing time (with R² of 0.974) and the berth time (with R² of 0.895) without knowledge of any operational-level explanatory variables. The models are validated against the published East Asia–North Europe services. Moreover, the study reveals that vessel operators adopt different berthing and sailing strategies even under the same conditions.     

Plan implementation in the Florida keys through land acquisition

Abstract

The Florida Keys are an example of a fragile resource threatened by development. The early division of the area into small lots made conventional planning and regulation difficult. This paper describes the creation of a conservancy for the Keys—the history of development, the conditions necessitating a conservancy, and the political wrangling it took to implement the conservancy.     

Regional fishery management councils: The federal perspective

Abstract

Under the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, the federal government cooperates with states, the fishing industry, and public constituencies to regulate fisheries. This paper notes changes in U.S. fisheries over the last decade, remarks on the effectiveness of the Act, and makes suggestions for an improved fishery management process.