The coal was to expand that success across another 100,000 acres of near-coast ecosystems spanning 6 individual marine protected areas (MPA) with legal protections under Turkish law. Once they leave that protected area, they are exposed to fishing pressure again,” Kızılkaya told ELSP’s Communications and Network Coordinator Iona Haines in a long-form interview. This lead to a tripling of the total protected seascapes in Turkish territorial waters by 2020. Illegal fishing fell 80% in the years that followed. Species that reproduce in a protected area spill over into the wider environment and faced renewed threats.