¹The Senior Advisor for International Science Policy National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, D.C., USA

michael.crosby@noaa.gov

　

²Aqaba Social Economic Zone Authority, JORDAN

³Marine Science Station, JORDAN

⁴Nature and Parks Authority, ISRAEL

⁵Hebrew University, ISRAEL

　

To facilitate the incorporation of new and existing knowledge into Gulf of Aqaba management and policy decisions, a new paradigm for the interaction and role of integrated, multi-disciplinary science, management and education/outreach efforts has been developed. A pioneering effort to employ and test this new paradigm is being implemented through the Red Sea Marine Peace Park Cooperative Research, Monitoring and Management Program (RSMPP Program). The unique RSMPP Program is a joint undertaking between the government of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan that fosters trans-boundary cooperation leading to greater conservation and sustainable use of the outstanding coral reef ecosystem resources.

　

The goal of the RSMPP Program is to provide resource managers in Israel and Jordan the scientific understanding of the basic physical, chemical, and biological processes in the Gulf of Aqaba, and the impacts of human activities on those resources and processes. This cooperative venture is enabling the countries to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of their management efforts. The project is helping to strengthen the management and administrative abilities of the marine park staff offices to implement similar policies and regulations, and establish stronger communication and cooperation efforts between the countries' scientific community and resource managers. Under the RSMPP Program, scientific institutions in Jordan and Israel work together, using comparable methodologies, research protocols, and integrated data management to develop a comprehensive data set that facilitates analysis of the Gulfs condition, so that management is able to make comparable assessments and policies. The lessons learned through the RSMPP Program and its new paradigm approach for interactions between and amongst scientists, resource managers, policy makers and the public are transferable and have applicability for promoting similar trans-boundary partnerships in the Pacific.

　

　

Department of Lands and Natural Resources, Division of Fish and Wildlife Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Saipan, MP

mstdfw@itecnmi.com

　

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) are a relatively new concept. The purpose of MPAs is to enhance fish resources by protecting sections of the reef to serve as brood-stock and to provide fish 'spill-over' into adjacent areas. The measure of the early success of MPAs hinges partly on the ability to measure fish abundance via valid statistical estimation methods.

　

Reef fish abundances in two CNMI MPAs were estimated utilizing a stratified sampling approach. The Sasanhaya Bay Fish Reserve in Rota was surveyed annually over a three-year period, while the Managaha Marine Conservation Area in Saipan was estimated biannually over a two-year period. Initial stratifications were based on qualitative habitat characteristics, with subsequent stratifications incorporating sampling variance.

　

Sampling methodology was evaluated for multiple versus single fish counter effects by assessment of error structure. Estimates of precision for varying levels of sampling effort were generated using computer simulations from sampled data sets.

　

The ability to generate reliable estimates of fish abundance requires consistency in the fish counter, as well as identification of appropriate statistical strata. Providing a standardized, repeatable sampling scheme is essential to evaluating the success of MPAs over the long-term.

　

　

Metocean Environment Inc. Naha, Okinawa, JAPAN

fshuichi@notes.metocean.co.jp

　

Japanese marine park was established in 1970 by amending the Natural Parks Law. First designated parks were 10 sites and 257.4 ha in area that occupied 0.008% of coastal area shallower than 20 m in depth. Average area of a unit in park was only 7.4 ha. However the parks have grown 6.3 times in number of sites, 3.9 in units, 10 in areas, 1.6 in average area and 2.5 in average unit area for 32 years. Park enlargement has been helped by existence of hermatypic coral communities distributing in northern limit of the north Pacific Ocean. Because those communities have been evaluated as rare marine species in the mainland Japan that locates in high latitude, they have been designated as marine parks without strong opposite from fishermen who usually hate to set park. Local communities hoped economical development by diving tourism in parks. As result, coral parks dominate 83% in area of the Japanese marine parks. Such experiences suggest that rare species can contribute for setting marine parks.