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 The
responses of rockfish and lingcod to the creation
of a refuge may take some time to be fully
observed. The younger Shady Cove refuge near
Friday Harbor had only been in existence for
seven years when the study period ended (
for four years when the study began). Copper
rockfish were about twice as dense at the
Shady Cove refuge as at nearby fished site,
but there were no differences in sizes between
the refuge and fished sites. Lingcod were
more abundant at the San Juan refuge than
at the fished site and larger lingcod were
more frequent in the refuge as well. Lingcod
surveyed during their spawning season had
three times the number of nests in the Shady
Cove refuge than in the fished area.
The
abundance and size results from the Puget
Sound study suggest that the reproduction
per acre in a long-term MPA is 20 or more
times greater than nearby fished sites, a
finding that indicates fished populations
are far below the best reproductive conditions
under optimal fishing conditions.
The
benefits of marine refuges
These results clearly show that rockfish and lingcod increase in abundance
and size with harvest closures even in small areas such as the Edmonds
Underwater Park. The corollary to this finding is that, to a great degree,
fishing controls the abundance and size of fishes living on reefs in
Puget Sound. While the theory of fishing predicts great differences between
fished and unfished populations, the observed differences between fished
and refuge sites in Puget Sound likely exceed the expectations for a
healthy population. These results for rockfish and lingcod are similar
to findings in British Columbia, California, and offshore Washington.
The response of rockfish and lingcod to refuge protection is also consistent
with a growing body of scientific literature from around the world that
finds fish and large invertebrates are larger, more abundant, and have
more reproductive output in refuges than in fished sites.
 The
implications for traditional management techniques
such as size limits, seasons, and bag limits
may indicate that these are only partially
effective at managing slow growing, late maturing,
and territorial species such as rockfish and
lingcod. There may be greater ecological and
evolutionary aspects that can not be adequately
controlled by traditional management techniques.
For example, we are only now beginning to
understand such issues as genetic overfishing,
vulnerability of rare species, collapse of
age and size structure, changes in growth
and maturity schedules, and predator-prey
relationships. These shortcomings of traditional
management and the findings of WDFW and other
researchers are fueling the creation of a
system of marine refuges in Puget Sound, Washington,
and other parts of the world.
Creating
reserves may have other benefits besides restoring
and protecting habitat and fish populations.
Edmonds Underwater Park is the most popular
dive spot in Washington where the large lingcod
and rockfish are watchable wildlife. The WDFW
refuges established in Hood Canal have also
become popular dive sites. These areas may
have potential economic benefit to surrounding
communities.
A
marine refuge network for Puget Sound
For exploited populations, the main benefit of creating more refuges
may be that they will act as natural hatcheries to produce young. The
offspring produced will not only sustain populations at the refuge site
but will be exported to nearby fished sites where they will grow and
contribute to sustainable fisheries. There are many other reasons to
create marine refuges and they are as diverse as those for protecting
ancient forests. Marine refuges can protect biodiversity, preserve age
and size structure, and maintain ecosystem integrity. The role of marine
refuges has already been identified by WDFW as a fisheries management
tool in the Puget Sound Groundfish Management Plan and by the Washington
Fish and Wildlife Commission's policy on MPAs. These documents cite MPAs
as a method to preserve habitat, fisheries, recreation and heritage.
 Within
Washington, the successful creation of a system
of no-harvest refuges certainly depends upon
co-management with Washington Treaty Tribes.
Each tribe has rights to harvest in their
usual and accustomed fishing, which may include
existing or potential MPA sites. WDFW looks
forward to discussions regarding co-management
of the state's groundfish resources and to
cooperative development of management approaches
for these species, including a network of
marine reserves.
A
host of other state and federal initiatives
are taking place to develop a network of refuges
and MPAs not only in Puget Sound, but around
the country. Among state agencies, the Department
of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Puget Sound
Action Team have been developing MPA programs.
DNR has been creating aquatic reserves, which
are areas withdrawn from leasing to protect
habitat and the so-called "embedded resources" such
as clams, oysters and mussels. The Puget Sound
Action Team has identified creating an MPA
network as a feature of the Puget Sound Plan,
and has formed a coordinating committee to
foster MPA development. The federal government
has created the MPA Initiative to help agencies
and states create a national MPA network.
In addition, Congress has created and funded
the Northwest Straits Initiative -- a program
to create citizen-based stewardship of marine
resources in northern Puget Sound.  The
Northwest Straits Initiative includes a commission
composed of appointees and one member from
each of the seven county Marine Resource Committees.
These voluntary committees and the NW Straits
Commission are charged with creating a system
of MPAs in the next few years. To this mix,
add University researchers and a host of non-governmental
organizations such as People for Puget Sound,
The Nature Conservancy, the Center for Marine
Conservation, and many others who are busy
planning and advocating for the creation of
an MPA network.
There
are many avenues to approaching MPAs, and
citizen participation is a natural and desired
feature of a successful network. Already,
the San Juan County Marine Resources Committee
has created the Bottomfish Recovery Program,
which consists of a series of eight voluntary
refuges. At the Edmonds Underwater Park, the
amount of nesting lingcod has compelled a
group of volunteers to conduct weekly survey
dives during the winter to monitor nesting
activity. The diving community has also been
integrally involved in proposing and adopting
marine refuges in Hood Canal and Puget Sound.
The
field of MPA and marine refuge science and
management has many questions and challenges
in the near- and long-term future. MPAs will
continue to come into the limelight, and WDFW
will be intimately involved in the creation
of a science-based network in Puget Sound
and along the coast. The challenges are exciting
and the potential for restoring and conserving
marine populations and ecosystems is great.
 Definitions
Marine
Protected Area: The generic term for an
area in which some or all resources are protected
by law or other effective means. Protection
might be related to restrictions on harvest
or impacts from other activities.
Marine
Refuge: As used in this article, a marine
refuge is an area where fishing is not allowed.
Conservation
Area: Under WDFW regulations, an area
where all harvest is closed.
Marine
Preserve: Under WDFW regulations, an
area where harvest of most species is closed.
Transgenic: Something
that crosses generations. In marine fish research,
transgenic marking involves marking adult
fish so they will produce marked juveniles.
Marine
Sanctuary: As used at the federal level,
a National Marine Sanctuary is a marine
area designated under federal rules. Fishing
is not precluded but areas may be considered
for closure in the management plan for each
sanctuary. Extraction of non-renewable resources
is generally precluded.
Related
research
The research on the response of rocky
reef fishes to marine refuges has been primarily
funded by federal Sportfish Restoration Act
sources. While these funds have been eliminated
for Puget Sound marine fish studies, state funds
under the year 2000 supplemental budget for
bottomfish recovery in Puget Sound have continued
support for establishing and monitoring marine
protected areas in Puget Sound. WDFW staff are
continuing and expanding their monitoring to
survey new refuges as they are created. In addition,
they are identifying the criteria for selecting
individual refuges and forming a network of
refuges. A new marking technique has also been
under development as a cooperative project with
a Tacoma aquarium. It involves marking juveniles
while still carried as eggs in adult females.
If continued tests prove the approach successful,
so-called "transgenic marking" may become a
way to trace the offspring produced in marine
refuges.
 Related
work on bottomfish and marine refuges consists
of stock assessments using fishery information
and regional surveys funded by general and
supplemental funds. On the Washington coast,
WDFW staff is participating in interstate
and federal committees examining the roles
of MPAs in ocean fisheries management and
conserving essential fish habitat.
WDFW
staff is using the results from refuge studies
and regional surveys in study and planning
efforts of other entities including Washington
Treaty Tribes, the University of Washington,
Friday Harbor Laboratories, The Nature Conservancy,
and People for Puget Sound.
Related
links
For
further information, visit the websites of the
following organizations:
Federal
Government's National MPA Initiative:
http://www.mpa.gov
Consensus
of marine scientists views calling for the
creation of MPAs via the University of California,
Santa Barbara:
http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/consensus
Northwest
Straits Initiative and the role of MPAs
at the Northwest Strait Commission: http://www.nwstraits.org
San
Juan County Marine Resources Committee and
the Bottomfish Recovery Project: http://co.san-juan.wa.us/mrc
The
planning for the Orca Pass MPA through the
People for Puget Sound:
http://pugetsound.org/mpa
Author
Biography
 Wayne
Palsson is a Fish and Wildlife Biologist
for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
and studies groundfish populations in Puget
Sound. For over 20 years, he has focused on
saltwater fishes in Puget Sound . Palsson has
worked for WDFW for over 16 years. He graduated
with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Zoology from
the University of California at Berkeley in
1977, and received a Master of Science degree
in Fisheries Science from the University of
Washington in 1984. As WDFW's senior groundfish
biologist for Puget Sound, Palsson conducts
stock assessments, advises fishery managers
and leads surveys and studies designed to understand
the ecology and fisheries of groundfish resources
. He has been the lead investigator monitoring
marine refuges in Puget Sound and has been
contributing to the criteria for designing
a refuge network.
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