“MPA networks” is a term that we use. It's a more current term. I think you'll find in the Oceans Act that the actual term that was used 20 years ago was a “system”.
The idea of a network is that you're identifying areas of an ecosystem. In our world those would be bioregions. These are areas that have been scientifically identified as contained areas within which there are a number of activities that complement each other. What we're attempting to do with a network is identify those areas that are linked in an ecological sense. Think about that.
For example, with a species at risk you may identify the area where the species spawns, then another area where it feeds, and then another area of the ecosystem where it seeks shelter. By following the life cycle of that species, you're able to identify the different areas in that bioregion that are worthy of protection for that species. That's what we call a “network”.
It may mean that when we identify an area it could be a marine protected area because we know that it's important for the ecology, but there may be multiple human activities taking place there, in which case you would want to use an instrument that can regulate them all.
In other circumstances, there may be only one human activity, such as fishing, in which case you might use the Fisheries Act to create an area closure to protect a particular part of that ecosystem. Therefore, you're only using that statutory instrument instead of a full-blown Oceans Act MPA. The idea is that by putting all these sites together, and looking at the entire map of the bioregion, you're able to identify the network of MPAs and together that is what we call a “network”. It's a system or areas that are linked ecologically.