Background
The concept of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) is exceptionally broad and may defined as follows:
"Any area of the coastal zone or open ocean conferred some level of protection for the purpose of management of use of resources or protection of vulnerable or threatened habitats or species." (Agardy 1997)
Both among the general population and in the scientific community, it is very difficult to find people who oppose the idea of MPAs in principle. Indeed a recent study conducted by the Ocean Conservancy found that 95% of the comments made during a recent hearing on MPAs in California were in support of the establishment of MPAs (Hahn 2007).
However, the specific issue to be addressed in this proposal is that of No-Take Areas, or Marine Reserves, which have historically been much more controversial than MPAs in general. No-Take Areas are designated parts of the ocean where all exploitative or extractive uses are prohibited indefinitely (Guenette, Pitcher, & Walters 2000). Fundamentally, Marine Reserves possess attributes that set them apart from traditional marine management. Well-designed Marine Reserves are proactive, rather than reactive; they act as an "insurance policy" against inaccuracies in science and policy, as well as against natural variability inherent in ecosystems. In another sense, setting aside regions of the ocean is akin to diversely investing one's assets for the sake future growth and improved stability. Since they are ecosystem-based, Marine Reserves do not require large amounts of difficult-to-acquire, quantitative, species-specific data to be effective. And at least from a purely scientific and ecological perspective, No-Take Zones are undoubtedly effective at achieving their goals. (PROVIDE HYPERLINK TO "BENEFITS OF NO-TAKE ZONES")
One of the major problems with the current application of Marine Reserves is one of scale. As it stands today, roughly 0.7% of the world ocean is protected in some way, and far less area is covered by strict No-Take regulations (Pauly 2007) (for comparison, consider that 11.5% of global land area is protected in some way (UNEP 2007)). Furthermore, the rate at the human ability to exploit the oceans is growing far outstrips the overall growth rate of MPAs (Pauly 2007). It should be emphasized that established protected areas and areas of regulation are a reasonable beginning; indeed, existing schemes such as effort and technological restrictions are critical to maximizing the effectiveness of Marine Reserves. But it is most critical to note that what we have today is simply not enough to make a globally significant difference...expansion and continued development is an absolute necessity.
Of course, proper policy is about more than just science; there is a significant and often all-important social component to consider as well. It is precisely the stricter restrictions associated with Marine Reserves that have made their establishment so controversial. There is the mere discussion of closing off areas of the ocean is often enough to put fishermen and other interested parties up in arms (Agardy, et. al. 2003). For any policy to succeed, it must be able to gain a certain measure of public support; in other words, it must be demonstrated that the benefits outweigh the costs on all relevant timescales. At the same time, any plan must consider the mundane, but very real problems of establishment, maintenance, and enforcement.
Hence, the challenge before us is two-fold. The first goal is to, as quickly as possible, expand existing MPAs into a broad, enforceable network of Marine Reserves that cover a significant proportion of the world ocean. But equally important is that a fundamental part of any proposal must be an attempt to maximize its public acceptability. How might this exceedingly delicate balance between ecology and society be achieved?
[Provide Hyperlink to ACTUAL PROPOSAL]