Millions of people who depend on fisheries will benefit if targets to protect coastal marine areas in reserves are doubled or trebled.
A study led by University of Queensland researchers has revealed a target of 20-30 per cent strict protection of fished habitats should increase long-term catches of otherwise unregulated fisheries.
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» researcher said the current was for the protection of 10 per cent of coastal marine regions.
“Potential declines in fisheries catches are a concern wherever marine reserves are enforced,” he said.
“However, specifically in some of the world’s most biodiverse and poorly managed areas, closing more than 10 per cent of fishing grounds is likely to benefit fishers in the long run.
“Coral reef fisheries in much of the South-East Asian Coral Triangle region, including Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, are a good example of this situation.
“More and more species are now lost and sustainability is of grave concern, because catch limits and other traditional fisheries management tools are difficult to enforce.”
Study co-author and Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» School of Biological Sciences researcher , said closing 20-30 per cent of fished habitats was a comparatively simple management action.
“It will not solve the fisheries crisis in the Coral Triangle, but our findings highlight that coral reef fisheries in particular are likely to benefit from fish population recovery and the subsequent export of young fishes from reserves to fished areas,” he said.
“Effective reserve coverage policies could help millions of people in the Coral Triangle region who rely on small-scale coral reef fisheries for food and livelihoods.”
The study, published in the journal was conducted in collaboration with researchers at the and the .
Professor Mumby said previous studies raised valid concerns that designating some of the marine area for protection could reduce the potential value of a fishery if it is well managed through effort restrictions.
However, marine reserves were one of the few means of managing fisheries where conventional regulations of effort are infeasible as too costly and unenforceable.
“Based on an analysis of thousands of fisheries scenarios, this study finds that even closing more than 30 per cent of fished areas can produce net benefits to fisheries, particularly when populations are heavily over-exploited,” Professor Mumby said.
“Achieving much higher effective reserve coverages than the currently estimated one to two per cent on coral reefs can help protect species, and rebuild and sustain fisheries catches.”
Media: Dr Nils Krueck, n.krueck@uq.edu.au +61 (0)432 104 620; Professor Peter Mumby, p.j.mumby@uq.edu.au, +61 (0)449 811 589. Contact Peter Mumby for photographs and video.
