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Fisheries and Marine Conservation

In 2016, Panama’s marine protected areas expanded to include 13.5 percent of the nation’s territorial waters. The MPAs are a direct result of the Smithsonian’s interest in the biological diversity and ecological importance of offshore marine ecosystems. Smithsonian research also provided the scientific basis for a fisheries management plan for Coiba National Park in the Pacific and a traffic separation scheme to reduce the likelihood of collisions between humpback whales and ships in the Gulf of Panama.

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