This book reviews the need for marine conservation, summarizes general measures for ocean and coastal conservation, and explains the rationale for establishing marine protected areas. The second half of the book is essentially a guideline for designing and implementing protected areas in order to make them viable and long-lasting in their effectiveness.

The bibliography is to highlight impacts on fisheries and livelihoods attributed to coral reef marine protected areas in Pacific Island countries and territories. Included in this collection is literature that reports various forms of reef area management practiced in Pacific Island countries: reserves, sanctuaries, permanent or temporary closed areas, community and traditional managed areas.

This book explores the increasing impacts on the world's oceans from coastal and offshore development, overfishing, a changing climate, natural events, and other sources that are straining the health of marine ecosystems and the Great lakes. Impacts to these intricately balanced environments include declining fish populations, degradation of coral reefs and other vital habitats, threats to rare or endangered species, and loss of artefacts and resources that represent the diverse cultural heritage of the United States. In the United States and around the world, marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly recognised as an important and promising management tool for mitigating or buffering some of these impacts. This book examines the use of MPAs as a way to restore and maintain healthy marine and Great Lakes environments by contributing to the overall protection of critical marine habitats and resources. This is an edited, excerpted and augmented edition of various government publications.

Updates the original report of Feb. 2001 and its update of 2003, to reflect the growing interest in protecting areas of the marine environment from further deterioration. Provides an overview of MPA issues under federal jurisdiction.