Sea Change: Changing Management to Protect Ocean Ecosystems

Abstract

Ocean ecosystems are increasingly at risk of degradation. Calls have gone out for significant changes to ocean management at the national level by the Pew Oceans Commission and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, and in coastal states such as Massachusetts, California, New York and Washington. The role of marine protected areas within a reformed system of ocean management is a particularly active issue for consideration. An examination of how a current system of marine protected areas, our National Marine Sanctuaries, functions, reveals that these sites may not function effectively to protect marine ecosystems. The Sanctuary Act contains apparently contradictory language regarding sanctuaries as highly protected areas versus areas open to multiple human uses. One part of the Act regarding "compatibility determination" provides a mechanism that sanctuaries could use to better implement ecosystem protection while allowing appropriate levels of human use. The Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Compatibility Determination Working Group examined this concept and proposed a methodology for potential application within that sanctuary. This methodology provides a way that all sanctuaries could use to establish a clear identity within the evolving new system of management to better protect ocean ecosystems.