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Marine Policy ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Marine Policy

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpol

Governance analysis in the Egadi Islands Marine Protected Area: A
Mediterranean case study

Giovanni D’Anna a, Tomás Vega Fernández a,1, Carlo Pipitone a,n, Germana Garofalo b,
Fabio Badalamenti a

a CNR-IAMC, Sede di Castellammare del Golfo, via Giovanni da Verrazzano 17, 91014 Castellammare del Golfo, Italy
b CNR-IAMC, UOS di Mazara del Vallo, via Luigi Vaccara 61, 91026 Mazara del Vallo, Italy

article info abstract

Article history: The Egadi Islands Marine Protected Area (E-MPA), one of the largest MPAs in European seas, is a clear
Received 23 November 2015 example of a complex protected area where multiple stakeholders such as administrative and political
Received in revised form bodies, enforcement bodies, tourist operators and ﬁshermen coexist in a legislative and management
14 December 2015 scenario characterized by overlapping and sometimes competing institutions and regulations. A gov-
Accepted 16 December 2015 ernance analysis was carried out in April 2012. Semi-structured interviews were conducted amongst
eight stakeholder groups in order to understand their perspectives on the governance of the E-MPA and
Keywords: to collect their views about the main MPA issues. Overall the E-MPA is perceived as a top-down initiative
Governance analysis imposed by politicians without any involvement of the local population. Three categories of conﬂicts
Conﬂicts were identiﬁed: ﬁsheries vs. conservation, tourism vs. conservation and ﬁsheries vs. tourism. Tourist
Stakeholders excursions with large boats are considered among the most impacting activities on the environment as
Management effectiveness well as on small boat renters. Inside the ﬁshing sector strong conﬂicts occur between artisanal ﬁshing
Marine protected areas and illegal inshore trawling, and also between artisanal ﬁshers and recreational ﬁshers who illegally sell
Mediterranean their catch. The MPA management has been weak and inefﬁcient until 2010, when the new MPA director
imparted a new direction to the management based on greater transparency and participation. More
incentives and a wider participation of stakeholders are deemed essential to a more effective manage-
ment of the MPA.

1. Introduction spatial management of human uses in the maritime domain.
However, their success depends on the implementation of a gov-
Sicily, with more than 1000 km of coastline and a population of ernance framework that moves away from a sectoral management
5 million, is one of the Italian regions where marine space is more approach and goes towards an integrated process [2]. The Egadi
intensely used. This is particularly evident in the Strait of Sicily, Islands Marine Protected Area (E-MPA), located in the north-
which is a stretch of sea comprised between the southern coast of western corner of the Strait of Sicily, provides an opportunity to
Sicily, the coast of Tunisia and the waters surrounding the Maltese carry out a governance analysis and to ﬁll an important gap of
archipelago. Fisheries, gas and oil industry, shipping, tourism, and knowledge in the Mediterranean region, from which this case
the need for marine conservation are some of the uses which study is highly representative in terms of management difﬁculties
compete for the same valuable space in this area [1]. Human ac- and opportunities.
tivities refer to sectoral legislation and policies which regulate the
uses, usually on a case-by-case base. There is not any integrated This research followed the governance analysis approach and
marine spatial plan in the area, resulting in inefﬁcient governance. structure developed as part of the MESMA project [3].
As a result, the sustainable use of marine goods and services, as
well as the resolution of conﬂicts among users, is impaired. 1.1. Geographical, socio-economic and political context

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are considered a tool for the The Egadi Islands Archipelago is composed by Favignana,
Marettimo and Levanzo, plus the rocky outcrops of Formica and
n Corresponding author. Maraone. It is located off the westernmost point of Sicily (Fig. 1),
E-mail address: carlo.pipitone@iamc.cnr.it (C. Pipitone). which is an Italian region with an autonomous statute and legis-
1 Present address: CNR-IAMC, UOS di Mazara del Vallo, via Luigi Vaccara 61, lative power in such sectors as tourism and ﬁshing, but not
in marine protected areas. The economy of Sicily is
91026 Mazara del Vallo, Italy.

Please cite this article as: G. D’Anna, et al., Governance analysis in the Egadi Islands Marine Protected Area: A Mediterranean case study,
Mar. Policy (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2015.12.009i

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