Global Marine Protected Areas: Proposal, announcement, and implementation

Jahat Ahlai Garcia Martinez 1 ; Vitaz, Xanthe1; McDonald, Gavin1; Bone, Jennifer1

Published Oct 28, 2025 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0p2ngf2f1

Data files

Oct 28, 2025 version files 169.39 KB

FINAL_Jahat_Garcia_-_MPA_DATA_SET_-_mpa_atlas_export.csv

166.47 KB
README.md

2.92 KB

Oct 28, 2025 version files 169.39 KB

FINAL_Jahat_Garcia_-_MPA_DATA_SET_-_mpa_atlas_export.csv

166.47 KB
README.md

2.92 KB

Abstract

Most large-scale conservation policies are anticipated or announced in advance. This risks the possibility of preemptive resource extraction before the conservation intervention goes into force. We use a high-resolution dataset of satellite-based fishing activity to show that anticipation of an impending no-take marine reserve undermines the policy by triggering an unintended race-to-fish. We study one of the world’s largest marine reserves, the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), and find that fishers more than doubled their fishing effort once this area was earmarked for eventual protected status. The additional fishing effort resulted in an impoverished starting point for PIPA equivalent to 1.5 y of banned fishing. Extrapolating this behavior globally, we estimate that if other marine reserve announcements were to trigger similar preemptive fishing, this could temporarily increase the share of overextracted fisheries from 65% to 72%. Our findings have implications for general conservation efforts as well as the methods that scientists use to monitor and evaluate policy efficacy.

Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.0p2ngf2f1

Description of the data and file structure

This dataset compiles key temporal milestones for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) across the globe. It records the initial proposal, public announcement, and formal implementation dates of MPAs, alongside source documentation for each date. These data were collected to support research on the Blue Paradox effect, where anticipation of protection may lead to preemptive increases in resource extraction.

The dataset includes MPA-level metadata such as site names, designations, and governance identifiers to allow cross-referencing and standardization.

Files and variables

FINAL_Jahat_Garcia_-MPA_DATA_SET-_mpa_atlas_export.csv

Each row corresponds to a unique MPA or MPA zone. The dataset contains the following fields:

Data Source: The primary reference or database from which the entry was derived (e.g., MPA Atlas, government legislation, NGO reports).
Name: The official name of the Marine Protected Area.
Designation: The legal or policy designation of the MPA (e.g., National Park, No-Take Reserve).
Site ID: Unique identifier for the MPA site, consistent with international databases when possible.
Zone ID: Unique identifier for the specific zone within an MPA, if applicable.
Initial Proposal Date (YYYY-MM-DD): The earliest documented date when the MPA was formally proposed.
Initial Proposal Date Source: The reference documenting the proposal date (e.g., management plan, government announcement, archival report).
Announcement Date (YYYY-MM-DD): The date when the MPA’s designation was first officially or publicly announced.
Announcement Date Source: The reference documenting the announcement date.
Implementation Date (YYYY-MM-DD): The date when the MPA’s legal protections or regulations formally entered into force.
Implementation Date Source: The reference documenting the implementation date (e.g., legislation, decree, gazette notice).

Code/software

The dataset is provided in .csv format, which can be opened and analyzed using free or open-source software such as LibreOffice Calc (version 7.6 or later) or Google Sheets.

Access information

This dataset was derived and compiled from publicly available sources on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The primary source is: MPA Atlas (Marine Protection Atlas, March 2025 release). Accessible at: https://mpatlas.org. Additional sources include government legislation, official gazettes, management plans, and NGO reports, each cited within the dataset under the respective “Source” columns (Proposal, Announcement, Implementation). These documents are publicly accessible through national or regional government websites or archival portals where available.