Marine Protection in the Gulf of Mexico: Current Policy, Future Options, and Ecosystem Outcomes

Author(s): Linwood Pendleton, Larry Crowder, Daniel Dunn, Clare Fieseler, Morgan Gopnik, Catherine Latanich, Mike Orbach, Steve Roady, Mary Turnipseed, Cindy van Dover

Published: October 2010

download: policy brief (.pdf) >

To better protect ocean ecosystems, policymakers now turn increasingly to the use of marine protected areas and other policies that manage and regulate activities within specific areas of the sea. Well-designed marine protection and spatial planning could contribute to the improved management of the Gulf of Mexico, but only if designed to adequately account for the human, geological, and biological features of the Gulf. The region is characterized by heavy industrial use, deep-sea habitats, economically important yet often depleted fisheries, and human communities that depend on a broad spectrum of ocean uses, including oil and gas extraction, commercial and recreational fishing, and tourism. All of these factors combine to create an integrated, complex Gulf ecosystem that includes nature, humans, and political
institutions.

In this brief paper, faculty, staff, and junior researchers from Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and Nicholas School of the Environment share their thoughts about the ways in which marine protection in the Gulf of Mexico could be designed to account for the region’s unique ecosystem, what types of spatial management and protection could be implemented under existing policies and law, and how these spatial management options might influence future ecosystem health, even in the face of potential human and natural disasters.