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Home | Habitat Conservation Division | Essential Fish Habitat | Marine Protected Areas
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Marine Protected Areas

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Six Lingcod resting among some coral on the Sitka Pinnacles
Six lingcod resting on the Sitka Pinnacles.
Photo: Victoria O'Connell, ADF&G.

The term “Marine Protected Area” (MPA) refers to an area of the marine or coastal environment that is afforded some degree of legal protection for natural and/or cultural resources. MPAs have been used effectively both nationally and internationally to conserve biodiversity, manage natural resources, protect endangered species, reduce user conflicts, provide educational and research opportunities, and enhance commercial and recreational fisheries. Numerous MPAs are in effect in Alaska.

MPA is a general term that includes a wide variety of levels of resource protection. Some people think MPAs are the same as marine reserves (no-take areas), but marine reserves are simply one type of MPA. Many MPAs are multiple-use areas where a range of human activities are allowed.



Sitka Pinnacles Marine Reserve
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An area known as the Sitka Pinnacles, located off Cape Edgecumbe in the Gulf of Alaska, has been closed to all bottom fishing and anchoring since 1999 to protect lingcod, rockfish, and corals.

  • 65 FR 67305, November 9, 2000. Prohibition of Groundfish Fishing and Anchoring in Sitka Pinnacles Marine Reserve - GOA Amendment 59, and changes to the IFQ fishery and halibut sport fishery regulations. Effective December 11, 2000
  • 65 FR 39342, June 26, 2000. Prohibition of Groundfish Fishing and Anchoring in Sitka Pinnacles Marine Reserve - GOA Amendment 59
  • 65 FR 30559, May 12, 2000. Prohibition of Groundfish Fishing and Anchoring in Sitka Pinnacles Marine Reserve - GOA Amendment 59


    Habitat Areas of Particular Concern
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    Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPCs) are subsets of Essential Fish Habitat, as identified under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management, Act, and considered ecologically important, sensitive to or stressed by human perturbations, or rare. For more information on HAPCs, visit www.fakr.noaa.gov/habitat/efh.htm.


    National Marine Protected Areas
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    For information related to Executive Order 13158 (May 26, 2000) on Marine Protected Areas, visit www.mpa.gov.
  • 70 FR 7926, February 16, 2005. Notice of a public meeting concerning the development of a national system of marine protected areas.





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