Sea Ecologist Gaines to Devote Pew Award to Marine Reserves

Marine ecologist Steven Gaines, director of UCSB's Marine Science Institute, is one of only five individuals–and just one of two Californians–selected worldwide this year to receive a Pew Marine Conservation Fellowship.

Each Pew Fellow receives $150,000 over three years to carry out innovative, interdisciplinary projects addressing challenges facing marine environments around the globe. For this reason, the Pew is said to be the world's most prestigious award that honors and supports applied ocean conservation science and outreach.

Gaines, who is also the campus's acting vice chancellor for research, will use his fellowship to help implement California's Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA).

Signed into law in 1999, the MLPA requires California to establish a network of science-based marine reserves along the state's extensive coastline. A marine reserve–sometimes called a "no-take" area–protects the entire ecosystem that it encompasses, from fishes, plants, and bird life to the habitats that they depend on.

Many scientific studies have described the worsening state of the world's oceans. A combination of overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution have caused steep and sudden declines in many marine species. A 2003 study published in Nature magazine reported that 90 percent of large fish–tuna, marlin, swordfish, sharks, cod, halibut, flounder, and skate–have been killed just since the early 1990s.

A successful network of marine reserves would "be a landmark event for marine animals and plants," said Gaines. "California is so big that an effective network of reserves along its entire coast could be the first system of reserves approaching a size where it benefits entire species." Such a system of reserves would also help build the long-term future of California's fisheries.

According to Gaines, "Good scientific information on how marine reserves should be designed has only recently emerged. In the past, reserve designs have relied heavily on theory formulated for terrestrial ecosystems, or on no theory at all."

A 2002 report, "The Science of Marine Reserves" by the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO), suggests that the larger the reserve or collection of reserves, the greater the potential effects and the more species that benefit. Gaines, a faculty member since 1994, is a lead investigator for PISCO, which is studying marine ecosystems from Oregon to Southern California.

Creating a single large reserve is often not politically feasible, however, and has been rarely done. Networks of smaller reserves are only beginning to emerge. Far less than 1 percent of the world's oceans are protected in any type of marine reserve, even though evidence is rapidly increasing that reserves can produce many benefits–for humans as well as ocean life–and can produce them quickly for some species.

More information about all the Pew Fellows is available on the PFP website (www.pewmarine.org).

The Pew Fellows Program is an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts, which is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.