Evaluating Puget Sound Marine Protected Areas to Improve MPA Policy and Implementation
In 2009, an inventory concluded there were 127 MPAs across the State of Washington. Despite this large number, relatively little is known about how well the MPAs are managed or how to improve their effectiveness, particularly in the Puget Sound. To understand how Puget Sound MPAs function from a soc...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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Western CEDAR
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cedar.wwu.edu/ssec/2014ssec/Day1/41 https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1040&context=ssec |
| Summary: | In 2009, an inventory concluded there were 127 MPAs across the State of Washington. Despite this large number, relatively little is known about how well the MPAs are managed or how to improve their effectiveness, particularly in the Puget Sound. To understand how Puget Sound MPAs function from a social-ecological perspective, we will investigate the following key research questions: (1) What conditions and processes lead to successful MPA implementation?; (2) What are the opportunities for Puget Sound MPA planning processes to improve MPA management effectiveness and declare new, successful MPAs?; and (3) Should MPAs be used to increase social-ecological resilience in response to rockfish recovery needs, habitat loss, changing use patterns of Puget Sound resources, ocean acidification, and concomitant climate stresses? We will investigate these questions using literature reviews, key informant interviews, survey instruments, semi-structured interviews, and reviews of ecological monitoring data. Additionally, we will perform a scenario-planning workshop to improve MPA management, help resolve long-standing disagreements between various constituency groups, and possibly identify new MPA sites. We will also investigate whether impacts from climate change could serve as a potential “common ground” between disparate stakeholders for designing and evaluating spatial conservation strategies in a changing environment. Treaty tribes, who have unique rights and authorities as resource co-managers, are explicitly included in our research and scenario planning exercise. The objective of our presentation is to share our preliminary project design and solicit feedback to potentially improve it. |
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