If you’re involved in marine protected areas in your professional life, do you see them as positive in providing benefits or negative in limiting what you can do? Do they support or restrict your business or other activities in the marine environment, and how do they contribute to the ‘blue economy’? Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) wants to understand your views.
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are recognised as a key tool for marine conservation and already cover significant parts of some sea basins around Europe. In parallel, the ‘blue economy’ – industries based upon the ocean and its products - and demand for marine space across Europe is growing. The ‘blue economy’ is expected to play a significant role within the central EU policy of promoting jobs and growth.
“A commonly held concern about MPAs is that they may constrain economic activity, adding costs to businesses and restricting opportunities for growth and jobs, even for those industries that are expected to benefit from improved marine biodiversity and environmental conditions more generally. This is important as interactions with MPAs will increase as the marine area under MPA designation expands and the blue economy continues to grow,” said PML’s Dr Stefanie Broszeit.
To ensure that the planning and management of MPAs can be taken forward to maximise benefits – for the marine environment, to the blue economy and society more generally - the linkages between maritime sectors and the potential benefits of MPAs need to be better understood. There is a need to integrate these linkages into decisions surrounding the management of MPAs.
Plymouth Marine Laboratory is carrying out a survey to find out how MPAs and other spatial protection measures provide benefits to the blue economy. We want to examine what these economic benefits are and how they are gained. We are also interested in the role of MPA governance in conflict management, the creation of win-win situations between multiple users and the sustainable use of MPAs.
“Whether you are an MPA manager or work in ‘blue economy’ sectors we would like to hear your opinions,” said Stefanie Broszeit.
“No matter which part of the ‘blue economy’ you are involved in (fisheries, aquaculture, tourism and recreation, energy, shipping transport, seaports and marinas, blue biotechnology, seabed aggregates and other mining, dredging and offshore construction) we would like to know what you think of MPAs and their economic impact. “
The survey can be accessed directly at http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/WWK6G/ and it will take no more than 15 minutes to complete.
If you have any questions or would like to find out more about this survey and its outcomes, please contact Dr Caroline Hattam (caro4@pml.ac.uk) or Dr Stefanie Broszeit (stbr@pml.ac.uk).
The survey is part of research being conducted by ICF, PML and IEEP under contract to the European Commission.
