American Fisheries Society Symposium 42:185-193,2004 @ 2004 by the American Fisheries Society Why Have No-Take Marine Protected Areas? JAMES A. BOHNSACKl Southeast Fisheries Science Centel; NOAA Fisheries, 75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, Florida 33149, USA JERALD S. AULT University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries,4600 RickenbackerCauseway, Miami, Florida 33149, USA BILLY CAUSEY Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Post Office Box 500368, Marathon, Florida 33050, USA Abstract.-Although the title of this symposiumimplied a focus on fully protected marine areas, most presentations actually dealt with a range of traditional "marine protected areas" or "marine managed areas" that offer less than "full" resource protection. Somepresentations noted a backlash against establishing no-take reserves.Here we provide 17 reasons why there is a strong scientific, management, and public interest in using no-take marine reserves to build sustainable fisheries and protectmarine ecosystems. We also discuss some underlying technical and philosophical issuesinvolved in the opposition to their usage. Introduction ing and other extractive useswith limited exceptions for research and education by permit(Ballantine 1997). Becauseof the many different terms that have been used to describemarine reserves, the terminology is oftenconfusingto both scientists andthe public. Com- mon term~ used to describemarine reserves include no-take areas, nonconsumptive areas, fisheryreserves (PDT 1990), marine ecological reserves, sanctuary preservationareas(USDOC 1996), research natural areas (Brock and Culhane 2004, this volume), fully protected areas (Roberts andHawkins 2000), andsanc- tuary, outside the USA. Closing areasto fishing has long been widely practiced in fishery managementin historical and modem timesto protect critical habitat, restore depleted species, and protect vulnerable stocks at spawning aggregation sites (e.g.,Beverton and Holt 1957).Most closures, however, have beeneither seasonal, applied only to specific species, or have beenlimited to re- strict certaindestructive or wastefulfishing methods. Rarelyhaveareas been permanently closed to all types of fishing. Modem fisheriesinterest in marinereserves began in the 1980sas a way to both protect marine ecosystem biodiversity andbuild sustainable fisheries (PDT 1990; Bohnsack 1996; Bohnsack and Ault Marine protected areas are used increasingly to man- age marine resources, but they often mean different things to different people, based primarily onthe level of protection they provide. The World Conservation Union defined marine protected areas (MPAs) as "any areaof the intertidal or subtidal terrain, together with its overlying water and associatedflora, fauna, his- torical and cultural features, which has been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosedenvironment" (IUCN 1994; Kelleher 1999). In the USA, Presidential Executive Order 13158provided a similar definition: "any areaof the marine environment that has been reservedby Fed- eral, State, territorial, tribal or local laws or regula- tions to provide lasting protection for part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein." Under these broad definitions, a wide variety of sitescould becon- sidered as MPAs. We focus on "marine reserves,"here defined as marine protected areas permanently closedto all fish-