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.
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]
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 organizationMarine Conservation Institute has compiled fact sheets for each sanctuary listing activities which are directly regulated by the NMSP.[8]
Designating sanctuary sites
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]
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]
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]
