Hidden benefits and risks of partial protection for coral reef fisheries

Smallhorn‐West, Patrick; Cohen, Philippa J.; Morais, Renato A.; Januchowski‐Hartley, Fraser A.; Ceccarelli, Daniela; Malimali, Siola’a; Stone, Karen; Warren, Robert; Cinner, Joshua E.

doi:10.5751/es-13112-270126

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 54 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The mean accuracy of our random forest model (Methods) classifying reef sites into management classes using nine environmental and socio-economic variables was 73% over 100 iterations. Sea surface temperature, human gravity (a proxy of human impact calculated as the ratio between population estimates of a place and the squared travel time to the reefs 9 ) and primary productivity had the strongest predictive capacity, with relative contributions (evaluated by permutation; Methods) management actions must be both context-specific and inclusive 18 , which entails a trade-off between objectives such as maintaining fisheries, ecosystem functioning and biodiversity 20,21 . Even though these objectives are not systemically antagonistic 20,21 , they are rarely considered together since MPAs may not be successful across both biodiversity and socio-economic objectives 22 .…”

Section: Environmental and Socio-economic Driversmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accounting for and monitoring reef fish biomass production and turnover appears key to understanding Given the highly variable socio-economic context of these high turnover sites (Fig. 4), our framework suggests locally informed spatial management, where protection intensity needs to consider local ecological and social contexts 18 . When human gravity and dependence on marine ecosystems are high, we suggest concerted and co-managed local restrictions on these sites (for example, relating to industrial activities or destructive fishing practices) through the establishment of partially protected MPAs, locally managed MPAs or other effective conservation measures that can still sustain local fisheries and other well-being outcomes 15,18 .…”

Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…4), our framework suggests locally informed spatial management, where protection intensity needs to consider local ecological and social contexts 18 . When human gravity and dependence on marine ecosystems are high, we suggest concerted and co-managed local restrictions on these sites (for example, relating to industrial activities or destructive fishing practices) through the establishment of partially protected MPAs, locally managed MPAs or other effective conservation measures that can still sustain local fisheries and other well-being outcomes 15,18 . Other effective conservation measures may be of particular relevance here given their importance for Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas and ecosystem-based management 50 .…”

Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some cases, MPAs can improve human well-being, but in others they can be deleterious to people and become a source of conflict 16 . As alternatives, partially protected areas, locally managed MPAs and other effective area-based conservation measures 17 can maintain the provision of livelihoods to people 18 but sometimes to the detriment of ecological benefits 19 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Towards process-oriented management of tropical reefs in the anthropocene

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tropical reefs and the fish relying on them are under increasing pressure. Shallow-reef fish provide important ecological information in addition to sustaining fisheries, tourism and more. Although empirical metrics of fish biomass are widely used in fisheries management, metrics of biomass production—how much new biomass is produced over time—are rarely estimated even though such production informs potential fisheries yields. Here we estimate fish standing biomass (B), biomass production (P, the rate of biomass accumulation) and biomass turnover (P/B ratio, the rate of biomass replacement) for 1,979 tropical reef sites spanning 39 tropical countries. On the basis of fish standing biomass and biomass turnover, we propose a conceptual framework that splits reefs into three classes to visualize ecological and socio-economic risk and help guide spatial management interventions (for example, marine protected areas) to optimize returns on conservation efforts. At large scales, high turnover was associated with high human pressure and low primary productivity, whereas high biomass was associated with low human pressure and high primary productivity. Going beyond standing fish biomass to consider dynamic ecological processes can better guide regional coral reef conservation and sustainable fisheries management.

show abstract

Section: Environmental and Socio-economic Driversmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Towards process-oriented management of tropical reefs in the anthropocene

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Overall, there is little evidence of their effectiveness at driving change toward SDG 14.4 or the flow‐on SDG targets. There was one instance of evidence of improvements in target fish productivity due to implementing restricted access zones in conjunction with adjacent permanent closures (Smallhorn‐West et al., 2022 ).…”

Section: Evidence Of Co‐management Impacts On Furthering Un Sdgs In T...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking small‐scale fisheries co‐management to U.N. Sustainable Development Goals

Smallhorn‐West

Cohen

Phillips

et al. 2022

Conservation Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Small‐scale fisheries account for 90% of global fishers and 40% of the global catch. Effectively managing small‐scale fisheries is, therefore, crucial to progressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Co‐management and community‐based fisheries management are widely considered the most appropriate forms of governance for many small‐scale fisheries. We outlined relationships between small‐scale fisheries co‐management and attainment of the SDGs, including evidence for impacts and gaps in dominant logic. We identified 11 targets across five SDGs to which small‐scale fisheries co‐management (including community‐based fisheries management) can contribute; the theory of change by which these contributions could be achieved; and the strength of evidence for progress toward SDG targets related to various co‐management strategies. Our theory of change links the 11 SDG targets by qualifying that progress toward some targets is contingent on others being achieved first. We then reviewed 58 case studies of co‐management impacts from the Pacific Islands––a region rich in local marine governance––to evaluate evidence of where, to what degree, and with how much certainty different co‐management strategies conferred positive impacts to each SDG target. These strategies included access restrictions, permanent area closures, periodic closures, and gear and species restrictions. Although many studies provide evidence linking multiple co‐management strategies to improvements in resource status (SDG 14.4), there was limited evidence of follow‐on effects, such as improvements in catch (SDG 2.3, 2.4), livelihoods (SDG 1.2), consumption (SDG 2.1), and nutrition (SDG 2.2). Our findings suggest that leaps of logic and assumptions are prevalent in co‐management planning and evaluation. Hence, when evaluating co‐management impacts against the SDGs, consideration of ultimate goals is required, otherwise, there is a risk of shortfalls between aspirations and impact.

show abstract

Ten years of dynamic co-management of a multi-species reef fishery

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Co-management, a governance process whereby management responsibility is shared between resource users and other collaborators, is a mainstream approach for governing social and ecological aspects of small-scale fisheries. While many assessments of co-management are available for single time periods, assessments across longer time-scales are rare–meaning the dynamic nature, and long-term outcomes, of co-management are insufficiently understood. In this study we analyse ten-years of catch and effort data from a co-managed, multi-species reef fishery in Solomon Islands. To further understand social, ecological and management dynamics we also draw on interviews with fishers and managers that had been conducted throughout the same decade. We aimed to answer (1) what are the temporal trends in fishing effort, harvesting efficiency, and catch composition within and beyond a periodically-harvested closure (i.e. a principal and preferred management tool in Pacific island reef fisheries), and, (2) what are the internal and external drivers that acted upon the fishery, and its management. Despite high fishing effort within the periodically-harvested closure, catch per unit effort remained stable throughout the ten years. Yet the taxonomic composition of catch changed substantially as species targeted early in the decade became locally depleted. These observations indicate that both the frequency of harvesting and the volumes harvested may have outpaced the turnover rates of target species. We argue that this reflects a form of hyperstability whereby declining abundance is not apparent through catch per unit effort since it is masked by a shift to alternate species. While the community sustained and adapted their management arrangements over the decade as a response to internal pressures and some signs of resource changes, some external social and ecological drivers were beyond their capabilities to govern. We argue the collaborative, knowledge exchange, and learning aspects of adaptive co-management may need even more attention to deal with this complexity, particularly as local and distal pressures on multi-species fisheries and community governance intensify. Graphical abstract

show abstract

Hidden benefits and risks of partial protection for coral reef fisheries

Cited by 9 publications

References 54 publications

Towards process-oriented management of tropical reefs in the anthropocene

Towards process-oriented management of tropical reefs in the anthropocene

Linking small‐scale fisheries co‐management to U.N. Sustainable Development Goals

Ten years of dynamic co-management of a multi-species reef fishery

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About