Page 2 - DAnna_et_al2016

2 G. D’Anna et al. / Marine Policy ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎
Fig. 1. Map showing the Egadi Islands Marine Protected Area and the spatial extent of existing sectoral initiatives in the MPA and surrounding sea. LFMP ¼ Local Fisheries
Management Plan; NFMP¼ National Fisheries Management Plan.
welfare-dependent and based on agriculture, fishing and tourism
with a high level of unemployment, as is the case in most regions
of southern Italy.
1.2. The history and focus of the E-MPA case study
E-MPA is one of the largest MPAs in Europe, covering 53992 ha
and 74 km of coastline. Like all other Italian marine protected
areas, this one is partitioned into three zones with differing de-
grees of protection [4], plus a fourth zone where all uses are per-
mitted including trawl fishing (Fig. 1). The designation of the
E-MPA in 1991 was the result of political decisions negotiated with
local environmental groups which lobbied the Ministry of the
Environment to create a protected area in order to prevent oil
drilling in adjacent waters [5]. The boundaries and zoning scheme
of the MPA were imposed by the Ministry, which placed the
highest level of protection in ecologically valuable areas that were sectoral initiatives aimed at biodiversity conservation and at sus-
also traditional fishing grounds for the artisanal fishery. Neither
fishermen nor local residents were given the opportunity to dis-
cuss the MPA design, and most of them were obstinately opposed
to its existence from the beginning. After being managed by the
Coast Guard from 1991 to 2000, the management responsibility
was transferred to the Municipality of Favignana in 2001.
The priority objective of the E-MPA is maintaining or restoring
to a favourable conservation status the main natural features of
the marine environment. The 1991 MPA designation decree sets
the following aims: (1) protecting the marine environment;
(2) protecting the marine biological resources; (3) educating the
public about the characteristics of marine habitats; (4) supporting
scientific research; (5) increasing the protection of local
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
archaeological sites; (6) promoting the socio-economic develop-
ment connected to the environmental features of the area.
In an attempt to understand the mechanisms underlying the
functioning of the E-MPA, the effectiveness of its management and
the perceptions of its stakeholders, a governance analysis that
focused on the main initiatives, policies and regulatory framework
concerning the management and conservation of marine resources
in the MPA was undertaken. Previous work in the same geo-
graphical area regarded socioeconomic issues of the small-scale
fishery [5] and aspects of social science investigations applied to
MPA management [6, 7].
1.3. The policy basis
The Egadi archipelago is a complex system of spatially-based
tainable use of natural resources. The E-MPA geographical extent
largely overlaps with the Egadi Archipelago Specially Protected
Area (EU Birds Directive 79/409/EEC) and with the Egadi Archi-
pelago Seabed Site of Community Importance (EU Habitat Direc-
tive 92/43/EEC), which are both spatially nested in the area cov-
ered by the Trapani Local Fisheries Management Plan (LFMP). Fi-
nally, all the above initiatives fall in the area covered by three
National Fisheries Management Plans named ‘GSA 16’, ‘GSA 10’,
and ‘Sicily’ (Fig. 1; Tables 1 and 2). The first executive regulations
of the MPA were approved in 2010 (Table 1) and rule almost all
activities in the E-MPA, although no management plan exists to
date. Enforcement is provided by the Coast Guard and by other
institutional bodies or voluntary associations in agreement with
the MPA management body.