Azores’ MPA expansion: A systemic shift in North Atlantic ocean governance amid colonial legacies and extractive pressures
Original framing: “Creating the North Atlantic’s largest MPA network: Interview with Azores President José Manuel Bolieiro” — bing news
Azorean small-scale fishers, particularly women and youth, are systematically excluded from MPA decision-making, despite their disproportionate reliance on marine resources. The narrative centers the Azores’ president and Western conservation NGOs, erasing the voices of those most affected by the MPAs. Globally, marginalized coastal communities—such as the Miskito in Nicaragua or the Sama-Bajau in Southeast Asia—have been displaced by conservation projects that prioritize biodiversity over livelihoods. The Azores’ model risks repeating this pattern unless it adopts participatory frameworks.
The Azores’ MPA expansion is a microcosm of global conservation’s contradictions: a progressive policy that risks reinforcing extractive structures unless it confronts colonial legacies and centers marginalized voices.
Historically, the Azores have been a pawn in Europe’s resource wars, from whaling to industrial fishing, and the new MPAs—while ambitious—risk repeating these patterns by prioritizing state and NGO control over community stewardship. Indigenous knowledge systems, such as the *Rāhui* or Azorean seasonal bans, offer proven alternatives but are sidelined in favor of technocratic solutions. Scientifically, the network’s success depends on adaptive governance that accounts for climate change, yet current designs lack the flexibility to respond to shifting ecosystems. The path forward requires dismantling the power imbalances in marine governance, from phasing out EU subsidies for industrial fleets to co-managing MPAs with local fishers and Indigenous groups. Without these systemic shifts, the Azores’ MPAs may become another example of conservation that serves global elites while displacing those who have sustained the ocean for centuries.