Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), as defined in Presidential Executive Order 13158, means any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by federal, state, territorial, tribal, or local laws or regulations to provide lasting protection for all or part of the natural and cultural resources therein. The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) further defines marine protected areas within its jurisdiction as a network of specific areas of marine environments reserved and managed for the primary purpose of aiding in the recovery of overfished stocks and to insure the persistence of healthy fish stocks, fisheries, and habitats. Such areas may be over natural or artificial bottom and may include prohibition of harvest on a permanent or lesser time period to accomplish needed conservation goals.
Eight Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) were established in the South Atlantic region in 2009 through Amendment 14 to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan. The MPAs are intended to be used in concert with traditional management measures to enhance the optimum size, age, and genetic structure of slow growing, long-lived deepwater snapper grouper species. With the establishment of the "Type 2" MPAs, no person may fish for a South Atlantic snapper grouper in an MPA and no person may possess a South Atlantic snapper grouper in an MPA. However, the prohibition on possession does not apply to a person aboard a vessel that is in transit with fishing gear appropriately stowed.
More information is available at <http://www.safmc.net/managed-areas/marine-protected-areas> .