The number of National Marine Protected Areas has risen by 82 sites, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced recently in a Federal Register notice. All but two of the new sites are in California and were nominated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife; the other two were nominated by the National Park Service.
The MPA Center found them eligible for the national system and placed them on the List of National System MPAs, which now numbers about 1,700 sites in all. Sites in the national system are managed independently, but national system MPA managers collaborate regionally and nationally to conserve important natural and cultural resources.
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