Marine Protected Area FACA Committee Meeting

The Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee will meet in Annapolis, Maryland on Tuesday, May 23, 2017, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Wednesday, May 24, 2017, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Annapolis Maritime Museum at 723 Second Street, Annapolis, Maryland 21403.  Click here for more details and relevant links.

Comment on NOAA’s ICR for Marine Sanctuary Nominations

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration asks the public to comment on NOAA’s proposed Information Collection for national marine sanctuary nominations received pursuant to NOAA regulations that provide that the public may nominate special places of the marine environment through the sanctuary nomination process, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Written comments must be submitted on or before June 12, 2017. Direct all written comments to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at pracomments@doc.gov).

Click here for more details and relevant links.

Marine Protected Areas Underfunded and Understaffed

A new research study, “Capacity shortfalls hinder the performance of marine protected areas globally,” by D.A. Gill, included the following conclusions about marine protected areas globally:

• About 65 percent of the 433 surveyed MPAs reportedly suffered from inadequate budget for the management of the protected areas.
• Nearly 91 percent of MPAs lacked sufficient staff to carry out critical management activities.
• The findings suggest that effective biodiversity conservation is not just dependent on environmental conditions or MPA features (such as MPA size, fishing regulations), but is also heavily dependent on available capacity.

Click here for an article about this study and its implications.