A national perspective on the role of Marine Protected Areas in sustaining fisheries

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been used by traditional cultures for generations as a means to sustain local fisheries for food security. In more recent decades, MPAs have been used by coastal and ocean managers to protect special areas for a wide range of purposes - protecting threatened or rare species, conserving areas for biological diversity and other ecological functions, setting aside areas for recreation - as well as a fisheries management tool. While the role of an MPA in protecting species or biological diversity is fairly well understood, their role as fisheries management tools is more complex and controversial. This paper provides an overview of the use of MPAs as a fisheries management tool in the United States, drawing on the comprehensive MPA Inventory developed and maintained by the National Marine Protected Areas Center (MPA Center).