Threats to the marine environment are complex, multiple and often overlapping or synergistic. Mitigating these threats, likewise, is not simple, but rather relies upon multiple management approaches, ranging from controls on fishing, sand and gravel extraction, energy development, shipping, and waste water disposal, to active interventions such as restoration and re-stocking, through to managing ex situ threats by managing human activities in adjacent watersheds. Among this array of approaches, one of the key tools for conservation has been marine protected areas (MPAs). The authors believe that similar to identification of EBSAs to help prioritize biodiversity conservation in MPA, similar and equally strong approaches and initiatives are needed to ensure that human benefits are maximized. Successful and sustainable marine spatial management depends on a twintrack approach of MPAs couched within broader management settings. The aim of such management includes both maintaining biodiversity and enabling socioeconomic development