Defacto Marine Protected Areas of the United States
These data provide the spatial boundaries of DeFacto Marine Protected Areas in U.S. Waters. With nearly 1200 sites (for which GIS data are available), DFMPAs cover 3% of the U.S. waters, (0-200 nautical miles offshore), which includes the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), Territorial Sea, and state waters. DFMPAs range in size from less than one acre to more than 40,000 km2, though the vast majority is at the smaller end of this spectrum. Most of the small sites were created to provide places for vessels to anchor safely. Most of the large sites provide dedicated training and operation areas for various branches of the U.S. military, or facilitate the transfer of oil and gas to moored tanker vessels.
Complete Metadata
| @type | dcat:Dataset |
|---|---|
| accessLevel | non-public |
| contactPoint |
{
"fn": "Not provided - Contact data.gov",
"hasEmail": "mailto:datagovsupport@gsa.gov"
}
|
| describedByType | application/octet-steam |
| description | These data provide the spatial boundaries of DeFacto Marine Protected Areas in U.S. Waters. With nearly 1200 sites (for which GIS data are available), DFMPAs cover 3% of the U.S. waters, (0-200 nautical miles offshore), which includes the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), Territorial Sea, and state waters. DFMPAs range in size from less than one acre to more than 40,000 km2, though the vast majority is at the smaller end of this spectrum. Most of the small sites were created to provide places for vessels to anchor safely. Most of the large sites provide dedicated training and operation areas for various branches of the U.S. military, or facilitate the transfer of oil and gas to moored tanker vessels. |
| distribution |
[
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "NOAA Data Management Plan (DMP)",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort.",
"downloadURL": "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nos/onms/dmp/pdf/39998.pdf",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "GCMD Keyword Forum Page",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 22. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords",
"downloadURL": "https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Full Metadata Record",
"mediaType": "placeholder/value",
"description": "View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset.",
"downloadURL": "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/39998",
"describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
}
]
|
| identifier | gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:39998 |
| issued | 2008-06-01T00:00:00.000+00:00 |
| keyword |
[
"Marine Boundaries",
"Nautical Charting",
"DeFacto MPAs",
"Marine Protected Areas",
"DOC/NOAA/NOS/NMS > National Marine Sanctuaries, National Ocean Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
"MPA_Inventory"
]
|
| landingPage | https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/39998 |
| language |
[]
|
| license | https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ |
| modified | 2008-06-01T00:00:00.000+00:00 |
| publisher |
{
"name": "Office of National Marine Sanctuaries",
"@type": "org:Organization"
}
|
| references |
[
"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nos/onms/dmp/pdf/39998.pdf"
]
|
| rights | otherRestrictions, unclassified |
| spatial | 180.0,13.415645,-180.0,61.146526 |
| title | Defacto Marine Protected Areas of the United States |
