By Richard Bell
One of the issues at the heart of the debate over the proposed Eastern Shore Islands MPA (ESIMPA) is who would have the power to change the rules in the future. Under federal law, DFO is in charge of managing MPAs. In its presentations along the Eastern Shore, DFO officials have said that DFO would create an advisory committee with whom DFO would consult closely. But in the end, DFO would be in charge. However, there are alternatives to this top-down model. In fact, among the thousands of MPAs around the world, community-managed MPAs (CM-MPAs) are common. Even a 30-minute Google search of academic research on CM-MPAs shows that not only are CM-MPAs common; within the first two or three paragraphs of research paper after research paper, the scientists note that the stronger community participation is in the management of an MPA, the more likely it is that that MPA will succeed.
February 26, 2019
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