Volume 75
Habitat Use and Ecosystem Connectivity of Fishes at Outer-shelf Reef Systems in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
Authors
Krebs, B; Nuttall, M; Lippi, D; Holstein, D; Wells, R.J.D; Rooker, J.R; Dance, M.A. Download PDF Open PDF in BrowserOther Information
Date: November, 2022
Pages: 175-176
Event: Proceedings of the Seventy-Five Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: Fort Walton Beach
Country: USA
Abstract
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are regulatory zones with high conservation potential for government and resource management agencies. On a global scale, MPAs are being established to protect vulnerable ecosystems, conserve critical habitat, and increase recruitment of commercially valuable and ecologically threatened species (Zupan et al. 2018). However, in the southeastern United States this resource is underused and understudied, only 2.0% of national maritime waters (<200 nm offshore) are regulated under any form of MPA (Marine Conservation Institute 2021). A question often raised by researchers and stakeholders is: how effective are protected areas at meeting resource and ecosystem-based management goals?