Hidden benefits and risks of partial protection for coral reef fisheries

Smallhorn-West, Patrick F., Cohen, Philippa J., Morais, Renato A., Januchowski-Hartley, Fraser A., Ceccarelli, Daniela, Malimali, Siola'a, Stone, Karen, Warren, Regon, and Cinner, Joshua E. (2022) Hidden benefits and risks of partial protection for coral reef fisheries. Ecology and Society, 27 (1). 26.

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Abstract

Partially protected areas are now the dominant global form of spatial management aimed at preserving ecosystem integrity and managing human use. However, most evaluations of their efficacy use only a narrow set of conservation indicators that reflect a fraction of ways in which protection can succeed or fail. In this paper, we examine three case studies of partially protected coral reef fishery systems to evaluate benefits and risks of their use as a management tool. We use data from community-based management arrangements in three Pacific Island countries to demonstrate three vignettes of how partial protection can boost fisheries production, enhance the ease with which fishers catch their prey, and alter the composition of fisheries yields. These changes in fisheries productivity, catchability, and vulnerability under partial protection carry substantial benefits for fishers. However, they also carry significant risks for ecosystems and fisheries livelihoods unless adaptively managed so as to confer the short to medium term benefits in resource performance without risking longer term sustainability.

Item ID: 73411
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1708-3087
Keywords: community-based marine management, conservation, impact evaluation, local management, marine protected area, traditional
Copyright Information: Ecology and Society is now licensing all its articles under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may copy and redistribute the articles and adapt the work provided the original author and source are credited.
Funders: Australian Research Council (ARC)
Date Deposited: 06 Apr 2022 07:52
FoR Codes: 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310305 Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) @ 70%
30 AGRICULTURAL, VETERINARY AND FOOD SCIENCES > 3005 Fisheries sciences > 300505 Fisheries management @ 30%
SEO Codes: 10 ANIMAL PRODUCTION AND ANIMAL PRIMARY PRODUCTS > 1003 Fisheries - wild caught > 100399 Fisheries - wild caught not elsewhere classified @ 30%
18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1805 Marine systems and management > 180507 Rehabilitation or conservation of marine environments @ 70%
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