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Marine Managed Areas: Site-Based Management for Marine Species
Intro to various forms of site-based management: marine protected areas, marine conservation areas, aquatic reserves, marine parks
It's the Ecosystem
Traditional management of harvested marine species has relied on catch and gear restrictions for protection and recovery.
Protection and recovery strategies using marine managed areas are based not on individual species management but on defining an area and restricting activities within that area. Such site-based management efforts are variously called marine protected areas, marine conservation areas, aquatic reserves and marine parks.
Marine protected areas and marine conservation areas in Puget Sound are designated and regulated by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. See here for current protected areas and conservation areas under WDFW administration.
Aquatic reserves in Puget Sound are designated and regulated by the Washington Department of Natural Resources. A reserve designation means that state marine bedlands are not leased but are managed for conservation, education or research purposes. See here for information on the WDNR reserves program.
People For Puget Sound has been actively engaged in protecting the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve from a large gravel mining and shipping operation.
We are also actively engaged in developing a management plan for the Cherry Point Aquatic Reserve, where eelgrass beds and a major herring stock need protection.
People For Puget Sound has also proposed to the WDNR a aquatic reserve designations surrounding Protection Island and Smith & Minor islands between Whidbey Island and the Peninsula.
For more information, contact Cyrilla Cook, (206) 382-7007.