Overview

The National MPA Center was established in 2000, soon after Executive Order 13158 went into effect. The U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of the Interior implement the Executive Order through the National MPA Center. The MPA Center is located within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency of the Department of Commerce, and is a division of NOAA's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management.