Section 1: The definition of marine protected area varies with people, and in reality, it is a term used globally to describe an area of sea especially dedicated to the protection, coupled with maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed or reserved by legal or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment.
In the U. S. , MPAs span a range of habitats including the open ocean, coastal areas, inter-tidal zones and estuaries; they also vary in purpose, management approaches, legal authorities, agencies, and limitation of human uses.The MPAs are set up for conserving the marine biodiversity and protecting, associated with reducing destruction, and the reduction in distribution of marine species and habitats.
While, concerning its prohibition of all fisheries activities, fishers resist it for their profits. Therefore, with the purpose of demonstrating the benefits of marine protected area and discussing its direct impacts on fisheries management, this essay is about to state the author’s own opinion upon case studies. This essay consist of 4 connected sections, section 1 account for the introduction, after that is the discussion on the role of marine protected areas.Before the statement of the author’s views are the reasons that some commercial and recreational fishers standing on the opposite site of those who support the no-take protected area. The references constitute the final component of this essay.
Section 2: MPAs refer to a type of ocean management method that help ensure healthy oceans, which involves addressing the issues like decreased or damaged fish populations, and threatened or endangered species, and providing recreation and economic opportunities, coupled with sustainable marine habitats and resources for future generations.Besides, it contributes to offer marine education platform as well as marine science research base. Eventually, the fisheries benefits from the MPAs. Concerning enriching the biological diversity, the author is about to give the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve as a sample.
South Slough, a typically rich estuarine environment, it encompasses diverse habitats, which not only include coniferous upland forests and shrubland, freshwater, but is home to many important species such as bald eagles, great blue herons, elk and dungeness crab.As a marine protected area, its endangered species and relatively poor marine habitats became things of past, thus South Slough turn to be an important link to the marine environment. Furthermore, thanks to the marine protected area program in this region, on the one hand, the local ecological research within the reserve and surrounding areas see facilitation with several academic institutions and laboratories. On the other hand. the biological richness of the estuary provides abundant educational opportunitiesPromoting the local tourism account for MPAs’ another contribution, this will be briefly talked with the example of Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The Florida Keys island chain supports an offshore marine ecosystem that is the most extensive living coral reef in the United States and the third largest barrier reef in the world.
After applying the marine protected area program in 1990, the beauty and climate of this region has attracted explorers, settlers, and tourists for centuries. Section 3: Understanding the controversies between MPAs and local fisheries management expected a critical thinking.Commercial and recreational fishers suffered that they may lose their ways of making living, associated with their habitats, own to the marine protected areas. That is why the author regards the economy issues as the core problem.
For instance, in Shantou, China, people there are highly rely on fisheries, which is the only method on which local citizens have survived for 1000 years, however, after designing this region into marine protected area, they are not allowed to fishing in this area any more. Hence, they can hardly find another way to support their family and the contradiction was ntensified with no doubt. How could you count on those people, who are still struggling for their food and clothing and somewhat uneducated, to comprehended the potential long-term return? Another evidence to prove this point is that fishers in a developed country, Australia, resisted on their state’s plan of assigning Greet Barrier Reef as a MPAs in 2012. They claimed that the program will destroy domestic offshore fishing industry, combined with reducing local aquaculture with average $2 billion every year.According to Logan, the chairman of local Ocean Union, 60 regions’ fisheries will be affected along with a disappointed 36000 unemployed and 75 abandoned trawlers. Section 4: As far as the author concerned, though the local people’s lives see a current damage due to MPAs, certain fisheries will be definitely enhanced and protected by MPAs in the future.
Because MPA protections that do a good job at protecting fish stocks at different life stages apply throughout a discrete area.For instance, MPAs that prohibit certain fishing gear types can be used to protect spawning aggregation sites or nursery areas, such as estuaries, that are particularly vulnerable to fishing. In addition, a no-take area actually enhances fisheries. Fish are able to grow to maturity and to increase in overall abundance due to the absences of fishing pressure.
This leads to increased reproductive potential inside reserves, and the subsequent increased production of eggs and larvae, which can be transported by currents of the reserves to replenish nearby fishing grounds.Section 5: References List 1. Mora C, Sale P (2011). "Ongoing global biodiversity loss and the need to move beyond protected areas: A review of the technical and practical shortcoming of protected areas on land and sea" (PDF).
Marine Ecology Progress Series 434: 251–266. 2. National Marine Protected Areas Center, US Department of Commerce, View at 5, 17, 2013. http://www.
mpa. gov/resources/faqs/#fish_enhance 3. “Marine Protected Areas: Tools for Sustaining Ocean Ecosystem”(2001), The National Academies Press, View at 5, 17, 2013 http://www. nap. edu/openbook. php? record_id=9994&page=145
