Whether it is for residential, commercial, recreational, or other uses, land use zoning in communities, cities, and even natural areas has become a widely accepted and understood practice. Marine zoning in this country, however, is a relatively new and often controversial process. Coastal resource managers may get caught in the middle as they try to balance competing uses with ecosystem protection.
Five years ago, managers in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary implemented the nation's first large-scale marine zoning program, establishing 23 no-take zones. A 24th zone was designated in 2001. Managers say various monitoring efforts show the zones are protecting critical habitat and effectively managing the conflicting uses within the sanctuary.
"The U.S. has lagged behind in utilizing marine zoning as a management tool," says Billy Causey, the sanctuary's superintendent. "Marine zoning leads to improved ocean governance and a more balanced use of the marine environment."
No-take zones, just one type of marine zoning, are areas of the ocean where potentially harmful activities such as fishing, anchoring, and collecting are prohibited, while uses that are compatible with resource protection are allowed. This type of marine zoning was first used in New Zealand and Australia in the 1980s.
"On land, we've always set some areas aside to be left in their natural state," says Jim Bohnsack, research fishery biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Fisheries Science Center. "We never did that in the ocean because we thought the resources were infinite... Now we know the resources aren't infinite and that humans do impact them."
The keys to establishing successful no-take zones, managers and scientists say, are making sure this management tool is appropriate for the goal, ensuring stakeholders are a valued part of the decision-making process, using science as the basis for decisions, and conducting a wide array of research, monitoring, enforcement, and educational activities.
American Pioneers
The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, designated in 1990, protects 2,896 square nautical miles of critical marine habitat, including coral reef, seagrass meadows, and mangrove communities. In 1997, the sanctuary established a pioneering marine zoning program that included three types of no-take zones: 18 small sanctuary preserve areas, four special use areas, and one larger ecological reserve that covers nine square nautical miles.
A second ecological reserve was designated in 2001. At 151 square nautical miles, the Tortugas Ecological Reserve is the sanctuary's largest area where commercial and recreational fishing and anchoring are no longer allowed. In part of the Tortugas reserve, snorkeling, sailing, or diving are allowed, but visitors are instructed to "take only pictures and leave only bubbles."
Causey says both ecological reserves represent a "full range of marine habitats" that are critical to various life stages of numerous marine organisms.
Small but heavily used areas with sensitive habitat are designated sanctuary preservation areas in order to protect sensitive habitat and separate conflicting users. In total, the preservation areas cover about six-and-a-half square nautical miles of the sanctuary, but protect 65 percent of high-relief shallow reef habitat, Causey says.
The special use areas are small research-only zones where permitted scientists are the only visitors allowed. "The idea is to use these as baseline areas," Causey explains, to determine the impacts humans are having on the reefs. When combined, these four areas take up about two square nautical miles.
Choosing the Right Tool
The first step in implementing no-take zones is determining if they are the proper coastal management tool for the goal that is to be achieved.
"Our use of no-take zones is not as a fisheries management tool, but as a way to protect the biodiversity of the sanctuary, to balance the various uses to eliminate user conflict, and to protect the resource from habitat degradation," Causey says.
This is an important point because the fisheries benefits of no-take zones are not universally agreed upon by scientists.
Bob Shipp, chair of University of South Alabama's Marine Sciences Department, says of no-take zones, "If your goal is trophy fish, they work. If your goal is to minimize damage caused by fishing activities, they work. If your goal is to protect spawning aggregation, they work. It is the generalized opinion that if they are used to maximize fishery yield, they simply don't work."
"The goal should, I think, be less about protection of individual species and more about protection of a whole ecosystem," says Brian Keller, the sanctuary's science coordinator. "You can't just take out one piece of an ecosystem and work on it, and ignore the rest of the system."
"You have to really target the use of this tool," Causey acknowledges. "If your goal is to manage highly migratory species, I wouldn't rely on them passing through a reserve." Areas where no-take zones might be used include representative ecosystems, sensitive habitat, highly used areas that are experiencing user conflict, or spawning areas.
All Aboard
The most difficult part of undertaking the marine zoning process, Causey says, is balancing the needs of the various stakeholders. "One of the most critical things in the formula is to ask for input, use it, value it, and weight it accordingly."
This still doesn't mean the designation process is going to be easy. "It was controversial," he says. "People stand up and say, 'Please prohibit spearfishing. I'm a diver and I don't like spearfishing.' Then you have people say, 'I moved to Florida for the spearfishing. Please don't stop spearfishing.' The question is how to address all the different concerns and focus the process in such a way so that it's effective."
The key to making it effective, everyone interviewed for this article agrees, is ensuring that all stakeholders are involved in the decision-making process from the beginning and that their input is valued.
This process went much smoother for the Florida Keys sanctuary during the 2001 designation of the Tortugas Ecological Reserve. "The second time was far less controversial because we already had a track record," Causey says. "One of the ways we dissipated some of the controversy is that we really listened to the public, particularly the commercial fishermen."
The sanctuary formed a 25-member working group made up of people representing all the area's stakeholders. "Everyone worked very cooperatively to identify where and how large" the reserve should be.
He thinks the "mistake that is made most often is that people have a tendency to put lines on a map and pick out special areas" before going out into the community. "It appears arbitrary to the waterfront observer."
Using the Data
"It is critical to let science help drive the process," Causey emphasizes. "A lot of good science is being done that when you get the scientists alongside the people with the local knowledge, you have a very powerful opportunity to do something good."
Using various types of science to help locate the areas was of primary importance in their zoning efforts, Causey says. Circulation patterns, benthic surveys, spawning aggregations, and socioeconomic data, as well as anecdotal information from people who know the various areas, were all used in designating the no-take zones.
Keeping It Real
Once the no-take zones are designated, enforcement, education, and monitoring are mandatory.
"You have to have enforcement," Causey says. "You can put lines on a map, but you cannot have protected areas without enforcement." The sanctuary funds 17 state enforcement officers, and relies on the enforcement efforts of the U.S. Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The best way to ensure compliance, however, is through education and outreach efforts, which should begin early in the designation process. "Public awareness and understanding are critical," he says.
Measuring the impacts of the zones also is a priority for the sanctuary. "If you are going to set aside areas," Causey says, "you need to gauge and measure their effectiveness... We owe it to the public and we owe it to ourselves as managers to know what is or is not happening in those areas."
The same year the no-take zones were implemented, the sanctuary initiated a five-year monitoring program looking at changes in ecosystem function and populations of key species. Collection of socioeconomic data began a year later. Causey also recommends baseline monitoring be conducted before a no-take zone is designated.
Bigger Fish
While data for the past five years have been collected, much of it is still being analyzed. Managers also note that slow-growing species, such as coral, will take time to rebound. Still, the preliminary data that managers and scientists are seeing on how the zones are working look positive.
Lobsters are bigger and more abundant in the zones, and there has been a steady increase in the number of reef fish, such as yellowtail snapper, says the sanctuary's Keller. Also, socioeconomic studies show that fishermen did not suffer financial losses that were feared during the first year marine zoning was in place. Fewer user conflicts also are being reported.
"In a nutshell," Keller says, "as far as we can measure, so far we haven't seen any detrimental economic or biological effects of having fully protected zones."
He adds, "We need more time" to determine all the benefits. "There are some changes that we think the data are suggesting that are subtle enough that more replication is required to separate out the so-called signal from the noise."
Jim Bohnsack notes that there also are global and regional factors, such as sea level rise and pollution, that can impact ecosystems, and that those factors also have to be taken into account.
The Test of Time
While the preliminary data from the sanctuary's no-take zones are encouraging, managers say the best way to determine if no-take zones work is for them to be tried in appropriate areas.
"All management should be considered as an experiment, and managers should embrace the philosophy of adaptive management," says Doug Gregory Jr., Florida Sea Grant marine extension agent for the Florida Keys. "Once a management measure is implemented it should be continually monitored and evaluated for both intended and unexpected consequences. If the measure is not working as expected, it may need to be changed. If it is working right, then it may be applicable in other circumstances."
Bohnsack says that no-take zones are really our scientific controls and that the current ocean activities are truly the experiment. "We know so little about our ocean systems. No-take zones are our tool for increasing our understanding of how oceans work. Otherwise, we're operating in ignorance."
For more information on the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary no-take zones, point your browser to www.fknms.nos.noaa.gov. You may also contact Billy Causey at (305) 743-2437, ext. 26, or Billy.Causey@noaa.gov; or Brian Keller at (305) 743-2437, ext. 25, or Brian.Keller@noaa.gov. For more information on the socioeconomic research, log on to www.marineeconomics.noaa.gov.
