Necessity of Marine Protected Areas

There is no doubt that people depend on resources, such as food and natural gases, every day from the oceans, but there is in how we affect the environments we collect from. Bodies of water, from all sizes, have been accumulating debris and pollutants despite bans that prohibit dumping of such waste in oceans, lakes, and rivers. In addition to the direct disposal of waste, some of the pollutants we discharge, such as carbon monoxide, contribute to climate change. Damages caused by climate change affects organisms like plankton and coral to fish and polar bears. There is a way to preserve these creatures and resource. In 2000, the National Marine Protected Areas Center was established in order to sustain vital marine resources. The National MPA Center collaborates with governments of the federal, state, and local levels as well as stakeholders like fishing industries, to develop and implement MPAs. In order to protect and foster the life and resources of the waters from pollution and climate change, governments should establish and improve more Marine Protected Areas (MPA) throughout their nation. However, the costs and restrictions with the implementation are obstacles that vary for each country.

It has been 15 years since the fruition of the the National Marine Protected Areas Center, which was established after Executive Order 13158. This mandate called for the strengthening of management, protection, and conservation of existing MPAs as well as the establishment of new and expanded MPAs. Thus, the National MPA Center was created to lead in the development of a national system of MPAs. Additionally, the National MPA Center is a partnership, consisting of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Interior, that provides federal, state, local, and tribal governments a resource for maintaining the health of the nation’s oceans. The mission of the National MPA Center is to build partnerships and tools that can aid in the protection of Marine Protected Areas. The Center also collaborates with governments and stakeholders to ensure more effective and efficient use of MPAs. These stakeholders can range from citizens and fishermen who need to make an income, zoologists and marine biologists studying the marine life and environment, and engineers and technologists who develop means of protection for MPAs. By interacting with groups such as these, the National MPA Center can pinpoint an appropriate course of action that conserves and sustains the nation’s vital marine resources. MPAs have over 1,600 locations in the United States ranging from open oceans, coastal areas, inter-tidal zones, estuaries, and the Great Lakes. Although about 41 percent of the U.S. marine waters are protected in some manner and tolerate certain actions, three percent are highly protected to preserve delicate species and habitats. Some of the actions that nearly all MPAs allow include activities such as fishing. However, MPAs like marine reserves are more restrictive by limiting the capturing of fish, collection of shells, and other activities which something may be removed or damaged within the area. While these MPAs may not provide recreation, they are an enclosure where people can appreciate nature. Visitor facilities can also provide the local community education on MPAs and advocate volunteer efforts and innovations from individual citizens, the community, and coastal decision makes. Aside from leisure, since some of the more reserved MPAs are strictly regulated, this provides researchers a safe haven to study the sensitive marine life and environment. Marine Protected Areas procure protection for environmental and cultural resources and allow some forms of human interaction in an effort to address the issues that require the use of MPAs and how those factors continue to have an effect on these areas.

That being said, although MPAs protect organisms and habitats, this does not mean they are invincible. Just as in nature, MPAs feel the same effects of climate change that are felt by broader bodies of water. Some of these changes include changes in the water temperature and oceanic circulation, rising sea levels, water acidification, and weather abnormalities in precipitation and storms. With changes in water temperature and currents in the oceans, marine life would undergo alterations to their overall lifestyle. According to the World Wild Fund, rises in temperature can affect the metabolism, lifecycle, and behavior of the species inhabiting the area. This would mean that some organisms would develop abnormal eating habits, some would have a shorter lifespan than its average, and some may even leave the area and enter a new environment. As with rising water levels, glaciers and polar ice are melting due to global warming and increases in temperature. Some creatures, such as polar bears and penguins, may lose their habitat where some organisms, like marine plants and algae, may have difficulty gathering sunlight for photosynthesis with the increase in sea level. Another one of the climate changes is with the emission of harmful chemicals and pollutants from human activity growing every year, these chemicals eventually make their way to sources of water. This causes the waters to become more acidic and have negative impacts on marine species; for instance the WWF has noted that fish may find difficulty in extracting oxygen from acidic water. Additionally, due to global climate changes, storms and precipitation have become extreme and uncertain. At the presence of powerful tropical storms and hurricanes, the ecosystems of the coast and natural formations, such as coral reefs, are presented with increased probability of physical damage and erosion. Of course, if climate change is a proprietary reason for Marine Protected Areas, then the causes for those changes are also a factor.

Every day, people contribute to climate change with the simplest, mundane activities. Whether directly or indirectly, human beings introduce pollutants to the environment by driving vehicles that emit carbon monoxide, work in industries that disposes its waste unethically, or simply dropping trash on the ground. Climate change’s major contributor is air pollution caused by the emission of gases from human activities. When these air pollutants and greenhouse gases mingle with the atmosphere and creates climate change and ozone depletion. One of the results of this is acid rain, which is a form of precipitation that corrosive effects on the environment. Although this form of pollution may be indirect and unintentional, the toxins that we applied to the atmosphere would eventually make its way to the surface and runoff into rivers and oceans to further poisoning the marine life. In addition to pollution in the air, people also have made other indirect and direct contributions by discarding trash and waste into the ecosystem. Garbage such as plastic bags and bottles can be interacted with the aquatic organisms and possibly harm them. Additionally, chemicals and junk from factories and ships near the shore or out at sea can contaminate marine habitats. A notable example of this kind of pollution is the BP oil spill of May 2010. Following the accident in the Gulf of Mexico, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill released nearly 170 million gallons of fossil fuel into the sea. Thousands of species of birds, marine mammals, fish, and sea turtles felt the effects of the incident and were either found injured or dead. Birds that depend on fish as their source of food or inhabit the area were left coated in oil, which negates their abilities of buoyancy and regulation of their body temperature. Fish and marine mammals ingest some of the poisoned water and have been sickened and/or died which displaces the food web as some species become less in abundance for other species. Pollution from human activity has harmed the environment for marine life, causing some creatures to become endangered and extinct.

While these issues lead to the necessity of Marine Protected Areas, another problem lies with the establishment of the facilities. According to a survey conducted by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (PNAS), an annual expenditure of an MPA would range from 0 to more than $28 million per kilometer. From the sample of 83 MPAs they surveyed, 13 were reported to have sufficient funding for effective protection and conservation. This is primarily due to the conditions and locations of MPAs. Marine Protected Areas will have higher cost depending on how much area it covers, its proximity to inhabited areas, and the costs of its structures. With insufficient funding found in 70 of the 83 MPAs reported, it is obvious that Marine Protected Areas should be given a more funding and is balanced among its different types. Along with the price for instituting a MPA, there are also limitations to the matter. With the amount of funding they have, MPAs have difficulty partitioning spending among strictly monitored MPAs and others. This means that they will have costs toward improvement on the reserve. These facilities must consider the possibility of the amount of income and tourism it will gain from the area. Based on the traffic of visitors, the MPA will have fluctuating earnings that are crucial to its funds on management activities. These uncertainties are worth noting in the development of Marine Protected Areas and can be benign or detrimental to its establishment.

This entire situation is like an arrow and a target; the goal seems like a straight shot, but there are the possibilities of missing and hitting different obstacles. There is no doubt that Marine Protected Areas need more establishments and improvements from the governments, but the costs and limitations of doing so are considerable. Besides the financial inhibitions, climate change and pollution continues to increase and complicate the effectiveness of MPAs. Stronger storms and toxins can destroy a marine environment and cause its denizens to either adapt or perish. These factors still affect the MPAs just as they would in nature and would prompt the National MPA Center to fortify its locations and attempt to rescue and shelter the species suffering from the catastrophe. No matter how anyone perceives the matter, MPAs are in a dire need of support and funding in order to maintain the prosperity and resources of the marine environments.













Work Cited

Featured Article

“Troubled Waters.” Nature 480.7376 2011: 151–152. Web. 22 Sept. 2015

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