Marine protected areas (MPAs) are vital tools for conserving the ocean’s most unique and valuable resources.
MPAs cover 3.2 million square kilometers (26%) of US marine waters, and protect nationally important marine
resources, including fish, minerals, and a rich record of human history (NOAA, 2017a).
The US National Marine Sanctuary System includes 13 national marine sanctuaries (NMS) and two of the four
US marine national monuments within the US Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and Great Lakes. Across all national
marine sanctuaries, approximately $8 billion is generated annually in local coastal- and ocean-dependent econ-
omies from activities such as commercial fishing, research, and recreation (NOAA, 2017b). This figure does not
include the net economic value—the value received by a consumer of a good or service over and above what the
consumer is required to actually pay to receive the good or service. The estimated net economic value of the Main
Hawaiian Islands coral reefs alone is $33.57 billion (Bishop et al., 2011).
While scientists knew enough about these places to inform the process that made them sanctuaries and
monuments, much remains to be learned. The nation’s ocean exploration program therefore includes a focus
in and near MPAs. In 2016, E/V Nautilus explored and documented five West Coast sanctuaries (pages 32–39),
NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer focused on US MPAs in the central and western Pacific (pages 53–73), and
R/V Falkor’s work ranged from the tropical to the western Pacific, including the Marianas Trench Marine National
Monument (page 81).
These expeditions increased US knowledge of MPAs and laid a foundation upon which further work can be
built. The expeditions’ use of telepresence brought together scientists and the public to watch dives as they were
being conducted and to participate in exploration of the deep sea in real time. Whether the ships were far out in
the Pacific or near coastal communities, the larger community saw that discovery and learning were happening in
US waters. Social media, live- streamed Internet broadcasts, special educational programs, and news stories shared
the process of exploration and the discoveries that underscored why marine protected areas are valuable, and
they told the stories that continue to emerge from the depths of these valuable and unique places.
Octopus, Farallones Escarpment.
Photo credit: OET
Octocoral Anthomastus spp., Farallones
Escarpment. Photo credit: OET
The Value of Marine Protected Areas to the Nation
By James P. Delgado, Mitchell Tartt, Matthew Stout, Katie Wagner, and Sarah Marquis