On The Success Of Protected Areas

Results are starting to come in on the success (or lack thereof) of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) which have been in use in the waters off of California and Hawaii for long enough to start to quantify some data and results.

And ladies and gentlemen the results are good, maybe even great.

So promising in fact that the California Department of Fish & Game titled a report on the first five years of the Channel Islands MPAs - Results Show Positive Ecological Effects of Reserves (this link is a bit off the report is there though).

I can't say it any better than Mark Powell already did:

Wow, who's surprised? If you stop fishing in an area, then you get more fish and bigger fish. And that makes ocean ecosystems more healthy.

Powell also pulled the best bits from the report...

Many species of fish and invertebrates targeted by fishing outside reserves are bigger and more abundant inside no-take reserves, while non-targeted species’ abundances are essentially equal. Marine reserves have greater biodiversity and greater fish biomass than fished areas nearby. Studies of fish movement suggest that even wide-ranging species can benefit from the Channel Islands reserves and that some individuals move from reserves to fished areas. These results show that the Channel Islands reserves and other protected areas may contribute to the goals of protecting and promoting healthy ecosystems.

Following up on the news from the Channel Island MPAs Rick MacPherson pulled out the relevant details from some new reports on Hawaiian stocks and MPAs that show success in those waters as well...

The West Hawaii reserve system has been shown to have a number of benefits above and beyond impacts on yellow tang. Those include greater numbers of other targeted species, reduced conflict between collectors, commercial ocean recreation operations, and community members, and greater numbers of attractive and conspicuous fishes in reef areas which are readily accessible to commercial and recreational divers and snorkelers.

In addition, survey data provides clear evidence that the West Hawaii protected areas network, by sustaining adult stocks over large areas of the coastline, helps to ensure the long-term sustainability of yellow tang stocks in West Hawaii and of the fishery which depends heavily on this species. Increased fishing effort and catches in recent years demonstrate scope for severe over-exploitation in the absence of reserves, and suggest that additional management, including perhaps limits on participation as well as specific additional protection of breeding stocks may be necessary to optimize future fishery benefits.

It really is this simple folks, if we catch fewer fish or stop fishing altogether in a given area those fish will get bigger and produce more new fish, it only seems like magic.

Protecting areas on terra firma does a pretty good job as well, just check out this post.