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https://theconversation.com/marine-protected-areas-safeguard-more-than-ecology-they-bring-economic-benefits-to-fisheries-and-tourism-225337>
"Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been used as a conservation measure for
decades, but critics continue to argue that evidence of their economic benefits
is weak, particularly with regard to fisheries.
Given the challenges in establishing MPAs, including objections from fisheries
and the frequently small size and sub-optimal location of protected areas, one
would expect their economic benefits to be hard to detect.
My new study reviews 81 publications about MPAs in 37 countries. It shows their
establishment has resulted in benefits to commercial fisheries in 25 countries
and to tourism in 24. These benefits covered a diversity of ecosystems,
including coral reefs, kelp forests, mangroves, rocky reefs, salt marshes,
mudflats and sandy seabed habitats.
There were 46 examples of economic benefits to fisheries adjacent to a marine
protected area. These include increased fish stocks and catch volumes, higher
reproduction and larval “spillover” to fisheries outside the MPA. Other studies
also reported larger fish and lobsters close to existing MPAs.
Despite claims in the research literature of fishery displacement due to the
establishment of an MPA, it seems the benefits outweigh any temporary
disruption of fishing activities.
In my research, I have found no evidence of net costs of an MPA to fisheries
anywhere, at any time."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
