Our Programs | MPA Center
The Marine Protected Areas Center
The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is one of the many marine protected areas in the United States.
The National Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Center uses science, technology, and training to plan, manage, and evaluate the nation’s system of marine protected areas. The MPA Center works to protect not only marine ecosystems, but also an array of cultural and historical artifacts found underneath the surface, including shipwrecks.
Marine protected areas are widely used in the United States as a tool for helping conserve the nation’s wealth of natural and cultural resources for all Americans. The MPA Center focuses on developing national operational and program policy, supports the MPA Federal Advisory Committee, manages national, regional, and international MPA coordination, conducts outreach and education, consults with federal agencies, state agencies, tribal agencies, Fishery Management Councils, and others, maintains the U.S. MPA website, and oversees the collection of data for the marine managed areas inventory.