This section contains a list of governmental and nongovernmental
organizations involved in MPA management, research, and policies at the
national level.
| Federal/National |
U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy
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U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy
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The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, created by the Oceans Act of 2000, is charged with reviewing the effects of federal ocean-related laws and programs. The Ocean Commission produced a report in July 2002, Toward a National Ocean Policy: Ocean Policy Topics and Related Issues, that lists key issue areas the Commission will address., including Marine Protected Areas. See pages 10-11 of the report at http://www.oceancommission.gov/documents/issues_document7_16_02.pdf. In addition, testimony has been heard on Marine Protected Areas at several regional hearings held by the Ocean Commission. See pages 35-42 of A Synthesis of Testimony, Comments, and Recommendations from Presenters: September 2001-June 2002 at http://www.oceancommission.gov/documents/midterm_report/00_ApI_full.pdf. |
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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration // Department of the Interior
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National Marine Protected Areas Center
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The National MPA Center, established by NOAA in cooperation with the Department of the Interior (DOI) and other partners, coordinates the implementation of the Executive Order by developing "a framework for a national system of MPAs, and Federal, State, territorial, tribal, and local governments with the information, technologies, and strategies to support the system.÷ Its headquarters is in NOAA's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM). |
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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
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NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program
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The National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP), in NOAA's National Ocean Service, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, manages the nation¦s 13 national marine sanctuaries, which were established to manage and protect marine areas of nationally significant ecological, cultural, recreational or aesthetic value, and provides information on their history, scientific and educational programs, and conservation efforts. |
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Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
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Established as a national marine sanctuary in 1990, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary extends 220 miles in a northeast to southwest arc between the southern tip of Key Biscayne, south of Miami, to beyond (but not including) the Dry Tortugas Islands. Sanctuary resources include coral reefs, seagrass beds, important benthic habitats, and submerged cultural resources. Its westernmost waters contains the Tortugas Ecological Reserve, a no-take area containing some of the most pristine coral reefs in the Florida Keys and North America. |
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NOAA Coastal Zone Management Program
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NOAA's Coastal Zone Management Program (in NOAA's National Ocean Service/Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management) is a Federal / State partnership to manage the nation's coastal resources, including specifically identified Geographc Areas of Particular Concern and Special Coastal Areas |
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NOAA Office of Protected Resources
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NOAA's Office of Protected Resources, in NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, evaluates the status of marine species, including sea turtles, cetaceans, pinnipeds, marine and anadromous fish, plants, invertebrates and their habitats, and identifies those in need of increased protection as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, or depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The program develops conservation and recovery programs for these species, such as critical habitats. |
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Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
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Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is engaged in a joint program with the California Department of Fish and Game to consider Marine Reserves in the Sanctuary. Included on the website is the document "A Recommendation for Marine Protected Areas in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary". |
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Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
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Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, located in the southwest corner of the Gulf of Maine, is part of NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP), and was chosen for its historical importance as a fishing ground and whale watchng destination. |
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NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve System
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NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS), part of NOAA's National Ocean Service/Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, manages a national network of protected estuarine research reserves in partnership with coastal state governments, for long-term research, education, and stewardship. |
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NOAA Domestic Fisheries Division
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NOAA's Domestic Fisheries Division (in NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Sustainable Fisheries) manages the sustainable long-term harvest of over 700 commercially and recreationally important marine species under 40 fishery management plans. Protected areas include important spawning sites, habitat areas of particular concern, gear use and access limitation zones, and closed areas. |
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Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary
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Established as a national marine sanctuary in 1989, to protect the Cordell Bank ecosystem, inluding marine birds, marine mammals (including blue whales and humpback whales), and other natural resources. |
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Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary
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Established as a national marine sanctuary in 1986, Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary is a fringing coral reef ecosystem in an eroded volcanic crater on the island of Tutuila, American Samoa. |
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Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
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Established in 1992 as a national marine sanctuary, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, about 110 miles off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, includes the northernmost coral reefs of the U.S. and protects Caribbean reef fishes and invertebrates. Includes 3 areas: West Flower Garden Bank, East Flower Garden Bank, and Stetson Bank. |
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Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary
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Established as a national marine sanctuary in 1981, and recognized by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve in 1986, Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, located 32 kilometers off Sapelo Island, Georgia, is one of the largest nearshore sandstone reefs in the southeastern U.S. This hard bottom area supports a variety of temperate and tropical marine flora and fauna, including algae and invertebrates. |
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Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary
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Established as a national marine sanctuary in 1981, Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary protects an area of 948 square nautical miles off the northern and central California coast. It includes a variety of habitats such as nearshore tidal flats, rocky intertidal areas, wetlands, subtidal reefs, and coastal beaches. The sanctuary protects spawning grounds and nurseries for commercially valuable species, marine mammals, and sea birds. |
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Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary
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Established as a national marine sanctuary in 1992, the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary protects humpback whales and their habitat in Hawaii. |
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Monitor National Marine Sanctuary
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Established as the first U.S. national marine sanctuary in 1975, the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary protects the wreck site of the Civil War ship, the USS Monitor. The Monitor rests on the seafloor 16 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. |
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Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
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Established as a national marine sanctuary in 1992, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary off California's central coast provides for resource protection, research, education and public use. It includes the nation's largest kelp forest, and one of North America's largest underwater canyons. It protects a diverse marine ecosystem, including numerous species marine mammals, sea birds, fish, invertebrates, and plants. |
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Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary
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Established as a national marine sanctuary in 1994, the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary covers 3300 square miles (2500 square nautical miles) of ocean waters off Washington's rocky Olympic Peninsula coast. It provides habitat for a diversity of marine mammals, and is managed to protect natural resources while encouraging compatible commercial and and recreational uses. |
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Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve
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Established as a national marine sanctuary in 2000, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve protects over 100 shipwrecks spanning over a century of Great Lakes shipping history. It is the first national marine sanctuary in the Great Lakes, and is located entirely in state waters, in Lake Huron. NOAA and Michigan cooperatively manage the sanctuary's underwater cultural resources. |
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Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve
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Created by Executive Order 13178 in 2000, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve contains dozens of tiny islands, atolls, and shoals in an area approximately 1200 nautical miles long and 100 nautical miles wide. The NWHI contains the majority of U.S. coral reefs. The Reserve and the National Marine Sanctuary Program have begun a process to designate the reserve as a national marine sanctuary. |
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NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP)
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NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) provides information on NOAA's programs and resources that support coral reef conservation, and offers news, funding opportunities, education and outreach, and publications and data. The CRCP supports effective managment and sound science to preserve, sustain, and restore coral reef ecosystems to help fulfill NOAA requirements under various mandates, including the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000. The CRCP is a partnership of NOAA line offices which work on coral reef issues, including the National Ocean Service (NOS), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), and the National Environmental Satellites, Data and Information Service (NESDIS). It is also the Secretariat for the interagency U.S. Coral Reef Task Force. |
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National Marine Fisheries Service
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The National Marine Fisheries Service, also known as NOAA Fisheries, is dedicated to the stewardship of living marine resources through science-based conservation and management, and the promotion of healthy ecosystems. Some of its programs that are MPA-related include Office of Sustainable Fisheries; Office of Protected Resources; Office of Habitat Conservation; Office of Constitutent Services; and Office of Science and Technology. |
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NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries Maritime Heritage Program
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The National Marine Sanctuaries Maritime Heritage Program is committed to preserving historical, cultural, and archaeological resources within the National Marine Sanctuaries. Provides information on maritime archaeology, whaling, and the Maritime Heritage Program's work to preserve native cultures, and features links to related State, federal, international, academic and nonprofit programs. |
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NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management
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Provides national leadership, strategic direction, and guidance to state and territory coastal programs and estuarine research reserves; works to develop a scientifically-based comprehensive national system of MPAs; and supports effective management and sound science to protect, sustain and restore coral reef ecosystems. The OCRM web site includes information on key issues faced by coastal states, and features a 'My State' area which allows visitors to find information on coastal management activity underway in the nation's 35 coastal states and territories. OCRM is part of NOAA's National Ocean Service (NOS). |
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Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center
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NOAA partnership with the State of Michigan to educate the public about the significance of shipwrecks, to allow the public to experience and appreciate the estimated 200 shipwrecks around Thunder Bay. |
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National Science Foundation
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National Science Foundation, Division of Ocean Sciences
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Supports basic research and education to further understanding of the global oceans and their interactions with the earth and atmosphere. This research provides opportunities for discovery in many fields, including those which inform the design and management of marine protected areas. |
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Fishery Management Councils
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Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council
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One of eight regional councils established by the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. It manages fishery resources within the federal 200-mile limit off the mid-Atlantic coast. States with voting representation on the Council include New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. |
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Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council
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One of eight regional councils established by the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. It manages fishery resources within the federal 200-mile limit in the Gulf of Mexico. The Council includes voting representatives from Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. |
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North Pacific Fishery Management Council
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One of eight regional councils established by the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. It manages fishery resources within the federal 200-mile limit off Alaska, with primary responsibility for groundfish management in the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, and Aleutian Islands. |
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Western Pacific Fishery Management Council
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One of eight regional councils established by the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. It manages fishery resources within the federal 200-mile limit around the Territory of American Samoa, Territory of Guam, State of Hawaii, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. Pacific Island possessions. The Council is also involved with fishery management issues related to the proposed Northwestern Hawaiian Islands national marine sanctuary. |
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Caribbean Fishery Management Council
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One of eight regional councils established by the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. It manages fishery resources within the federal 200-mile limit for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. |
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Fishery Management Councils
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Eight regional fishery management councils were established in NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service under the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996 to be responsible for the conservation and management of fish stocks from three to 200-miles off the coast of the United States. Several of the Councils are involved in the process of setting up marine reserves or marine protected areas as tools to manage fisheries. Several councils' web sites include links to a "Ecosystem Management" or "Habitat and MPAs" pages. |
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New England Fishery Management Council
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One of eight regional councils established by the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The NEFMC manages fishery resources within the federal 200-mile limit off the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The site's "Habitat and MPAs" page includes information on the meetings of the Habitat/MPA/Ecosystems Oversight Committee and Habitat/MPA/Ecosystems Advisory Panel, the council's MPA policy, public proposals for Habitat Areas of Particular Concern, and MPA Education/Outreach presentations. |
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South Atlantic Fishery Management Council
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One of eight regional councils established by the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The SAFMC manages fishery resources within the federal 200-mile limit off the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and east Florida. The Council addresses MPAs as an option to address overfishing of deepwater species, has an Advisory Panel on Marine Protected Areas, and features documents on MPAs in its online library. |
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Pacific Fishery Management Council
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One of eight regional councils established by the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The Pacific Fishery Management Council manages fishery resources within the federal 200-mile limit off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington. The Council is currently considering the use of marine reserves to protect fish and habitat resources, especially for groundfish. |
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Environmental Protection Agency
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Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, Office of Oceans, Coasts, and Estuaries
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Executive Order 13158 ordered the EPA, relying upon existing Clean Water Act authorities, to issue new science-based regulations, as necessary, to better protect beaches, coasts, and the marine environment from pollution. EPA protects coastal areas through a watershed approach, and its regulatory and cooperative management programs. EPA's coastal programs also deal with habitat protection and restoration issues. |
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Department of the Interior
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National Park Service
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Manages the nation's system of national parks, some of which include marine protected areas. The NPS Coastal Geology Program addresses concerns of coastal park managers, and disseminates information to preserve NPS's coastal environments. The National Park Service is part of the Department of the Interior (DOI) |
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a Federal agency within the Department of the Interior, manages the nation's system of national wildlife refuges, many of which include marine areas. |
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Minerals Management Service
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Manages the nation's natural gas, oil, and other mineral resources on the outer continent shelf (OCS)., working to protect human, marine, and coastal environments in its decisions on where and when to conduct mineral leasing, and in its regulation and oversight of industry operations. MMS has contributed staff expertise to the development of criteria for Marine Managed Areas, and monitors industry activties to ensure MMS environmental standards are met and that they are effective in protecting MPA resources. |
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Department of State
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Department of State, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
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Coordinates issues related to science, the environment, and the world's oceans. Its Office of Oceans Affairs and Office of Marine Conservation are responsible for developing and coordinating international marine protected area policy, especially as it relates to the high seas. |
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Department of Homeland Security
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U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security
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Protects the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and key areas of the high seas, by enforcing domestic fisheries law and international fisheries agreements. NOAA's National Vessel Monitoring System is shared with the U.S. Coast Guard, which supports Coast Guard enforcement oversight of marine protected areas. Through its fisheries enforcement strategic plan, the Coast Guard engages in enforcement, education, and collaboration activities which seek to eliminate environmental damage and natural resource degradation associated with maritime activities. |
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