Poole Harbour hosted three fantastic days of talks, posters and discussions on the subject of MPAs between May 15th and 17th. With such a wealth of experience and enthusiasm in the room, talks on everything from theoritical ecological models, pollution, management, monitoring and more led to lively discussions on the way ahead. Many thanks to the organisers, ECSA and PHSG for putting on such a well-choreographed and interesting programme of events.