Pitcairn Islands: to be the world’s biggest marine protected area

Located in the southern Pacific Ocean and more than 5,000 kilometres from the nearest continent, the four Pitcairn Islands are home to about 50 people and more than 80 marine species. Earlier this year, the UK took a step towards protecting the Pitcairn marine environment and claiming the title of having the largest marine protected area (MPA) in the world.

In its 2015 budget, the UK government announced its intention to establish a vast MPA at the islands. It has been proposed that the protected area will cover 99% of the islands’ waters (834,000 square kilometres), which will be largely closed to fishing. There are caveats to this announcement, however, as the designation of the reserve will depend on procedures for effective enforcement being devised. ‘The government intends to proceed with the designation of an MPA around Pitcairn. This will be dependent upon reaching agreement with NGOs on satellite monitoring and with authorities in relevant ports to prevent landing of illegal catch, as well as on identifying a practical naval method of enforcing the MPA at a cost that can be accommodated within existing departmental expenditure limits,’ reads the 2015 Budget.

Monitoring and enforcement in such a large reserve will be a real challenge and the UK government is working with the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Bertarelli Foundation to develop a satellite monitoring system that will detect illegal fishing in real time. However, this still leaves the challenges of catching and then penalising the offenders.

Regardless of the drawbacks, this is an exceptional opportunity to see a large piece of marine area protected, as only a small fraction of the ocean is currently contained within MPAs.