The Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act

• Author: Valerie Ann Lee/P.J. Bridgen
• Pages: 87-96

Page 87

Chapter 7

The Marine Protection,

Research, and Sanctuaries Act

7.1 Introduction

In January 1992, Kane Fisher set out into the Atlantic waters o of Grassy Key in Florida in search of trea-

sure. What he found was liability in the amount of $600,000 and forfeiture of all the artifacts he had col-

lected. Fisher had conducted his salvaging within the boundaries of a National Marine Sanctuary (NMS),

essentially an “underwater national park,” leaving more than 600 blowholes (20 to 30 feet in diameter and

3 to 5 feet in depth) in his wake.1

Kane Fisher (and others) is now keenly aware that the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act

(MPRSA)2 can be an important tool for trustees to recover natural resource damages (NR Ds). is chapter

outlines the MPRSA’s NRD provisions and the case law surrounding them.

7.2 Overview of Areas Under the Protection of MPRSA

e NMSs include 13 areas protected for t heir conservation, recreational, ecological, historical, cultural,

archaeological, scientic, educational, or aesthetic qualities. e rst sa nctuary was established in 1975 to

protect the wreckage of the USS Monitor, a Civil War ironclad wrecked 16 miles o the coast of North

Carolina. Four sanctuaries are found o t he coast of California: t he Channel Islands protect exceptional

breeding grounds, giant kelp forests, whales, and dolphins; the Cordell Bank ensures continued exceptional

feeding grounds and nutrient-rich waters at the edge of the continental shelf; the Gulf of the Farallones

preserves tidal area s and deeper waters, as well as seals, sea lions, and the large st concentration of breeding

seabirds in the continental United States; and Monterey Bay balances recreational and commercial use with

abundant marine life. Further north, the Olympic Coa st Sanctuary in Washington serves as habitat for

diverse marine mamma l fauna and the Pacic yway.3

In the Pacic Ocean, the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale Sa nctuary is a safe haven and breeding

ground for two-thirds of the entire North Pacic humpback whale population, and the Fagatele Bay Sanc-

tuary in American Samoa boasts the only true tropical coral reef in the sanctuary system, which is also a

habitat for numerous species of tropical sh, invertebrates, and algae, as well as shelter for humpback a nd

sperm whales and hawksbill and green sea turtles.4

On the Atlantic side of t he United States, in addition to the Monitor Sanctuary, Stellwagen Bank in

Massachusetts protects rich shing grounds and whale-watching activities. Gray’s Reef in Georgia is one

of the largest nearshore sandstone reefs in the southeastern United States. e Florida Keys, in addition to

being a resort destination, is itself a marine sanctuary and includes coral reef, sea grass beds, and fringing

mangroves. In the Gulf of Mexico, o the coasts of Louisiana and Texas, the Flower Garden Banks Sanctu-

1. See United States v. Fisher, 977 F. Supp. 1193 (S.D. Fla. 1997), a’d, 174 F.3d 201 (11th Cir. 1999), cert. denied, Fisher v. United States, 528

U.S. 1022 (1999).

2. e Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act is codied at various section of the U.S. Code discussed below.

3. See National Oceanic & Atmospheric Admin., National Marine Sanctuaries Program, http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/ (last visited Mar. 25, 2013).

4. Id.