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602 A. H. Himes

management actions or decisions related to an MPA), management must actively pursue
targets that incorporate the needs and interests of all stakeholders (Brown et al., 2001).
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One way to accomplish this is to analyze stakeholder preferences for management
objectives, interventions, and performance indicators. Each can be used to evaluate the
appropriateness and efficiency of MPA management (Brown et al., 2001). Although many
such analyses rely on semi-quantitatively evaluating stakeholder preferences in MPA
management, a more intense multicriteria analysis (MCA) of stakeholder preferences can
be developed to define a concise set of criteria for evaluating protected areas affected
by unique contextual factors. MCA is a decision-making tool developed for complex
problems that allows compromises between conflicting objectives to be analyzed in a
structured framework. By using MCA methods, there does not have to be a consensus on
the relative importance of the criteria or the rankings of the alternatives. Through each
MCA method, respondents enter his or her own judgments about the criteria given, and
make a distinct, identifiable contribution to a jointly reached conclusion. For the purposes
of this study, pairwise comparison (i.e., comparing multiple criteria by pairs and comparing
preferences between pairs) was chosen as an appropriate MCA method, as it focuses on
ranking preferences and is suitable for subsequent statistical analyses (Mardle & Pascoe,
1999; Wattage & Mardle, 2005).
This article considers the development of a representative performance-criteria
hierarchy using data obtained from a pairwise comparison survey based on the Egadi Islands
Marine Reserve (EIMR) in north-western Sicily to investigate priorities for improving
MPA management among stakeholder groups associated with the EIMR. Performance
indicators that cover management, biology, sociology, and economy are considered. The
analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is a common tool used to evaluate preferences for
and importance of a variety of criteria (Saaty, 1977). The AHP offers a methodology to
compare complex performance criteria among diverse groups. It was adopted in this study
to further analyze stakeholder preferences for performance indicators in the EIMR. For the
purposes of this study, the definition of MPA as defined in Italian law is used: “Area of the
marine environment, with water, sea bottom and tracts of adjacent coastline that represent
important natural, geomorphological, physical, biochemical characteristics, with particular
relevance to the marine and coastal flora and fauna and to the scientific, ecological, cultural,
educational and economic importance that they represent” (Law 979/1982).

Egadi Islands Marine Reserve
Sicily is perhaps the ideal setting for an examination of the evolution and performance
of MPAs in Italy and the Mediterranean. There is tremendous diversity in the types of
marine resources that its MPAs protect and in the degree to which each has achieved that
protection. The Egadi Islands Marine Reserve was chosen for the present research due to its
dramatic history, the poor level of performance of the MPA, the large variety of interested
stakeholders, and its placement in the poorest region of a highly developed country.
The Egadi Islands are located directly west of the city of Trapani at the western-most
point of Sicily. The EIMR was created around the Islands in 1991, one of 23 established by
the Law for the Defense of the Sea (L979/1986 Legge per la Difesa del Mare) off the coast
of Italy. The MPA stretches westward off the coast of Trapani encompassing three islands,
Favignana, Marettimo, and Levanzo, and two rocky outcroppings. It covers approximately
53,000 ha, divided into four zones ranging from two no-take zones to zones with minimal
restrictions, and 22 kilometers of protected coastline (Figure 1).