In 1999, after great controversy, the National Park Service (NPS) created America’s largest temperate marine reserve by closing commercial fishing in parts of Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska. During the 1990's, collapsing fisheries around the world caused doubt about the long-term sustainability of certain fisheries. Alaskan crustacean fisheries are particularly prone to serial depletion and collapse. An emerging theoretical and empirical body of information hypothesizes that "no-take marine reserves" may promote marine biodiversity, increase scientific understanding and enhance the long-term sustainability of many fisheries.

In order to be effective, a marine reserve must be large enough to protect a sufficient proportion of the population for positive effects such as increased size, density, or fecundity to be realized. In addition, an effective reserve must include relevant habitat for the protected species. In practice, however, reserve areas are often chosen pragmatically, on very limited information, and many reserves are created with no monitoring or evaluation procedures. Monitoring reserves to determine if they meet their objectives is essential and the Executive Order 13518 on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) (May 26, 2000) calls for the development of "practical, science-based criteria and protocols for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of MPAs." This executive order also directs the Department of Interior and the Department of Commerce to take a collaborative regional approach while developing a National Network of Marine Protected Areas. The regional nature of many marine processes will require developing management and research collaborations across jurisdictional boundaries if marine resource issues are going to be solved.

Although theoretical concepts and simulation models are rapidly developing for marine reserves, their effectiveness at protecting breeding adults has been demonstrated primarily in tropical areas. Beneficial effects on areas surrounding reserves have been demonstrated in only a few studies and data on the effectiveness of marine reserves are especially limited from high latitude ecosystems. High latitude reserves may be less effective than tropical reserves because temperate fish have broader movement patterns than coral reef fish. Thus to be effective, temperate reserves may have to be much larger.

Marine reserve models demonstrate that understanding movement is central to evaluating reserve effectiveness. We will estimate the relative density and relative abundance of Pacific halibut, Tanner crab, and red king crab inside and outside of the newly created reserves in Glacier Bay. Next we will attach sonic tags to a sample of Pacific halibut, Tanner crab, and red king crab, and estimate the movement between the newly created reserves in Glacier Bay and central portion of Glacier Bay (which remained open to commercial fishing), by deploying an ultrasonic gate along the boundary of each reserve for two years. Movement between the entire Bay and Icy Strait will be measured with an ultrasonic gate deployed near the mouth of Glacier Bay. The ultrasonic gates will be constructed by anchoring data loggers along the boundaries at regular intervals so that 100% of the boundary is monitored. This study will allow us to quantify the effectiveness of the reserves at protecting the adult breeding portion of the selected populations. It will also set the stage for future studies, which will address the effect of the reserves on larval supply and the role of reserves as ecological sources vs. sinks. The quantitative testing that we are proposing will help managers, scientists and the public to evaluate the utility of reserves as a management tool in the conservation of local and regional marine resources in Alaska.

Entire Study Plan (PDF version) - [1.9 MB]

• NOAA's website on the National Marine Protected Area Initiative
• Canadian Dept of Fisheries and Oceans marine protected area bibliography
• Abstracts on marine reserve scientific theory from American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) symposium