Do static and dynamic marine protected areas that restrict pelagic fishing achieve ecological objectives?

Gilman, Eric; Kaiser, Michel J.; Chaloupka, Milani

doi:10.1002/ecs2.2968

Cited by 35 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 236 publications

(594 reference statements)

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“…The comparison of the Shannon diversity index and mean TLc between areas closed vs. open to fishing enabled assessment of the effect of displaced effort on species-level biodiversity and relative degree of disturbance to community structure. Findings augment a small body of theoretical and observed evidence of ecological responses to pelagic MPAs, in particular from studies that provide a strong basis for causal inference [20], improving the knowledge of optimal designs for pelagic MPAs to achieve ecological objectives.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 66%

“…This study conducted the first comprehensive performance assessment of large, pelagic MPAs established by the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. Findings, summarized in Table 2, expand an extremely limited body of empirical evidence with a robust basis for inferring causation of ecological responses to pelagic MPAs and other spatial management approaches for pelagic fisheries [20].…”

Section: Conclusion and Research Prioritiesmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…This contributes to more balanced exploitation [72][73] across these higher pelagic trophic levels. However, as the counterfactual model prediction found few or no local, relative abundance response in assessed species, and because a regional, absolute abundance response was unlikely to have been caused by the MPAs [9,20], a response in ecosystem structure was also unlikely to have resulted from the MPAs.…”

Section: Tlc Within Vs Outside Of Treatment Zonesmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…targeted biomass levels of highly migratory species, reducing the magnitude of fisheriesinduced evolution and maintaining pelagic ecosystems in a quasi-stable state selected to sustain the provision of desired services, including fishery yields [18,20,44]. We conducted the first comprehensive performance assessment of very large, pelagic MPAs that banned commercial fishing, established by the United States government at Palmyra Atoll, Kingman Reef and Johnston Atoll, which are components of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The importance of each reference and predictor contribution to the composite synthetic control series can be shown in an inclusion probability plot. Unlike the commonly used difference-in-differences approach [20,151], the synthetic control approach to counterfactual prediction makes no assumptions about the data generating mechanism and is especially applicable for sparse data settings (few treatment units), unlike the closely related covariate matching methods (see the review in [140]). When there are a large number of treatment units (hundreds or thousands) in a policy intervention analysis, then it can be informative to combine the synthetic control method with unit-specific covariate matching in a Bayesian counterfactual prediction modelling framework [146].…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecological responses to blue water MPAs

et al. 2020

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Marine protected areas (MPAs) can contribute to protecting biodiversity and managing ocean activities, including fishing. There is, however, limited evidence of ecological responses to blue water MPAs. We conducted the first comprehensive evaluation of impacts on fisheries production and ecological responses to pelagic MPAs of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. A Bayesian time series-based counterfactual modelling approach using fishery-dependent data was used to compare the temporal response in the MPAs to three reference regions for standardized catch rates, lengths, trophic level of the catch and species diversity. Catch rates of bigeye tuna, the main target species (Kingman/Palmyra MPA, causal effect probability >99% of an 84% reduction; 95% credible interval:-143%,-25%), and blue shark (Johnston MPAs, causal effect probability >95%) were significantly lower and longnose lancetfish significantly higher (Johnston MPAs, causal effect probability >95%) than predicted had the MPAs not been established, possibly from closing areas near shallow features, which aggregate pelagic predators, and from 'fishing-the-line'. There were no apparent causal impacts of the MPAs on species diversity, lengths and trophic level of the catch, perhaps because the MPAs were young, were too small, did not contain critical habitat for specific life-history stages, had been lightly exploited or experienced fishing-the-line. We also assessed model-standardized catch rates for species of conservation concern and mean trophic level of the catch within and outside of MPAs. Displaced effort produced multi-species conflicts: MPAs protect bycatch hotspots and hotspots of bycatch-to-target catch ratios for some at-risk species, but coldspots for others. Mean trophic level of the catch was significantly higher around MPAs, likely due to the aggregating effect of the shallow features and there having been light fishing pressure within MPAs. These findings demonstrate how exploring a wide range of ecological responses supports evidence-based evaluations of blue water MPAs.

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Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 66%

Section: Conclusion and Research Prioritiesmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Tlc Within Vs Outside Of Treatment Zonesmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecological responses to blue water MPAs

et al. 2020

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Integrating fish nursery ground conservation with sustainable resource use: The case of Trichiurus japonicus in the East China Sea

Jin,

Gao,

Yan

et al. 2023

Aquatic Conservation

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Sustainable fisheries management seeks to balance fisheries' conservation with fishers' economic well‐being. Marine protected areas are increasingly used as a component of management frameworks to improve the resilience of, or maintain, marine resources. However, any spatial management measures need to consider the seasonal distribution of key species at key life stages, such as the recruitment stage. Trichiurus japonicus (hairtail) is the highest yielding single fish species in China, but it is showing signs of miniaturization and early maturity, which are indicators of overfishing. Thus, it is a suitable model species for studies aiming to find a solution to the challenge of balancing fishing activities with resource protection. The potentially important seasonal nursery grounds of T. japonicus in the East China Sea were identified using a model combining data for the variability in abundance and the probability of occurrence of T. japonicus recruits. Based on fishery‐independent survey data, a Bayesian hierarchical species distribution model revealed that the locations and sizes of core nursery grounds of T. japonicus varied seasonally and that the main drivers were depth, sea bottom temperature and sea bottom salinity. The possible seasonal interactions between fishing effort and nursery grounds at different levels of importance were evaluated by analysing the spatial overlap between fishery hot spots and T. japonicus core nursery grounds. The results showed that the proportion of overlap was highest in spring and lowest in summer. These findings highlight the urgent need to develop fleet‐adapted management measures for different levels of overlap and suggest that the eastern and southern areas of the East China Sea hairtail national aquatic germplasm resources conservation zone (TCZ) should be included in conservation planning.

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Intact shallow and mesophotic assemblages of large carnivorous reef fishes underscore the importance of large and remote protected areas in the Coral Triangle

Salvador,

Utzurrum,

Murray

et al. 2024

Aquatic Conservation

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Overfishing remains a threat to coral reef fishes worldwide, with large carnivores often disproportionately vulnerable. Marine protected areas (MPAs) can restore fish populations and biodiversity, but their effect has been understudied in mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs), particularly in the Coral Triangle. Videos were analysed from baited remote underwater video systems deployed in 2016 to investigate the assemblage structure of large carnivorous fishes at shallow (4–12 m) and mesophotic (45–96 m) depths in two of the largest and most isolated MPAs in the Philippines: an uninhabited, fully no‐take MPA enacted in 1988 (Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park) and an archipelagic municipality surrounded by an extensive but not fully no‐take MPA declared in 2016 (Cagayancillo). Taxa focused on were groupers (Serranidae), snappers (Lutjanidae), emperors (Lethrinidae), jacks (Carangidae) and the endangered Cheilinus undulatus (Labridae). Mean abundance and species richness were not greater in TRNP than in Cagayancillo regardless of depth despite long‐term protection in the former. Limited impacts of fishing in Cagayancillo may explain this result. Differentiation of fish assemblages was evident between TRNP and Cagayancillo but more obvious between depths at each location, probably due more to habitat than MPA effects. In Cagayancillo, overall carnivorous reef fish, grouper and jack mean abundance were 2, 2 and 10 times higher, respectively, at mesophotic depths, suggesting that MCEs can serve as deep refugia from fishing. These findings of differentiation between depths and higher abundance of certain taxa in mesophotic depths emphasize that MCEs are distinct from shallow reefs, serve as important habitat for species susceptible to overfishing and, thus, must be explicitly included in the design of MPAs. This study also highlights the value of maintaining strict protection of MPAs like TRNP for the Coral Triangle and an opportunity to safeguard intact fish assemblages in Cagayancillo by expanding its no‐take zones.

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Do static and dynamic marine protected areas that restrict pelagic fishing achieve ecological objectives?

Cited by 35 publications

References 236 publications

Ecological responses to blue water MPAs

Ecological responses to blue water MPAs

Integrating fish nursery ground conservation with sustainable resource use: The case of Trichiurus japonicus in the East China Sea

Intact shallow and mesophotic assemblages of large carnivorous reef fishes underscore the importance of large and remote protected areas in the Coral Triangle

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