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Oftentimes, revenues derived from non-extractive uses compare favorably with other more damaging uses of the ocean. For example, consider that whale watching globally generates more than 1 billion USD in revenue per year (Greenpeace 2007a). For Iceland in particular, whale-watching generated around 8.5 million USD per year in revenue, as compared to an average of 3.5-4 million USD from whaling in the years before the onset of the IWC moratorium (Greenpeace 2003). In acknowledgement of such economic realities, the government of Iceland announced in 2007 that it would no longer be issuing commercial whale-hunting quotas (Greenpeace 2007b)*
Education:
Marine Protected Areas can be a fantastic resource for ocean education. Bringing awareness of ocean and environmental issues through tourism and visitation is an effective form of mass education. For a public that is generally aware of the wonder of the marine ecosystem, an experience with snorkeling or glass-bottomed boats could be truly amazing. If even a few can be truly inspired by an experience with a relatively pristine ecosystem, then the endeavor will have been a success. Such experiences can be formalized and reinforced by knowledgeable park staff, informational displays, and other techniques common to national parks and other environmental areas worldwide.
Of course, the educational benefits of marine reserves should not be limited to those with physical access to the reserves. Modern technology, such as webcams and internet connections can bring substantial contact with Marine Reserves to people and classrooms world wide. Integrated undersea data and sensor networks, similar to the pioneering Monterey Accelerated Research System can provide continuous, detailed scientific information about the Marine Reserves and to all who seek it (MBARI 2007). Scientific information and corresponding visuals can be effectively integrated into all levels of formal education, from grade school to professional research. Simple exposure to ocean literacy in school will create a more environmentally aware populace. In addition, Education is easily promoted through MPAs. Bringing awareness through tourism is a fantastic form of mass education. School age kids can be educated with field trips to the MPA and school age kids is where the future of our oceans lie. In addition to the fact that kids often bring what they learned from school trips home with them . MPAs make it easier to increase public access to information about marine areas. Visitor centers, museums, and tourist boat trips are how knowledge of the fishery problem will become public.will further broaden the potential reach of marine reserves.
Furthermore, Indeed, physical access to the reserve is not even necessary for educational benefits. Another major educational benefit is that MPAs are a great resource for collecting research data and excellent areas to set up oceanic laboratories. MPAs are capable of uniting enhancing marine research like as with the Ecological Characterization Project undertaken by the National Marine Protected Areas Center. The information about the project can be found at <http://mpa.gov/pdf/national-system/wcp-eco-character-june9.pdf>. NationalMarineProtectedAreasCenter (2006). The creation of a scientific journal dedicated to the dissemination of research undertaken in MPAs and Marine reserves would also be a useful tool for education. Additionally the profits of such a journal (from membership fees and subscriptions) could be distributed back to the MPA from which the data were collected.
MPAs are capable of great feats of research feats and simply need to be used accordingly. (U.S. Department, 2007)and education when used appropriately. With increased exposure to ocean information, mediated by MPAs, public knowledge of the world ocean problem can be commonplace.