Research Reports

Around the globe, nations are creating marine protected areas (MPAs) that prohibit some or all fishing and other potentially harmful activities. MPAs can allow sensitive habitats and ecosystems to prosper in a natural state and can enable recovery of commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries, among other benefits. All too often, however, MPAs exist only on paper. These countries may lack strong legal authority to enable enforcement in their MPAs, further limiting their ability to detect and prosecute offenses.

In February 2015, the Government of Curaçao and the Waitt Institute signed a memorandum of understanding to launch Blue Halo Curaçao (BHC), a comprehensive ocean and coastal management initiative with a goal of achieving the sustainable management of Curaçao’s ocean and coastal waters. BHC seeks to develop a Curaçao Sustainable Ocean Policy that will ensure long-term health of Curaçao’s waters through ocean zoning, protected areas, and fisheries reforms.

Bermuda's nearshore marine environment is a critical economic, environmental, and social resource for the Bermudian people. Bermuda can more effectively manage the uses of its marine environment by undertaking marine spatial planning (MSP) for its nearshore waters. MSP is a public process that organizes human activity in marine areas in time and space to meet environmental, economic, and social objectives.

This report was prepared by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) with the Commons Lab at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. It examines laws and policies that affect public decision makers’ ability to use and rely on information generated by citizen science projects. The report addresses how citizen science programs can be organized, conducted, and communicated to improve public decisions.