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What Is The Marine Protected Areas Executive Order? By Roger B. Griffis On May 26, 2000, President Clinton signed Executive Order #13158 on marine protected areas (MPAs) to strengthen the protection of U.S. ocean and coastal resources. The Order is a significant milestone for stewardship of U.S. ocean resources. For the first time in history, a U.S. President has directed federal agencies to work closely with local, state, territorial, tribal and other stakeholders to strengthen existing MPAs, and build a national system of MPAs. This is not a simple task. The U.S. currently does not have a roadmap on how to build such a system. It will take much cooperation, strong partnerships, new science, new exploration, resources and good planning to successfully complete this goal. And we need to start now. Building a national system of MPAs is perhaps the most important, and most challenging, ocean management effort of the 21st century. Marine protected areas can be powerful tools to help protect essential fish habitats, rebuild fisheries stocks, provide recreational opportunities, and preserve other valuable natural -- and even cultural or historic -- ocean resources. The question is how to most effectively and efficiently design and implement MPAs to serve a wide variety of different needs, now and in the future. The MPA Executive Order calls on federal agencies and their partners to address this question, and build a national system of MPAs that can help meet a wide range of demands and uncertainties. The MPA Executive Order defines MPAs as "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 of all of the natural and cultural resources therein." Under this definition, MPAs could include a variety of sites already established for different purposes in areas of coastal and ocean waters, the Great Lakes and their connecting waters, and submerged lands in areas of U.S. jurisdiction. For example, under this definition, National Marine Sanctuaries, some National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges, some State Parks and local marine reserves, some fishery management areas, and other areas with management measures in effect could be considered MPAs. Based on this definition, the Executive Order directs federal agencies to take a number of specific actions to strengthen existing MPAs as part of the process to build a national system of MPAs. Although I can only highlight a few of the specific actions from the Order in this essay, I recommend reading the complete Order for yourself.1 First, the Executive Order directs the Departments of Commerce and the Interior to conduct an inventory of all U.S. MPAs, and make this inventory and other information available via a national MPA web site. The goal is to take stock of the location, purpose and effectiveness of existing MPAs, and provide this information to local communities, states, tribes, regional fishery management councils, federal agencies, and other groups to allow them to determine if any changes are needed. This process, and the Executive Order in general, would not designate any new MPAs. Changes to existing MPAs, or the designations of any new MPAs, remain the responsibility of federal, state or other groups with those authorities. Several states (e.g., California, the Gulf of Maine) and Regional Fishery Management Councils have already begun inventories of MPAs within their areas as the first step to addressing these very questions of how to best use MPAs, and how to design networks of MPAs. These efforts are key starting points for the overall national effort. Second, the Executive Order directs the Department of Commerce to establish an MPA Advisory Committee to provide input from non-federal members on how to best implement the Order. This is just one of many opportunities for non-federal entities to help shape the future of MPAs, and help design and build the national system. The MPA Advisory Committee will be composed of individuals representing a broad range of interests in ocean and coastal resources. Many nominations to serve on this Committee have been received, the nomination period has closed, and final selections are expected by the end of the year. Third, the Executive Order directs the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish a National MPA Center to help provide the science, tools and strategies to build a national system of MPAs. There are numerous gaps in our understanding of how to design MPAs as tools for fisheries management and other uses. The MPA Center will help build public and private sector partnerships to provide the new science and information, and provide training opportunities, to develop the blueprint for a national system of MPAs. In summary, the MPA Executive Order is a very important -- and very challenging -- opportunity for all of us to participate in the design and implementation of a national system of MPAs. The goal is to find ways to use MPAs in combination with other management tools to preserve, protect and sustainably manage the nation's ocean and coastal resources. To do this, we will need to fill large gaps in our understanding of how to design and implement different kinds of MPAs for different purposes, build strong partnerships, share information, and take regional approaches. In my view, the nation's fishermen, fishing industry and fishery managers, such as the Regional Fishery Management Councils, have a very important role to play in this effort. I found the article entitled "Marine Reserves: Friend or Foe" by Zeke Grader and Glen Spain of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations very useful in thinking about this issue.2 Fishermen and fisheries managers have been using and testing different types of MPAs as fishery management tools for a long time. They have the experience, knowledge and responsibility to be valuable resources, and important leaders, in this new effort on MPAs. Roger Griffis is a Policy Advisor on ocean and coastal issues for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce. Trained as a marine ecologist, he is helping lead NOAA's effort to implement the Marine Protected Areas Executive Order.
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