MPA Benefits - In Numbers

John McManus jmcmanus at rsmas.miami.edu
Thu Mar 7 18:25:28 EST 2002


The series of Alcala and Russ papers on Sumilon Island did not start before
the reserve was in place. However, the studies went through a period in
which fishing was permitted and then banned again. They showed that the
reserve had substantially more fish (like double?) as a reserve than when it
was not. They also showed that the loss of 20% of the fishing ground to
non-fishing status was more than made up for by the increased fishing catch.
The full story is across a string of papers in the ecological and fisheries
literature, plus a summary in Naga. There are also good success stories
being written up about the Apo reef reserve.

Bob Pomeroy, in a talk before the USCRTF last December, reported that coral
cover had doubled and fish abundances had increased ten-fold over a ten year
period following the establishment of the reserve in Masinloc, Philippines.
That is entirely believable, given that our studies in Bolinao just up the
coast showed that overall fish abundances were fished down to between 1/10th
and 1/100th of less fished reefs, and the coral cover was severely reduced
by blast fishing.

Again, I stress that the worse the overall situation before the reserve, the
more likely a little protection is going to show remarkable results. Note
that we are also talking about reefs that did not phase shift entirely to
algal dominance, which would have reduced the positive effects of the
reserves substantially.

Cheers!

 John

_________________________________________________________

John W. McManus, PhD
Director, National Center for Caribbean Coral Reef Research (NCORE)
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (RSMAS)
University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway
Miami, Florida 33149.
jmcmanus at rsmas.miami.edu
Tel. (305) 361-4814
Fax (305) 361-4910
www.ncoremiami.org

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
[mailto:owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov]On Behalf Of Sale Peter
Sent: Thursday, March 07, 2002 4:31 PM
To: John McManus
Cc: pacaqts; coral-list at aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: RE: MPA Benefits - In Numbers

Be careful.  There are lots of papers that show an increase in stock
within the reserve, and many that claim an increase in fishery yield.  But
I do not believe there are any papers that demonstrate convincingly that
an MPA has enhanced yield in the non-protected, fished area around it to
an extent that exceeds the potential loss to the fishery by creating the
reserve, and removing that (reserve) area from the former fishing grounds.

Reserves PROBABLY enhance fisheries, but the data are not yet in.  Garry
Russ may be able to amplify this (or correct it).
Peter Sale

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