The Politics of Marine Conservation

During the past 10-plus years, the California planning process to designate marine protected areas (MPAs) has included the use of professional facilitators, stakeholder-based activities, social and physical scientists with expertise in diverse disciplines, consultants and other advisors, and resources agency personnel. The state process of planning marine reserves has cost tens of millions of dollars and it has been difficult, with the economic interests of fishers often running up against the value of protecting marine life from the impacts of human activities.