Marine Planning Research Articles

Offshore pipeline decommissioning: Scale and context

The spatial extent of human activities must be understood for consistent and proportionate regulation, and effective marine planning. Redundant offshore pipelines can be removed or left in situ, but data on the footprint of these options are not readily available. The extents of three North Sea in situ decommissioning scenarios are presented. Leaving pipelines in situ would occupy <0.01% (12.3 km2) of UK waters, and this was similar to, or smaller than, other regulated activities (e.g. aggregate extraction). Adding armouring to large pipelines occupied up to 95 km2, while creating fisheries exclusion zones occupied up to 1119 km2. Removal of pipelines >30″ would be required to regain 50% or more of the seabed currently occupied. At present, the technology to remove pipelines >16″ safely and cost-efficiently is untested for large-scale decommissioning projects. The summaries presented inform the debate over the significance of decommissioning, and the regional consequences of different options.

Using a multi-model ensemble forecasting approach to identify key marine protected areas for seabirds in the Portuguese coast

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been established across all marine environments, though their coherence and effectiveness in protecting umbrella species remains unclear. We used a multi-model ensemble forecasting approach, on 8 years of at-sea censuses of 30 seabird species to identify candidate MPAs in the Portuguese coast, prioritizing important areas for their conservation based on their occurrence and distribution. We overlapped the outputs generated by the Ensemble Ecological Niche Models (EENMs) with layers representing important environmental stressors (fishing intensity, ship density and oil pollution risk), and calculated loss in conservation value using them as cost layers. Three key marine areas were identified along the Portuguese coast: For breeders, there was a key marine area encompassing the Tagus and Sado estuaries and Berlengas archipelago; for non-breeders and migratory species two important areas were identified in the Northern and Southern coast. The key marine area identified in the Northern coast is characterized by high productivity and biodiversity, and can be affected by oil pollution from the refineries and the intensive ship traffic in this area. Also, the area identified in the Southern coast of Portugal for migratory seabirds overlaps extensively with areas of high fishing activity. Our results show that the Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) established along the Portuguese coast protect more than a third of the areas that we prioritized for breeding species and the official MPAs near 65% of the same areas. In contrast, current IBAs and national legislation protect less than 4% of the coastal areas that we prioritize for non-breeding species in this study. Our study, combining multi-species distribution with environmental constraints induced by human activities, allowed us to assess the coherence of the Portuguese marine planning and identify candidate areas to join the Portuguese network of marine protected areas. Our results, employing data from annual at-sea surveys together with the human stressors known to affect the Portuguese coast, proved to be an extremely useful strategy to identify spatial conservation areas along the Portuguese coast as well as to access the adequacy and consistency of those areas. Despite the constraints of this demanding approach, we are confident that our study provides a reliable strategy to inform marine conservation efforts and management planning in similar coastal environments elsewhere, characterized by strong coastal upwelling movements.

Poorly-designed goals and objectives in resource management plans: Assessing their impact for an Ecosystem-Based Approach to Marine Spatial Planning

Planning frameworks such as Ecosystem-Based Marine Spatial Planning are based on socio-ecological systems and require effective design of management goals and objectives, a task often overlooked in conservation and resource planning. This paper discusses research undertaken in a coastal council of Australia, to assess the significance of well-defined goals and objectives as drivers of management plans. SMART criteria and Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation approaches were integrated into a framework to examine management scope of existing plans; assess the quality of stated goals and objectives; analyse the use of natural and socio-economic targets; and provide recommendations for the development of future plans. Findings provided no indication of organizational learning through revision of previous plans, revealing an ongoing planning cycle with ad-hoc reviews frequently driven by policy changes. Main weaknesses identified included linguistics ambiguity; unclear planning hierarchy; lack of clear time-frames; and adoption of highly ambitious plans. The absence of measurable and time-bounded goals and objectives was noted. Additionally, poor definition of targets resulted in goals not meeting the impact-oriented criteria, and objectives were not outcome-oriented. Recommendations drawn in support of mainstreaming the Ecosystem Based Approach in future coastal and marine plans include: explicit definition of societal values; developing complementary cross-realm management goals and objectives; increasing commitment to produce ‘on-the-ground’ outcomes progressively within each planning period; a greater use of pro-active management measures; and providing an economic context to the plans, fostering alignment of financial resources and future investments with the vision developed by the council.

Effective Public Participation is Fundamental for Marine Conservation—Lessons from a Large-Scale MPA

ABSTRACTThe Representative Areas Program (RAP) was, at the time, the most comprehensive process of community involvement and participatory planning for any environmental issue in Australia. The RAP was a key component of the widely acclaimed rezoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and although completed in 2003, many lessons learned are still relevant today. This paper provides an analysis of the comprehensive public participation program that significantly influenced the final planning outcome. It provides insights into a fundamental component of effective marine planning, assessing what worked well and what did not in terms of public engagement. Some aspects of the public participation program were innovative, and some were more effective than others. The outcome was one-third of the Marine Park was declared as highly protected no-take zones in 2004, with the remainder of the park also zoned to provide lower levels of protection. The methods used to engage the public and the 25 lessons discussed in this paper should be of interest for practitioners, policy makers and academics elsewhere aiming for “good practice” approaches to achieve environmental conservation.

Marine uses, synergies and conflicts. Evidence from Crete Island, Greece

Coastal zones and marine areas attract a large number of people and productive activities, a fact that causes important pressures on ecosystems and affects the cohesion of local societies. These areas – that is, the large number of islands and the extended coastline - are important for Greece, because of its geography. Coastal zones and marine areas are vulnerable socio-spatial systems exposed to menaces, such as: sea level rising, desertification phenomenon, built-up areas excessive expansion etc., thus, spatial planning is required for their sustainable management, something that is not always easy to implement. The paper aims to discuss key issues of spatial planning emerged from the ratification of an integrated framework for marine planning in the national spatial planning system. For better understanding of the particularities of Greek spatial planning procedures, the island of Crete is chosen as a case study area, where synergies, conflicts and methodological issues come up at regional and local level.

Fishing in a congested sea: What do marine protected areas imply for the future of the Maltese artisanal fleet?

Inshore artisanal fishing in Malta is under intense spatial competition as the coastal zone is fragmented by multiple uses and designations including maritime transport, infrastructure, industrial fisheries, aquaculture, tourism and recreation. This research, adopting a grounded visualization methodology, explains how the artisanal fishing sector has undergone and been affected by ‘spatial squeezing’. Our results show that artisanal fishermen have been forced to give up fishing grounds or co-exist with other uses to the point where the ability to fish is becoming increasingly challenging. These difficulties might escalate with the advent of the marine protected areas (MPAs) which encompass nearly half of the inshore fishing zones. Since there does not seem to be effective MPA consultation mechanisms that elicit the real social, cultural and economic value of artisanal fishing grounds, fishermen feel threatened, alienated and disempowered. This study urges for a more holistic approach to spatial marine planning and accentuates the need of realizing the dependency of the artisanal sector on the inshore zones in the implementation of conservation measures, such that the prolonged existence of the coastal fishing communities is not jeopardized.

Filling the gap: Using fishers’ knowledge to map the extent and intensity of fishing activity

Knowledge of the extent and intensity of fishing activities is critical to inform management in relation to fishing impacts on marine conservation features. Such information can also provide insight into the potential socio-economic impacts of closures (or other restrictions) of fishing grounds that could occur through the future designation of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs). We assessed the accuracy and validity of fishing effort data (spatial extent and relative effort) obtained from Fishers’ Local Knowledge (LK) data compared to that derived from Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data for a high-value shellfish fishery, the king scallop (Pecten maximus L.) dredge fishery in the English Channel. The spatial distribution of fishing effort from LK significantly correlated with VMS data and the correlation increased with increasing grid cell resolution. Using a larger grid cell size for data aggregation increases the estimation of the total area of seabed impacted by the fishery. In the absence of historical VMS data for vessels ≤15 m LOA (Length Overall), LK data for the inshore fleet provided important insights into the relative effort of the inshore (<6 NM from land) king scallop fishing fleet in the English Channel. The LK data provided a good representation of the spatial extent of inshore fishing activity, whereas representation of the offshore fishery was more precautionary in terms of defining total impact. Significantly, the data highlighted frequently fished areas of particular importance to the inshore fleet. In the absence of independent sources of geospatial information, the use of LK can inform the development of marine planning in relation to both sustainable fishing and conservation objectives, and has application in both developed and developing countries where VMS technology is not utilised in fisheries management.

A ‘sea change’ in marine planning: the development of New Zealand’s first marine spatial plan

Marine spatial planning is a well-established approach internationally, and has been used to assist in the application of an ecosystem-based management approach to the marine environment (Ehler and Douvere, 2009; Ehler, 2014). New Zealand’s first marine spatial plan was completed in December 2016. It was the result of a three-year Sea Change Tai Timu Tai Pari project which focused on addressing the growing spatial resource conflicts and ecological degradation associated with the Hauraki Gulf. The project was innovative in a number of respects, including: establishing a cogovernance structure; tasking a group of Mana Whenua (Hauraki Gulf iwi) and stakeholder representatives with producing the plan on a collaborative basis; addressing both catchment and marine issues in an integrated manner; and integrating mätauranga Māori and Western science.

Actualizing marine policy engagement

Authors Winder and Le Heron (2017) call on geographers to engage in marine policy venues associated with the Blue Economy agenda. This commentary suggests a pragmatic approach, drawing on our human–environment and spatial traditions and bridging positivist and critical constructivist epistemologies. Biophysical attributes of ocean environments create diffuse publics. Examples from fisheries and marine planning illustrate how geographers can lend expertise in scalar and socio-spatial complexity.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING AND ITS APPLICATION FOR FLOATING FISH NET CULTURE

Marine spatial planning has become the crucial issues for an archipelagic state such as Indonesia. The global market demand on marine economic species has been initiated the exploitation of the marine species which will become the hindrance in maintaining the sustainable marine biodiversity. Besides that, the degradation of marine species will also become the problem for traditional fishermen. Therefore, a model has to be employed to spatially manage the coastal waters as the alternative for fishermen activities during closed seasons, such as floating fish net culture. The aim of this study was to develop marine spatial planning model based on ecological approach in order to identify the potentiality of marine waters for marine culture such as floating fish net culture. The method for the model consisted of social assessment using the Delphi for developing the rule of marine planning for floating fish net culture and the spatial analysis technique for determining the model of marine spatial planning for floating fish net culture. The area of Kupang Bay waters, East Nusa Tenggara was used as the study area. The result indicated that the model can be used to sustainable marine spatial planning, especially for floating fish net culture. The model considered the aspects of potential area for marine culture, the management of zonation and transportation lanes, the conservation and protected area and the strategic area. Application in Kupang bay illustrated the aspect of technology input such as raceways since the majority of the area of Kupang Bay waters is classified as medium potential. Further research still needs to optimum the application of model to others marine area.

Assessing the significance of the economic impact of Marine Conservation Zones in the Irish Sea upon the fisheries sector and regional economy in Northern Ireland

This paper highlights the tension between advocacy for ‘Blue growth’ in maritime policy and efforts to safeguard future economic growth via the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. In 2015, policy-makers withdrew three of four proposed Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in the Irish Sea from consideration for designation, due to concerns that they could significantly impact on the fisheries sector in Northern Ireland because they overlap with prawn fishing grounds in the Irish Sea. Although research has quantified the potential impact upon fishing vessels, none has quantified the impact upon the fisheries sector nor assessed the significance of this impact. Arguably, MCZ designations (or lack thereof) based on the ‘significance’ of an impact require robust underpinning evidence. This paper reports the findings of an Economic Impact Assessment, which has quantified the impact of a decline in landings upon the Northern Ireland fisheries sector and regional economy (data which is currently absent from the evidence base for the MCZ designation process in England). It finds that this will incur job losses in three fishing ports in Northern Ireland, but is unlikely to have a significant impact upon Northern Ireland's fisheries sector and regional economy in terms of jobs and Gross Value Added (GVA). In the worst case, the resulting economic impact is a decrease of £1.05–1.12m/year GVA in Northern Ireland, which is 1.1% of the contribution of fishing and fish processing to the regional economy. Economic significance assessments, using this methodology, may be useful in supporting the evidence base underpinning MCZ designation and other aspects of marine planning.

Exploring marine spatial planning education: Challenges in structuring transdisciplinarity

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) has experienced vigorous growth on the international scale in recent years, and several practices has emerged from different countries. The demand for specific training in the preparation and implementation of marine planning has therefore already shown itself to be quite relevant on a global scale. Educational initiatives related to MSP have to respond to the increased complexity of MSP, which integrates environmental and economic perspectives on marine resources and maritime sectors, considering governance framework as well as maritime affairs and legislation.This paper aims at addressing the educational and training needs for the development of both academic education and professional training in MSP. Learning skills, contents and methods of an ‘ideal’ MSP course are depicted from widely accepted operative guides on MSP and from the EU Framework Directive on MSP (2014/89/EU). They are considered for the analysis of the current educational offer around MSP, performed in a sample of countries that have already undergone a process of implementation of MSP by Law. As result, beside the great variety of courses, it emerges that MSP education seems to be often regarded from an environmental perspective – in continuity with Integrated Coastal Management education – while planning theory and experiences in MSP are the least represented contents. Results are discussed in relation to three major challenges: i) how educational offer reflects on transdisciplinarity, ii) the role of theory in MSP courses, and iii) the enforceability of Plans as major concern in MSP.

Spatial patterns of seagrass dispersal and settlement

AbstractAimThe movement of propagules among plant populations affects their ability to replenish and recover after a disturbance. Quantitative data on recovery strategies, including the effectiveness of population connectivity, are often lacking at broad spatial and temporal scales. We use numerical modelling to predict seagrass propagule dispersal and settlement to provide an approach for circumstances where direct, or even indirect, measures of population dynamics are difficult to establish.LocationGreat Barrier Reef, Australia.MethodsWe used the finite‐element Second‐generation Louvain‐la‐Neuve Ice‐ocean Model (SLIM) to resolve the hydrodynamics of the central Great Barrier Reef and to simulate the dispersal of seagrass. We predicted dispersal and settlement patterns by releasing 10.6 million passive particles representing seagrass propagules at known sites of seagrass presence. We considered two fractions when modelling seagrass dispersal: floating and suspended propagules. Both fractions were modelled using 34 simulations run for a maximum of 8 weeks during the peak seagrass reproductive period, capturing variability in winds, tides and currents.ResultsThe ‘virtual’ seagrass propagules moved on average between 30 and 60 km, but distances of over 900 km also occurred. Most particle movement was to the north‐west. The season (month) of release and source locations of the particles correlated with their dispersal distance, particularly for particles released offshore, with the complex coastal topography impeding movements close to the coast. The replenishment and recovery potential of the northernmost meadows was influenced by southern meadows. Protected north‐facing bays were less likely to receive particles.Main conclusionsOur approach advances the conservation and management of marine biodiversity by predicting a key component of ecosystem resilience at a spatial scale that informs marine planning. We show a complex interaction among time, wind, water movement and topography that can guide a management response to improving replenishment and recovery after disturbance events.

The use of marine wildlife-watching codes and their role in managing activities within marine protected areas in Scotland

Marine wildlife-watching is a developing industry in Scotland contributing to overall growth and aspirations of the marine tourism sector. Despite European-level legal protection of cetaceans, and Scottish legislation for the protection of seals at designated haul-out sites, there are currently no formal or mandatory regulations to specifically manage tourism activities in relation to marine wildlife. However, most Scottish wildlife-watching operators adopt one, or more, of the five key voluntary codes of conduct which have been developed in the UK since 2003. In this paper, we review the consistency of policy messages and recommendations across voluntary codes of conduct for the UK and Scotland, taking into consideration global use and effectiveness in the use of similar codes. In this context, we specifically examine the potential impacts of wildlife watching and management of future activities, both within and outwith marine protected areas (MPAs) in Scotland. For this, the research also incorporates data from field surveys, in-situ observations and operator questionnaires conducted in Scotland relating to the implementation of the codes in practice. Key findings highlighting inconsistences in some of the key recommendations across the five UK codes in particular, the distance and speed when approaching an animal. However, all of the codes also have some similarities, including advising against deliberate human interaction, e.g. swimming with marine megafauna, including a separate code on basking sharks, published by the Shark Trust in the UK. In light of the growing network of wildlife-focused MPAs in Scotland (in particular the Sea of Hebrides proposed MPA for mobile species), and national aspirations for the growth of the marine tourism sector, we consider the potential implications of unregulated wildlife watching and the conservation objectives of protected areas for marine mammals and basking sharks. We also provide recommendations on how more formal wildlife-watching regulations could enhance MPA effectiveness and contribute to the emerging processes for Regional Marine Plans across Scotland and provide some insights for global marine wildlife tourism.

Capturing Energy from the Motion of the Ocean in a Crowded Sea

ABSTRACTConversion to renewable energy sources is a logical response to the increasing pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Ocean wave energy is the least developed renewable energy source, despite having the highest energy per unit area. While many hurdles remain in developing wave energy, assessing potential conflicts and evaluating tradeoffs with the existing uses is essential. Marine planning encompasses a broad array of activities that take place in and affect large marine ecosystems, making it an ideal tool for evaluating wave energy resource use conflicts. In this study, we used a spatially explicit, open source decision support tool to evaluate wave energy facility development off the U.S. west coast. We then used this output to identify potential conflicts between wave energy facilities and the existing marine uses in the context of marine planning. We found that regions with the highest wave energy potential were distant from major cities and that infrastructure limitations (cable landing sites) restrict integration with the existing power grids. We also identified multiple potential conflicts, including commercial fishing, shipping and transportation, and marine conservation areas. While wave energy generation facilities may be economically viable, we must also incorporate costs associated with conflicts that arise with the existing marine uses.

Integrated terrestrial and marine planning in England’s coastal inter-tidal zone: Assessing the operational effectiveness of the Coastal Concordat

In many countries, the regulation of activities and development in the marine environment has begun to evolve from a compartmentalised, fragmented, sectoral and uncoordinated system into a more strategic, comprehensive, integrated and transparent one. A remaining challenge, however, is the effective integration of marine and terrestrial planning, because the tools and mechanisms necessary for its achievement have been slow to be implemented. The introduction of the England's Coastal Concordat in 2013, as a voluntary framework for better integrating marine and terrestrial planning consents, represents an atypical mechanism to secure these goals. This paper is a preliminary survey of the perceived effectiveness of the Coastal Concordat, based on a survey of 32 professionals from the terrestrial planning authorities, marine statutory agencies and marine-sector businesses. While this evaluation is made less than two years after the introduction of the Coastal Concordat, it is important to undertake a preliminary examination, from various stakeholder perspectives, of the factors likely to be influential in the integration of regulatory systems, before the approach is ‘rolled out’ across other parts of England's inter-tidal coastal zone. The results indicate that the Coastal Concordat has produced benefits for marine planning in coastal areas, but that these improvements are largely experienced within the public sector in terms of better communication, early engagement, and a single point of contact. The marine sector businesses are more neutral about the benefits of the Concordat. It is clear, however, that marine sector businesses must participate in the formulation of any reforms if an effective integrated system of planning and management of coastal environments is to be achieved.

Geographic distance, water circulation and environmental conditions shape the biodiversity of Mediterranean rocky coasts

Ecological connectivity is important for effective marine planning and biodiversity conservation. Our aim was to identify factors important in influencing variation in benthic community structure on shallow rocky reefs in 2 regions of the Mediterranean Sea with contrasting oceanographic regimes. We assessed beta (β) diversity at 146 sites in the littoral and shallow sub-littoral from the Adriatic/Ionian Seas (eastern region) and Ligurian/Tyrrhenian Seas (western region) using a null modelling approach to account for variation in species richness. The distance decay relationship between species turnover within each region and geographic distance by sea was determined using generalised linear models. Mantel tests were used to examine correlations between β diversity and connectivity by ocean currents, estimated from Lagrangian dispersal simulations. Variation in β diversity between sites was partitioned according to environmental and spatial components using a distance-based redundancy approach. Species turnover along a gradient of geographic distance was greater by a factor of 3 to 5 in the western region than the eastern region, suggesting lower con-nectivity between sites. β diversity was correlated with connectivity by ocean currents at both depths in the eastern region but not in the western region. The influence of spatial and environmental predictors of β diversity varied considerably between regions, but was similar between depths. Our results highlight the interaction of oceanographic, spatial and environmental processes influencing benthic marine β diversity. Persistent currents in the eastern region may be responsible for lower observed β diversity compared to the western region, where patterns of water circulation are more variable.

Who cares? European attitudes towards marine and coastal environments

Understanding how the public perceives the marine environment is a central component of the ecosystem approach. Despite the importance of exploring the links between society and the sea, it is still a relatively unexplored dimension of marine science. This paper presents the results of a novel European survey that explores the values, concerns and aspirations of individuals regarding the marine environment in seven countries across four regional seas. It provides an innovative contribution to the literature by refining our knowledge of how public perceptions on the oceans vary significantly by country, region and by demographic variables such as age and gender. Four issues emerge as important from this survey: (1) Concern about the oceans is variable but generally below other environmental concerns in different countries; (2) Ecosystem services, in particular regulatory, cultural and provisioning services that have broader societal relevance are recognised as important by the public; (3) There is a schism between scientific and public perspectives on the key pressures that affect marine systems; and (4) demographic factors such as age or generation can influence perceptions on marine issues more than the proximity of a community to the coastal environment. Public viewpoints on the oceans will play an important, if yet undetermined, role in supporting reforms such as marine planning, the large scale deployment of marine renewables and marine protected areas that have significant social and economic consequences.

Predictive Modelling to Identify Near-Shore, Fine-Scale Seabird Distributions during the Breeding Season.

During the breeding season seabirds are constrained to coastal areas and are restricted in their movements, spending much of their time in near-shore waters either loafing or foraging. However, in using these areas they may be threatened by anthropogenic activities such as fishing, watersports and coastal developments including marine renewable energy installations. Although many studies describe large scale interactions between seabirds and the environment, the drivers behind near-shore, fine-scale distributions are not well understood. For example, Alderney is an important breeding ground for many species of seabird and has a diversity of human uses of the marine environment, thus providing an ideal location to investigate the near-shore fine-scale interactions between seabirds and the environment. We used vantage point observations of seabird distribution, collected during the 2013 breeding season in order to identify and quantify some of the environmental variables affecting the near-shore, fine-scale distribution of seabirds in Alderney’s coastal waters. We validate the models with observation data collected in 2014 and show that water depth, distance to the intertidal zone, and distance to the nearest seabird nest are key predictors in the distribution of Alderney’s seabirds. AUC values for each species suggest that these models perform well, although the model for shags performed better than those for auks and gulls. While further unexplained underlying localised variation in the environmental conditions will undoubtedly effect the fine-scale distribution of seabirds in near-shore waters we demonstrate the potential of this approach in marine planning and decision making.

Selective commercial line fishing and biodiversity conservation co-exist on seamounts in a deepwater marine reserve

Enhanced socio-economic and conservation outcomes for both an existing fishery and a new deep-water marine reserve off eastern Australia were achieved by research that identified additional options for conservation managers. Commercial power hand-line fishing was permitted to continue on productive seamount fishing grounds within the reserve because new information enabled boundaries and zoning proposed in the reserve’s draft Management Plan to be revised and consistent fisheries regulations to be formulated. The draft plan would have removed access to fishing grounds that provide approximately 25% of the annual regional Australian total allowable catch of the premium fishery species, Blue-eye Trevalla (Hyperoglyphe antarctica). Day-time power handline fishing in 280–550m depths on Taupo and Barcoo Seamounts avoided Harrisson’s Dogfish (Centrophorus harrissoni) – the primary species of conservation concern – because the shark is a diel vertical migrator, residing deeper than Blue-eye during the day before ascending to shallower depths at night to feed on micronekton. Harrisson’s Dogfish occurs on several other seamounts where it was previously unrecorded. These results, together with expectation of low mortality of any incidental dogfish bycatch and low impacts on benthic habitats, supported changes to management arrangements which preserve the seamount Blue-eye fishery worth approximately A$1M annually whilst protecting more seamounts and greater areas of benthic habitat in the restricted 200–700m depth range. Research uptake was facilitated by clarifying policy options at a critical stage in the planning process. This required having clearly articulated management objectives that aligned conservation and fishery imperatives, involving knowledgeable fishers in making robust field observations to address specific knowledge gaps and management needs, and identifying the requirements for ongoing fishery monitoring that addresses remaining management uncertainties. This potential to identify win-win outcomes in the Australian marine planning process provides some general signposts for future policy decisions as marine reserve networks are implemented and reviewed, and for scientists wanting to effectively engage in decision-making processes.