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Marine Protection in the Gulf of Mexico: Current Policy, Future Options, and Ecosystem Outcomes

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Marine Protection in the Gulf of Mexico: Current Policy, Future Options, and Ecosystem Outcomes policy brief NICHOLAS INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY SOLUTIONS NI PB 10-04 | October 2010 | nicholasinstitute.duke.edu Marine Protection in the Gulf of Mexico Current Policy, Future Options, and Ecosystem Outcomes Linwood Pendleton, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Catherine Latanich, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Policy Solutions, Solutions, Duke University* Duke University Larry Crowder, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke Mike Orbach, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University University Daniel Dunn, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University To better protect ocean ecosystems, policymakers now federal definition of an MPA, as given in Executive Order turn increasingly to the use of marine protected areas 13158, is: “any area of the marine environment that has and other policies that manage and regulate activities been reserved by federal, state, tribal, territorial, or local within specific areas of the sea. Well-designed marine laws or regulations to provide lasting protection for the protection and spatial planning could contribute to the part or all of the natural or cultural resources therein.” improved management of the Gulf of Mexico, but only In practical terms, MPAs are delineated areas in oceans, if designed to adequately account for the human, geo- estuaries, and coasts with a higher level of protection logical, and biological features of the Gulf. The region is than in surrounding waters. There are 1,500 MPAs in the characterized by heavy industrial use, deep-sea habitats, U.S., classified by various programmatic types. The vast economically important yet often depleted fisheries, and majority of MPAs in the U.S. are not strict reserves; few human communities that depend on a broad spectrum MPAs in the U.S. protect against all extraction (i.e., no- of ocean uses, including oil and gas extraction, commer- take areas). More often, MPAs are areas in which diverse cial and recreational fishing, and tourism. All of these resources are allocated for multiple uses. In some cases, factors combine to create an integrated, complex Gulf marine protected areas have had measured success in ecosystem that includes nature, humans, and political maintaining ecosystem health and conserving biodiver- institutions. sity, but because MPAs protect so little of U.S. waters, their contribution to management and conservation In this brief paper, faculty, staff, and junior research- goals on a larger scale is still unclear. ers from Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and Nicholas School of In the Gulf of Mexico, marine protected areas would the Environment share their thoughts about the ways in likely be most beneficial if designed to both protect which marine protection in the Gulf of Mexico could be and improve the resilience of regional ecosystems. designed to account for the region’s unique ecosystem, “Resilience” is the ability of an ecosystem to resist and what types of spatial management and protection could recover from disturbances including both low-level, be implemented under existing policies and law, and how chronic disturbances (e.g., pollution, fishing, ship travel) these spatial management options might influence future and major, intermittent disturbances (e.g., hurricanes, ecosystem health, even in the face of potential human oil spills). Marine protection also reduces cumulative and natural disasters. impacts on the ocean and thus maintains diversity that in turn can promote resilience by retaining redundancy Marine Protected Areas in the Gulf of Mexico in important ecological processes. The science of marine protected areas Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) provide place-based Increasingly, researchers are calling for the creation of protection for marine species, habitats, and ecosystems. networks of MPAs. Unlike individual, isolated MPAs, Marine protection can include the exclusion of fishing, a network of MPAs can operate synergistically at vari- specific types of fishing or fishing gear, anchoring, boat- ous spatial scales and with a range of protection levels. ing, and industrial development, to name just a few of A deliberately created network of MPAs should con- the activities that can damage marine ecosystems. The tain complementary and ecologically linked areas that * Corresponding author. Because this is not intended to be a scholarly paper, references are kept to a minimum to maximize readability. However, references and additional information are available on request: [email protected]. Marine Protection in the Gulf of Mexico: Current Policy, Future Options, and Ecosystem Outcomes are sited with network-wide goals in mind (e.g., spe- Another type of MPA is the “no activity zone” in areas cies ranges, genetic connectivity, and harmonized leased for oil and gas development. These zones are des- management). ignated by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (formerly, the Minerals The network approach to MPA design distributes and Management Agency) in ecologically sensitive areas, thus reduces ecologic risk. Though not all catastrophic such as hard-bottom habitats or chemosynthetic ecosys- disturbances are predictable, in the Gulf of Mexico, two tems (e.g., hydrothermal vents or petroleum seeps). are likely: hurricanes and oil spills. As a tool for risk mitigation, a network of representative MPAs could be Additionally there are many areas in the Gulf of Mexico established at larger scales than the areas likely to be where fishing is restricted indirectly (e.g., the exclusion affected by hurricanes and oil spills. Additional factors zone around oil rigs during dangerous activities). The to consider in designing networks of MPAs are spacing, Gulf of Mexico has the most area of any other region in shape, and the total area protected. Ecological connec- U.S. waters in de facto MPAs (DFMPA).1 The majority of tivity among the MPAs should be a particular focus in these de facto MPAs occur in oil transfer areas, shipping the creation of MPA networks. Marine species, many of lanes, and areas used by the military; most are managed economic importance, often occupy more than one eco- by the U.S. Coast Guard. DFMPAs rarely prohibit com- logical role throughout their life spans. Protecting larval mercial and recreational uses directly, but restrictions on and adult dispersal and migratory pathways and protect- navigation tend to make fishing difficult if not impossi- ing enough populations to maintain genetic diversity are ble. While numerous, only 1% of the Gulf is permanently critically important. closed to the public by DFMPAs. Existing MPAs in the Gulf of Mexico Plans for new MPAs in the Gulf of Mexico There are currently at least 300 designated areas in the In 2008, the National Ocean Service and the National Gulf of Mexico that provide a mosaic of marine protec- Marine Sanctuary Program wrote a concept paper out- tion and encompass just under 6% of the total Gulf of lining a network of priority conservation areas in the Mexico within U.S. waters. However, there is no indica- northern Gulf of Mexico. The paper proposed that the tion that these 300 areas were established as a network President declare nine areas of hard-bottom habitat in (in other words, they were not designed with connectiv- the northern Gulf a network of MPAs (a concept dubbed ity or risk mitigation in mind). The Gulf hosts a diversity “Islands in the Stream”). These areas are home to soft of ecosystems (e.g., wetlands, barrier islands, deep and corals and more than 90 fish species, including snappers, shallow coral reefs, wetlands, rocky bottoms), economi- groupers, tunas, sharks, and subtropical and tropical cally important fish and shellfish populations (e.g., red invertebrates. The proposed MPAs in this network are snapper, grouper, oysters), and important species habi- linked by the Gulf Loop current, which would enable tats (e.g., Bluefin tuna spawning habitat, Kemp’s Ridley the dispersal of organisms among the MPAs. The pro- sea turtle migratory pathways). The extensive range of posal stalled, however, when immediate concerns were this ecosystem diversity is not captured in the cumulative expressed by the recreational fishing sector. Ultimately area currently under protection in the Gulf. it was concluded that any network of MPAs in the Gulf would have to undergo a full stakeholder participation Most MPAs in the Gulf of Mexico are managed for mul- process. tiple uses. These MPAs include three National Marine Sanctuaries, many National Wildlife Refuges, fisheries Domestically, there are other initiatives to investigate closure areas (e.g., Habitats of Particular Concern), and expanded marine protection in the Gulf. Dr. Sylvia Earle’s state parks, conservation areas, and reserves. Probably SEAlliance identified 200 deepwater reefs and banks the best-known MPAs in the Gulf are the National along the northwestern Gulf of Mexico as targets for con- Marine Sanctuaries (NMS): the Florida Keys NMS servation. Most of these reefs lie in unprotected waters. and the Flower Garden Banks NMS. National Marine At the state level, the Gulf Ecological Management Sites Sanctuaries enjoy national recognition and dedicated Program is a joint initiative between the EPA’s Gulf of funding. These sanctuaries allow multiple uses, includ- Mexico Program and the five Gulf states “to provide a ing fishing. Overall, only 35 of the federal and state-level regional framework for the recognition of habitats or MPAs in the Gulf prohibit commercial fishing, and of habitats ecologically significant for the production of these only six prohibit recreational fishing. Of the 35 MPAs that do not allow commercial fishing, 11 are 1 De facto MPAS are areas “where activities are restricted by law for reasons other than conservation” (e.g., safety, security, and danger smaller than one square kilometer. zones; traffic separation schemes) (http://mpa.gov/dataanalysis/ defacto/). 2 Marine Protection in the Gulf of Mexico: Current Policy, Future Options, and Ecosystem Outcomes fish, wildlife, and other natural resources in the Gulf of recreationally important species grow to maturity in Mexico.” shallow-water nursery habitats and move to deeper water as adults.
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