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National Marine Sanctuary

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Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
Agency overview
FormedOctober 23, 1972; 52 years ago (1972-10-23)
JurisdictionUnited States federal government
Headquarters1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Employees350
Annual budget$50 million (2016)[1]
Agency executive
  • John Armor, Director of The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries[2]
Parent agencyNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Websitesanctuaries.noaa.gov
Global view of National Marine Sanctuaries extant in 2008.
Undated diagram from 2013 or earlier illustrating the orientation of the then-three marine sanctuaries of Central California: Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones, and Monterey Bay. In October 2024, a fourth sanctuary, Chumash Heritage, was created.
The Office of National Marine Sancturies headquarters staff poses in 2008 with the office's flag and the sanctuary system mascot, Sanctuary Sam.

A U.S. National Marine Sanctuary is a federally designated area within United States waters that protects areas of the marine environment with special conservation, recreational, ecological, historical, cultural, archeological, scientific, educational, or aesthetic qualities.[3] The program was established in 1972 by the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act and is currently administered by the National Ocean Service through the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (NMSA).[4]

While National Marine Sanctuaries are multiple-use areas, the NMSA emphasizes that one of the express purposes of a sanctuary is to “maintain the natural biological communities” and to “protect and, where appropriate, restore and enhance natural habitats, populations, and ecological processes.” The National Marine Sanctuary System consists of 17 marine protected areas that encompass about 785,000 square miles (2,030,000 km2). Individual areas range from less than 1 to 583,000 square miles (3 to 1,509,963 km2).[5]

The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS), a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), administers the 17 national marine sanctuaries. The program began after the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill off the coast of California brought the plight of marine ecosystems to national attention. The United States Congress responded in 1972 with the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act which allowed for the creation of marine sanctuaries. The resources protected by U.S. national marine sanctuaries range from coral reef ecosystems in American Samoa, Florida, Hawaii, and Texas, to shipwrecks in the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean.[6]

The NMSP also is involved in the administration of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, although they are not U.S. national marine sanctuaries. The NMSP jointly administers the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in conjunction with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the State of Hawaii, and it jointly administers the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Scope of protection

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Designation as a National Marine Sanctuary does not automatically prohibit fishing and other activities. Recreational and commercial fishing is allowed in some sanctuaries. It is possible to restrict consumptive or destructive activities through the initial designation process and NMSP actions.[citation needed] There are restrictions in some sanctuaries that are enforced by other governing agencies. For example, current regulations restricting fishing in Stellwagen Bank were not issued by the NMSP, but rather by National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) and the New England Fishery Management Council, which have jurisdiction in federal waters off the New England coast generally.[7] The private nonprofit organization Marine Conservation Institute has compiled fact sheets for each sanctuary listing activities which are directly regulated by the NMSP.[8]

Designating sanctuary sites

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Site selection is done under the auspices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Regional teams of marine scientists identify geographically representative sites for potential marine sanctuaries. NOAA then selects candidate sites and meets with state or territorial resource managers and/or the state or territorial governor's staff to determine the local level of interest in establishing a sanctuary. If there is mutually satisfactory interest, the candidate sites are evaluated through a process of public and legislative review and validated by the United States Congress and state or territorial governments. NOAA initiates the designation by the preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and a proposed management plan, then publishes a notice of its plans in the Federal Register. NOAA sponors regional meetings and public hearings to gather comments. The U.S. Congress receives the draft statements and may conduct its own hearings. NOAA prepares a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) that addresses the concerns raised in the DEIS process and distributes it for comment. Finally, upon approval of the President of the United States, the United States Secretary of Commerce, who oversees NOAA, designates the area as a National Marine Sanctuary. The U.S. Congress and the governor of the state or territory then may formally object to or appeal the designation.[9]

List of U.S. National Marine Sanctuaries

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Name Location Area Designated
National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa Pacific 13,581 sq mi (35,175 km2) April 29, 1986[10]
Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Pacific 1,470 sq mi (3,807 km2) October 2, 1980[10]
Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary Pacific 4,543 sq mi (11,766 km2) October 11, 2024[11][12]
Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary Pacific 1,286 sq mi (3,331 km2) May 24, 1989[10]
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico 3,840 sq mi (9,946 km2) November 16, 1990[13][14]
Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary Gulf of Mexico 160 sq mi (414 km2) January 17, 1992[10]
Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary Atlantic 22 sq mi (57 km2) January 16, 1981[10]
Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Pacific 3,295 sq mi (8,534 km2) January 16, 1981[10]
Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Pacific 1,400 sq mi (3,626 km2) November 14, 1992[10]
Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary Great Lakes 1,722 sq mi (4,460 km2) September 6, 2024[15]
Mallows Bay–Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary Atlantic 18 sq mi (47 km2) September 3, 2019[16]
Monitor National Marine Sanctuary Atlantic 0.785 sq mi (2.03 km2) February 5, 1975[10]
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Pacific 6,094 sq mi (15,780 km2) September 18, 1992[10]
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Pacific 3,189 sq mi (8,260 km2) May 11, 1994[10]
Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Atlantic 842 sq mi (2,180 km2) November 14, 1992[10]
Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Great Lakes 4,300 sq mi (11,137 km2) June 22, 2000[10]
Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary Great Lakes 726 sq mi (1,880 km2) October 9, 2021[17]

NOTES: The National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa originally was named the Fagatelle Bay National Marine Sanctuary.[18] The Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary originally was named the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.[10]

Former sanctuaries

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Name Location Area Designated
Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary Atlantic 103 sq mi (267 km2) December 18, 1975[13][14]
Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary Atlantic 7.04 sq mi (18.2 km2) January 16, 1981[10][13][14]

NOTE: These sanctuaries were subsumed by the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary on November 16, 1990, [13][14] but continued to operate until July 1, 1997, when they were integrated into the Florida Keys sanctuary and redesignated as Existing Management Areas.[19][20][21][22]

In designation process

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Notes

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Citations

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  1. ^ NOAA Budget Summary (PDF). United States Department of Commerce. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  2. ^ "Leadership | Office of National Marine Sanctuaries". Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Leadership. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  3. ^ MPP 1, Angela M. Haren (May 25, 2007). "Reducing Noise Pollution from Commercial Shipping in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary: A Case Study in Marine Protected Area Management of Underwater Noise". Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy. 10 (2): 153–173. doi:10.1080/13880290701347432. ISSN 1388-0292. S2CID 216114235.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "National Marine Sanctuaries Act and Legislation | Office of National Marine Sanctuaries". sanctuaries.noaa.gov. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  5. ^ "National Marine Sanctuary Frequently Asked Questions". sanctuaries.noaa.gov.
  6. ^ Casserley, TR. "Torrid Seas to Icebound Lakes: Shipwreck Investigations within NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries". In: Pollock NW, ed. Diving for Science 2009. Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences 28th Symposium. Dauphin Island, AL: AAUS; 2009. Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. Retrieved March 6, 2013.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ "About: FAQ: Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary". Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  8. ^ National Marine Sanctuaries » Marine Conservation Institute
  9. ^ Fiske, Shirley J. (January 1, 1992). "Sociocultural aspects of establishing marine protected areas". Ocean & Coastal Management. 17 (1): 25–46. doi:10.1016/0964-5691(92)90060-X. ISSN 0964-5691.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Sanctuary Designations & Expansions". NOAA. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  11. ^ "Proposed Designation of Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary | Office of National Marine Sanctuaries". sanctuaries.noaa.gov. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  12. ^ "California's first new national marine sanctuary in 32 years to ban offshore oil drilling along 100 miles of coastline". The Mercury News. September 6, 2024. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  13. ^ a b c d "National Marine Sanctuaries History Timeline". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  14. ^ a b c d "Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary: The Sanctuary". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  15. ^ "Underwater sanctuary plan aims to preserve Lake Michigan shipwrecks off Wisconsin". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  16. ^ "Designation of Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary". www.federalregister.gov. September 9, 2019.
  17. ^ Briscoe, Tony. "Advisory Council Meeting for proposed Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary to meet virtually June 10". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  18. ^ http://americansamoa.noaa.gov National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa. NOAA.gov. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  19. ^ "Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary; Final Rule". govinfo.gov. Federal Register, Vol. 62, No. 20, 4578–4622. January 30, 1997. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
  20. ^ "Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Revised Management Plan". NOAA. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. December 2007. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  21. ^ "Wellwood Reef Restoration: The Project". NOAA. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. September 23, 2023. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  22. ^ Moore, p. 143.

Bibliography

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