Marine protected areas—substantiating their worth

With the UK Marine Bill promoting the creation of a network of marine protected areas and similar commitments in other countries there is a need for tools to assist in their design and management. Although physical science often drives designation, the implementation of marine protected areas also encompasses political and socio-economic issues. This paper focuses on one tool in the armoury of decision-makers: choice experiments. It illustrates its application to the quantification of aspects of socio-economic value not readily incorporated into the evaluation of the costs and benefits of marine protected areas utilising cold-water deep coral reefs off the Republic of Ireland.