The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

Our country’s National Marine Sanctuary System was developed with the mission to "serve as the trustee for the Nation’s system of marine protected areas to conserve, protect, and enhance their biodiversity, ecological integrity and cultural legacy." The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) is one of a system of National Marine Sanctuaries that has been in existence since 1972. In that year, the Congress of the United States enacted the NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARIES ACT (NMSA) in order to "identify, designate, and comprehensively manage marine areas of national significance." Among the primary objectives established for the NMSA are:

• to identify areas of the marine environment that possess conservation, recreational, ecological, historical, research, educational or aesthetic qualities which give them special national, and in some instances, international significance;

• to provide authority for comprehensive and coordinated conservation and management of these marine areas, and the activities affecting them, in a manner which complements existing regulatory authorities;

• to support, promote and coordinate scientific research on, and monitoring of, the resources of these marine environments;

• to maintain, restore and enhance living resources by providing places for species that depend upon these marine areas to survive and propagate;

• to enhance public awareness, understanding, appreciation, and wise use of the marine environment so as to maintain a natural assemblage of living resources for future generations.

The wreck of the USS Monitor in the waters off of North Carolina became the first Sanctuary, created in 1975. Today there are a dozen established sanctuaries, ranging in size from the 1/4 square mile Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary in American Samoa, to California’s Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which encompasses over 5,300 square miles. In Florida, the original KEY LARGO and LOOE KEY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARIES were created in 1975 and 1981, respectively.

In 1989, mounting threats to the health and ecological future of the coral reef ecosystem in the Florida Keys prompted Congress to take action to further protect this fragile national treasure. Cumulative events of environmental degradation in conjunction with physical impacts such as ship groundings demonstrated a need for expansion of protection beyond the two existing Sanctuaries. On November 16, 1990, President George Bush signed into law the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Act, establishing the 2,800 square nautical mile FLORIDA KEYS NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY, which extends from Biscayne Bay to west of the Dry Tortugas National Park. The final FKNMS comprehensive MANAGEMENT PLAN was adopted for implementation in July of 1997. This three volume document presents the details of the ten Sanctuary Action Plans:

• Channel and Reef Marking

• Education and Outreach

• Enforcement

• Mooring Buoy

• Regulations

• Research and Monitoring

• Submerged Cultural Resources

• Volunteer

• Water Quality

• Zoning

Management of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary involves the efforts of many skilled people representing federal, state and local agencies. General authority for all Marine Sanctuaries established under the NMSA resides with the NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA), within the US Department of Commerce. NOAA staff work with members of Florida’s DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION in order to achieve the program goals specified in the management plan. Headquartered in Marathon, the Sanctuary has regional offices located in Key Largo and Key West. The federal and state employees that make up the staff of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary are organized into departments responsible for implementation of the specific action plans.

Throughout the Sanctuary, a number of protected areas have been zoned for specific purposes. Eighteen of these, corresponding to the most popular of the reef diving sites, are known as Sanctuary Preservation Areas (SPAs). The SPAs can be easily recognized by large (30"), yellow buoys which mark the corner boundary lines of these areas.

These yellow buoys also mark Ecological Reserves and Special Use (Research Only) Areas. The SPAs and Ecological Reserves have been designated as "no take" areas, meaning that there shall be no fishing, lobstering, shell collecting, removal nor harvesting of any marine life by any means. The exception is that catch and release fishing by trolling is permitted in four of the SPAs: Conch, Alligator, Sombrero and Sand Key. The Special Use Areas have been designated for "research only", and may not be entered without a permit issued by the Sanctuary Superintendent. An overview of all of the Sanctuary regulations may be found in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary site brochure.

FKNMS Site Brochure

Congress passed the National Marine Sanctuaries Act in 1972. The USS Monitor off of North Carolina became the first Sanctuary in 1975. The original Key Largo and Looe Key National Marine Sanctuaries were established in 1975 and 1981, respectively. In 1990 all of the waters surrounding the Florida Keys were incorporated into the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The largest Sanctuary is California’s Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (4,060 square nautical miles). The smallest Sanctuary is the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary in America Samoa (1/4 square mile). The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary covers 3,674 square miles (2,800 square nautical miles).