To what extent does governance play a role in how effectively a marine protected area in the Irish Sea reaches its biological and socioeconomic goals?

由于人类活动，海洋生物正面临着日益严重的威胁。燃烧化石燃料释放的温室气体以前所未有的速度加速了全球变暖，增加了海洋温度和酸度，造成了毁灭性的后果，如生物多样性的丧失。人类活动还通过过度捕捞、海岸污染、外来入侵物种的引入和栖息地破坏直接影响了海洋生物，据估计，全球60%以上的渔业种群已经崩溃或被过度开发，另有三分之一被充分开发。目前已采用一系列广泛的方法来适当管理和保护海洋资源，例如海洋分区、调节物种的捕捞、实施渔获量限制以及建立海洋保护区(Levine等人，2015年)。海洋保护区是为在面临开发和其他与人类活动有关的威胁时保护海洋生物而设计的，然而它们越来越多地被用于多重目标，例如可持续渔业和经济发展(Christie&Pollnac，2011年)。管理MPA的最有效方法引起了广泛的辩论，一些专家呼吁对多个物种进行基于生态系统的管理，支持传统的单物种渔业管理方法。对MPA没有单一的定义，每一项的作用取决于其具体目标。海洋保护区应同时满足生物物理和社会经济需求(Pomeroy等人，2005年)；换句话说，它们必须确保长期保护物种和栖息地，同时也要考虑生态、政治、经济和社会后果。虽然大多数研究考虑海洋保护区的生物或社会经济成功，但越来越多的研究采取更全面的方法取得成功，在评估中同时考虑生物和社会经济结果。然而，关于什么样的治理安排会带来更好的生物和社会经济结果，文献中存在一个明显的空白。这篇博士论文将集中在爱尔兰海，因为它是一条丰富的水道和战略地缘政治位置。由于没有连接大不列颠和爱尔兰岛的隧道，许多货物和人员的交换都是通过横跨爱尔兰海的船只进行的。它由六个实体(北爱尔兰、爱尔兰共和国、马恩岛、苏格兰、英格兰和威尔士)管辖。虽然它们目前是欧盟成员国(马恩岛除外)，因此受到欧盟指令的约束，如海洋战略框架指令(MSFD)和鸟类与栖息地指令，但它们都有自己的国家组织，负责监督海洋保护区的实施和管理。这项研究旨在了解治理在多大程度上对爱尔兰海海洋保护区如何有效地实现其生物和社会经济目标发挥作用。换句话说，治理的类型是否影响或决定了MPA是否成功？尽管95个地点有近200个海洋保护区(WDPA，2019年)，但对爱尔兰海的海洋保护区缺乏研究。为了探索爱尔兰海海洋保护区的状况，这项研究将分析几个案例研究海洋保护区的治理制度，并比较它们在报告的生物物理和社会经济成果方面的有效性。它还将找出评估报告中的任何数据差距。通过调查和采访当地社区的成员，我还将能够展示沿海居民如何看待海洋保护区，它们的用途和影响。最终，我希望为MPA的管理者、政策制定者、科学家、研究人员和其他利益相关者提供证据，以便更有效地治理他们的MPA。

Marine life is facing increasingly serious threats due tohuman activity . Greenhouse gasesreleased from the burning of fossil fuels have acceleratedglobal warming at an unprecedented rate, increasing oceantemperatures and acidity with devastating consequences,such as biodiversity loss . Human activity has alsodirectly affected marine life through overfishing, coastalpollution, the introduction of invasive alien species, andhabitat destruction, with estimates that over 60% of globalfishery stocks have already collapsed or are overexploited,with an additional one-third being fully exploited. A widearray of methods is currently applied to adequately manageand protect marine resources, such as ocean zoning,regulating the harvest of species, enforcing catch limits, andestablishing marine protected areas (Levine et al., 2015).Marine protected areas (MPAs) are designed for theconservation of marine life in the face of exploitation andother threats related to human activity, however they areincreasingly used for multiple goals, such as sustainablefisheries and economic development (Christie & Pollnac,2011). The most effective way to manage an MPA is widelydebated, with some experts calling for ecosystem-basedmanagement for multiple species in favour of the traditionalsingle-species fisheries management approach. There is nosingle definition of an MPA and the role of each one dependson its specific objectives. MPAs should meet both biophysicaland socioeconomic needs (Pomeroy et al., 2005); in otherwords, they must ensure long-term conservation of speciesand habitats while also considering ecological, political,economic, and social outcomes. While most studies considereither the biological or the socioeconomic success of marineprotected areas, an increasing number of studies take amore holistic approach to success, accounting for bothbiological and socioeconomic outcomes in their assessments. However, there is a clear gap in the literature relating to what kinds ofgovernance arrangements lead to better biological andsocioeconomic outcomes.This doctoral thesis will focus on the Irish Sea because it is abusy waterway and a strategic geopolitical location. As thereis no tunnel linking the islands of Great Britain and Ireland,much of the exchange of goods and people is done via boatacross the Irish Sea. It is under the jurisdiction of six entities(Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man,Scotland, England, and Wales). While they are currentlymembers of the EU (save for the Isle of Man), and are thussubjected to EU directives, such as the Marine StrategicFramework Directive (MSFD) and the Birds & Habitatsdirectives, they each have their own national organisationsoverseeing the implementation and management of marineprotected areas.This research study aims to understand to what extentgovernance plays a role in how effectively a marine protectedarea in the Irish Sea reaches its biological andsocioeconomic goals. In other words, does the type ofgovernance influence or determine whether or not an MPA issuccessful? There is a lack of research on MPAs in the IrishSea, in spite of almost 200 designations across 95 sites(WDPA, 2019). To explore the state of MPAs in the Irish Sea,this research study will analyse the governance regimes ofseveral case study MPAs and compare their effectiveness interms of reported biophysical and socioeconomic outcomes.It will also identify any any data gaps in assessment reports. Bysurveying and interviewing members of the localcommunities, I will also be able to show how costal residentsview MPAs, their uses and impacts. Ultimately, I hope to giveMPA managers, policy-makers, scientists, researchers, andother stakeholders evidence on which to base more effectivegovernance of their MPAs.