Current approaches to managing resources in the marine environment often appear to be ineffective because of continuing population and environmental quality declines, thus prompting a search for alternatives. This report identifies a number of issues related to establishing MPAs in the United States. It then considers some of the key issues and potential benefits and costs of designating additional MPAs. As one becomes more specific about possible goals and objectives for an MPA, the question of how MPAs would be defined quickly grows complex. These terms include:
marine reserve , where uses that remove resources are generally prohibited (these areas may also be called ecological reserves); ocean wilderness , like the terrestrial concept for wilderness areas on federal lands where no alterations or activities that leave lasting impacts are permitted, but low-impact recreational activities may be permitted; fully protected marine area , generally a "no-take" area where a wide variety of extractive and consumptive uses/activities are prohibited; national marine sanctuary , a specific designation created in federal legislation more than 30 years ago to ensure conservation and management for areas of special national significance; marine managed area , managing for multiple objectives, where protection is not the only, and may not even be the main, objective; and marine park , similar to the terrestrial concept for a park where recreational activities are allowed and resource conservation is also a goal of the designation. This interest has been heightened by actions initiated by the Clinton Administration and continued by the Bush Administration. This order called for "strengthening and expanding the Nation's system of marine protected areas ... throughout the marine environment ... [to] enhance the conservation of our Nation's natural and cultural marine heritage and the ecologically and economically sustainable use of the marine environment for future generations." On January 6, 2009, President Bush designated three marine national monuments in the Central and Western Pacific under the Antiquities Act of 1906. The three areas include: 
the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument (includes the Marianas Trench, the coral reef ecosystem of the three northern most islands of the Mariana Archipelago, and a series of undersea volcanoes and thermal vents); the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (includes seven central Pacific Line Islands and adjacent waters); and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument (the easternmost Samoan island consisting of pristine and diverse ecosystems). MPA Center Activities

In 2000, the National MPA Center was created to implement E.O. The committee's main purpose is to provide advice to the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior on developing a national system of MPAs. Some of the strongest opposition to MPAs is raised by fishing interests that could be hurt by a designation. Among the most contentious aspects of designating and managing MPAs for fishery management are:
deciding whether and where MPAs might be appropriate for restoring fish populations; deciding whether certain fishing techniques should be limited or prohibited because they capture nontarget species and damage marine habitat; determining how MPA protection would be integrated with other management measures both within and outside the MPA; and understanding the effects of MPAs on the economic, social, and cultural well-being of nearby coastal communities. Many of these can be documented by tracking the experiences and issues addressed both at NOAA's MPA Center and at other organizations around the world charged with MPA-related responsibilities, or by reviewing the types of controversies that have been raised when national marine sanctuaries have been proposed. Congressional Interest

Currently, the National Marine Sanctuary Program is the closest to providing a comprehensive approach to using MPAs. Several bills have been introduced in the 111 th Congress to expand the boundaries of existing National Marine Sanctuaries (NMSs), to prohibit specific activities within NMSs, and to reauthorize the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative Act. 223 and S. 212 would expand the boundaries of Gulf of the Farallones (CA), and Cordell Bank (CA) National Marine Sanctuaries. It authorizes NOAA to designate specific sites for comprehensive and coordinated management and conservation.
There continues to be congressional interest in limiting human activity in certain areas of the marine environment, as one response to mounting evidence of declining environmental quality and populations of living resources. The purposes of proposed additional limits would be both to stem declines and to permit the rehabilitation of these environments and populations. One method of implementing this concept is for Congress to designate areas where activities would be limited, often referred to as marine protected areas (MPAs). Translating the MPA approach into a national program, however, would require that Congress resolve many economic, ecological, and social dilemmas.
The complexity of creating a program is compounded by controversy over the uses that would be allowed, curtailed, or prohibited in MPAs; the purposes of a system of MPAs; and the location, size, and distribution of MPA units. One possible way to get past some of these complexities is to think of MPA designations as a form of zoning in the ocean. Experiences related to designating MPAs in other countries also may be instructive. However, questions have arisen about the effectiveness of administration and enforcement, the benefits and costs of MPAs, and the evaluation of outcomes at some sites.
Numerous marine sites have been designated by federal and state governments for some kind of protection. Perhaps the best-known federal sites are units in the National Marine Sanctuary System. The National Marine Sanctuaries Act authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to designate areas of marine and Great Lakes environments to protect cultural and natural resources. The Bush Administration supported the MPA concept and it continued most of the Clinton Administration initiatives to coordinate protection of marine resources at designated sites, including implementing Executive Order 13158 (May 2000), which endorsed a comprehensive system of MPAs. President Bush designated the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument) in 2006, and the Marianas Trench, Pacific Remote Islands, and Rose Atoll Marine National Monuments on January 6, 2009.
Additional actions by Congress would be needed to create an MPA system that could be characterized as integrated or comprehensive. Some issues that would likely be raised in congressional discussions include whether a comprehensive system is desired or needed; what the basic characteristics of units in any MPA system should be; how MPAs might be used to resolve use conflicts; and whether adequate funding would be authorized and appropriated to both enforce the protected status and evaluate the ecological and social impacts of MPAs. In the 110th Congress, several bills related to MPAs were introduced, including a bill to reauthorize the National Marine Sanctuary Act, but none of the legislation was enacted. In the 111th Congress, bills have been introduced to expand boundaries for the Gulf of the Farallones (CA), Cordell Bank (CA), and Thunder Bay (MI) National Marine Sanctuaries.