Developing a marine protected area network with multiple objectives in China

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A generic framework to assess the representation and protection of benthic ecosystems in European marine protected areas

1. There is concern across the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) region that a consideration of vulnerable components and the wider support mechanisms underpinning benthic marine ecosystems may be lacking from the process of marine protected area (MPA) designation, management and monitoring.
2. In this study, MPAs across six European ecoregions were assessed from a benthic ecology perspective. The study included 102 MPAs, designated by 10 countries, and focused on three aspects regarding the role of the benthos in: (i) the designation of MPAs; (ii) the management measures used in MPAs; and (iii) the monitoring and assessment of MPAs.
3. Qualitative entries to a questionnaire based on an existing framework (EU project ‘Monitoring Evaluation of Spatially Managed Areas’, (MESMA) were collected by 19 benthic experts of the ICES Benthic Ecology Working Group. A pedigree matrix was used to apply a numerical scale (score) to these entries.
4. The results showed clear differences in scores between ecoregions and between criteria. The designation‐phase criteria generally achieved higher scores than the implementation‐phase criteria. Poor designation‐phase scores were generally reiterated in the implementation‐phase scores, such as scores for assessment and monitoring.
5. Over 70% of the MPA case studies were found to consider the benthos to some extent during selection and designation; however, this was not followed up with appropriate management measures and good practice during the implementation phase.
6. Poor spatial and temporal coverage of monitoring and ineffective indicators is unlikely to pick up changes caused by management measures in the MPA. There is concern that without adequate monitoring and adaptive management frameworks, the MPAs will be compromised. Also, there could be an increased likelihood that, with regard to the benthos, they will fail to meet their conservation objectives.
7. This assessment was successful in highlighting issues related to the representation and protection of the benthos in MPAs and where changes need to be made, such as expanding the characterization and monitoring of benthic species or habitats of interest. These issues could be attributable to an ongoing process and/or an indication that some MPAs only have ‘paper protection’.

     

Securing effective and equitable coverage of marine protected areas: The UK's progress towards achieving Convention on Biological Diversity commitments and lessons learned for the way forward

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Detection of protection benefits for predatory fishes depends on census methodology

1. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are used as fisheries management and conservation tools. Well-enforced no-take zones allow the rebuilding of natural populations of exploited species; however, there is still controversy on the role of buffer zones.
2. The effectiveness of MPAs could be underestimated, as fish population assessments depend largely on traditional methodologies that have difficulties in detecting predatory fish because of their low abundances, their patchy distribution, and their reaction to the presence of divers.
3. The performance of different census methods was compared in assessing the protection benefits for large predatory fishes under different protection levels (i.e. no-take and buffer zones) in five Mediterranean MPAs. Specifically, conventional strip transects (CSTs, 50 × 5 m²) and tracked roaming transects combined with distance sampling (TRT + DS, variable lengths) were compared, including a series of TRT-derived estimators with variable transect lengths and fixed widths of 20, 10, and 6 m (TRT20, TRT10, and TRT6, respectively). Additionally, the effectiveness of the MPAs studied and protection levels for conserving large predatory species was evaluated.
4. Transects covering larger areas (i.e. TRT + DS and TRT20) allowed the detection of a greater number of species and yielded more accurate estimates of density and biomass than transects of narrower fixed widths, particularly the CSTs, which were associated with the lowest richness detection capability, accuracy, and precision. On average, both no-take zones and buffer zones appeared effective for the conservation of predatory fishes, indicating that multiple protection areas were ecologically effective. Differences between MPAs were also observed, however, probably arising from both local environmental and management factors.
5. We suggest the implementation of methodologies with larger transects for the study of large predatory fish, combined with CSTs for the rest of the fish community, in order to avoid biases in predatory population assessments, which are key indicators of MPA effectiveness.

     

Ecological coherence of Marine Protected Areas: New tools applied to the Baltic Sea network

1. Spatial connectivity is an essential process to consider in the design and assessment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). To help maintain and restore marine populations and communities MPAs should form ecologically coherent networks. How to estimate and implement connectivity in MPA design remains a challenge.
2. Here a new theoretical framework is presented based on biophysical modelling of organism dispersal, combined with a suite of tools to assess different aspects of connectivity that can be integrated in MPA design. As a demonstration, these tools are applied to an MPA network in the Baltic Sea (HELCOM MPA).
3. The tools are based on the connectivity matrix, which summarizes dispersal probabilities, averaged over many years, between all considered areas in the geographic target area. The biophysical model used to estimate connectivity included important biological traits that affect dispersal patterns where different trait combinations and habitat preferences will produce specific connectivity matrices representing different species.
4. Modelled connectivity matrices were used to assess local retention within individual MPAs, which offers indications about the adequacy of size when MPAs are considered in isolation. The connectivity matrix also provides information about source areas to individual MPAs, e.g. sources of larvae or pressures such as contaminants. How well several MPAs act as a network was assessed within a framework of eigenvalue perturbation theory (EPT). With EPT, the optimal MPA network with respect to connectivity can be identified. In addition, EPT can suggest optimal extensions of existing MPA networks to enhance connectivity. Finally, dispersal barriers can be identified based on the connectivity matrix, which may suggest boundaries for management units.
5. The assessment of connectivity for the HELCOM MPA are discussed in terms of possible improvements, but the tools presented here could be applied to any region.

     

Recasting shortfalls of marine protected areas as opportunities through adaptive management

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Advances and challenges in marine conservation in Chile: A regional and global comparison

1. Despite significant progress made in Chile, and globally, in establishing marine protected areas (MPAs), the actual contribution to marine biodiversity conservation needs to be revised, to focus on representativeness and the diversity of tools alongside effective implementation, management, and enforcement.
2. This study makes progress in this direction, describing the most recent advances in marine conservation in Chile and analysing the contribution of the different conservation instruments as well as the distribution of designated areas across ecoregions. Furthermore, it examines the potential contribution of alternative area-based instruments to balance ocean protection. The advances observed in Chile were compared among four South American countries and five leading countries in ocean conservation, analysing protection levels in coastal areas, continental exclusive economic zones, and overseas territories.
3. Data on MPA boundaries and attributes were sourced from the World Database on Protected Areas and complemented the official information on MPAs and territorial user rights for fisheries and for indigenous people in South America.
4. The current level of protection in Chile is among the highest in the world in area coverage and in the proportion of the continental exclusive economic zone assigned to fully protected areas. However, it exhibits the strongest imbalances in the distribution of designated MPAs between coastal and oceanic waters, in comparison with the leading countries and also within South America (Perú, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay), and among ecoregions.
5. The patterns observed suggest that Chile has advanced, but concentrated, conservation efforts in low-threat, remote ecoregions. There is an urgent need to progress towards high-threat ecoregions, which implies balancing the needs of nature and people. The distribution of ancillary conservation instruments can help double the level of protection in threatened coastal areas, filling gaps in marine conservation and creating an opportunity to progress and diversify conservation strategies.

     

Characteristics of effective marine protected areas in Hawaiʻi

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Revisiting UK Marine Protected Areas governance: A case study of a collaborative approach to managing an English MPA

1. Case studies of Marine Protected Area (MPA) upscaling were solicited from participants of a workshop at the International Marine Protected Areas Conference held in Autumn 2013 in Marseille.
2. One such case study was Solandt, Jones, Duval‐Diop, Kleiven, and Frangoudes (2014; Governance challenges in scaling up from individual MPAs to MPA networks. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 24, 145–152) which illustrated the role of science, non‐governmental organizations, government and local regulators in applying systemic management measures for local MPAs based on risk, highlighting the importance of balancing top‐down and bottom‐up drivers.
3. Here we follow up on the UK example, illustrating the incentives and actors involved in developing centralized and subsequent fisheries management measures in UK waters. Forty local laws were created to protect features in 143 inshore MPAs between 2013 and 2019.
4. We illustrate best practice in delivering management, focusing on multiple practitioner involvement in a single MPA and the monitoring put in place after trawling and dredging were banned.
5. We reflect on how the governance mechanisms in place in English inshore waters can be used as a template to allow for progressive MPA management in other coastal states.

     

Requirements for marine protected areas to conserve the biodiversity of rocky reef fishes

• 1. This study describes spatial patterns in the biodiversity (species, assemblages) of rocky reef fishes at a spatial scale relevant to management, and compared the outcomes for this biodiversity from alternative procedures for selecting marine protected areas (MPAs) and from the selection of MPAs for fisheries‐related objectives.
• 2. The study area included 104 species in two assemblage types; 36 species and 14 species occurred only in one or two locations respectively.
• 3. MPAs selected by hotspot richness, greedy richness complementarity, and summed irreplaceability included similar percentages of species and significantly more species than randomly selected MPAs. A combined species‐assemblage selection ensured representation of assemblage diversity. Representation of all species and assemblage types required 92% of locations.
• 4. MPAs chosen using density of all fishes or density of exploitable fishes as selection criteria included fewer species (than MPAs selected using species identity) and the percentage of species accumulated did not differ from a random selection.
• 5. Use of an established MPA as the seed for an expanded network was inefficient, leading to additional locations being required and an accumulation of species that did not differ from a random selection.
• 6. The smallest MPA network that fulfilled multiple management objectives (representation of assemblage diversity and majority of species, population viability, support for fisheries, connectivity) required 30% of the surveyed locations.
• 7. This study concluded that: MPAs selected without the benefit of data on intra‐habitat variation in species assemblages will be unrepresentative; the upper range of currently promoted targets for MPA establishment (i.e. 30%) should be regarded as a minimum for biodiversity conservation; MPAs selected for fisheries‐related reasons may not provide expected benefits for the remainder of the fish assemblage.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Policy analysis of the ‘MPA‐process’ in temperate continental shelf areas

• 1. The decision to designate, implement and manage marine protected areas (MPAs) is often made ad hoc without clear guiding procedures. This study evaluates the process of establishment and management of MPAs in temperate soft‐bottom marine areas, including identification of objectives, site selection, designation, implementation, ecological effectiveness and socio‐economic impacts.
• 2. For the first time, literature about marine conservation strategies in soft‐bottom temperate areas is brought together in one ‘systems approach’, which is visualized in a flow chart including three phases: setting policy objectives, making decisions and evaluating the eventual effects of the MPA. Policy objectives are generally easy to identify and in most cases national policy objectives are driven by international and regional legal obligations. The decision making process is the most complex phase, as the acceptance of MPAs has to be balanced against the human activities that take place in the area.
• 3. The relation between fisheries and MPA‐management appears to be most challenging in soft‐bottom temperate marine areas because of conflicting interests and institutional differences. Activities limited in space and not relying directly on ecosystem functions (e.g. offshore energy production and aggregate extraction) are generally easier to manage than fisheries.
• 4. The conceptual mapping exercise presented here serves as a basis for a systems approach for MPAs and has been tested for the Belgian coastal environment. In the Belgian ‘MPA‐process’, the application of the systems approach proves to be useful in providing insight into the complex interactions of various authorities with scattered jurisdictions.
• 5. The unified and simplified representation of the various aspects is (1) a useful communication tool for policy makers and managers to inform other sectors and the public at large and (2) a valuable support during the ‘MPA‐process’ that considerably enhances the prospects for success.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrating pelagic and coastal MPAs into large‐scale ecosystem‐wide management

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Marine protected areas in southern China: Upgrading conservation effectiveness in the ‘eco‐civilization’ era

1. ensuring that marine systems are not overwhelmed within the new national jurisdiction, and maintaining and enhancing marine capacity;
2. increased resourcing, supported by comprehensive and systematic economic valuations of ecosystem goods and services and natural capital;
3. upgraded enforcement of existing environmental laws and regulations, combined with further refinement and development, especially around cumulative impact management;
4. a particular focus on major reduction in water pollution in all forms;
5. integration of marine management between Hong Kong SAR and surrounding Guangdong Province; and
6. enhanced community engagement, participation and education.
7. Finally, much greater, collaborative engagement by the international community with Chinese marine management and conservation would bring major, and very mutual, benefits.

     

Patterns of species and functional diversity around a coastal marine reserve: a fisheries perspective

• 1. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are expected to function simultaneously as biological conservation and fisheries management tools, but empirical evidence linking biodiversity conservation with fisheries benefits is scarce. Around the Medes Islands marine reserve (Spain, NW Mediterranean) patterns of fish catch diversity, catch (CPUE) and income (IPUE) were assessed and the economic value of diversity for local fisheries was explored by combining a Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis with geostatistics.
• 2. Catch data were derived from the trammel net fleet operating around the MPA to gain information on species diversity, functional diversity, functional redundancy, CPUE and IPUE.
• 3. Results revealed significant impact of both the fishing prohibition in the MPA and the presence of seagrass beds on diversity metrics, catch and income. Clear differences in functional redundancy in fish assemblages were found within the study area, indicating greater resilience of the fish assemblage against fishing pressure or human impact close to the MPA (?2 km). In contrast, fish assemblages beyond 2 km of the MPA border are more vulnerable to disturbance. High values of diversity, CPUE and IPUE overlapped close to the MPA border and close to seagrass beds.
• 4. The spatial approach developed suggests that, in addition to the more commonly studied effect of density‐dependent spillover of adult fish, increased levels of ecological diversity and economic diversity can also result in fisheries benefits of an MPA. Hence, the fishing regulations in and around the Medes Islands marine reserve have shown that biological conservation and fisheries benefits can be complementary in the long‐term, which should be considered in future policies for MPAs or MPA networks.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bridging the divide: Social–ecological coherence in Marine Protected Area network design

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Conserving a subpopulation of the northern Atlantic cod metapopulation with a marine protected area

• 1. Marine reserves can play an important role in the conservation of subpopulations of marine fish metapopulations. The population spatial structure of northern Atlantic cod of Newfoundland and Labrador has characteristics of a metapopulation. Subpopulations of northern Atlantic cod on the continental shelf were decimated by decades of overfishing, and have not recovered. The remaining northern cod are concentrated in coastal areas.
• 2. A Marine Protected Area (MPA) was established in Gilbert Bay, Labrador by the Government of Canada in 2005 to protect the bay's resident subpopulation of northern Atlantic cod. Conservation of Gilbert Bay cod will help protect the genetic diversity of the northern cod metapopulation.
• 3. Unlike some other MPAs, Gilbert Bay is not a harvest refugium or ‘no‐take’ reserve. Aboriginal subsistence fisheries for salmonids with a bycatch of cod are allowed in designated areas of the MPA. A recreational fishery for Atlantic cod by angling open to all people is under consideration. Management of the MPA must ensure that fishing activities do not endanger the local cod population.
• 4. The population dynamics of Gilbert Bay cod were simulated using an age‐structured Leslie matrix model to estimate the total mortality under various recreational fishing scenarios. The level of sustainable harvest by a recreational fishery depends on the natural mortality of the Gilbert Bay cod population, which is unknown. Therefore, there is risk in permitting a recreational fishery in the MPA.
• 5. There may be benefits to the northern cod metapopulation, if the Gilbert Bay subpopulation is allowed to rebuild to the carrying capacity of the bay. If the abundance of Gilbert Bay cod exceeds the level which the local marine ecosystem can support, some cod may emigrate from the bay and recolonize adjacent coastal areas. The potential for Gilbert Bay cod to recolonize continental shelf areas is less certain.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Benthic habitat modelling and mapping as a conservation tool for marine protected areas: A seamount in the western Mediterranean

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Residual marine protected areas five years on: Are we still favouring ease of establishment over need for protection?

• 1. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are today's cornerstone of many marine conservation strategies. Our 2015 study (Devillers et al., 2015) and others have shown, however, that the placement of MPAs is ‘residual’ to commercial uses and biased towards areas of lower economic value or interest.
• 2. In this paper, we explored the impact of our study on marine science, policy and management practice.
• 3. We reviewed the papers citing our work and compiled expert opinions on some of the impacts of our study.
• 4. Results indicate a strong general uptake in the scientific community but more uneven impacts on policy and management in different contexts, with a likely smaller impact of the research on conservation practice.

     

Knock‐on effects of national risk assessments on the conservation of global biodiversity

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