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Abstract
AbstractMarine reserves are a promising tool for recovering overfished ecosystems. However, reserves designed to rebuild profits in the long‐term may cause short‐term losses—a serious issue in regions where fisheries are key for food security. We examine the tension between the long‐term benefits of reserves and short‐term losses, using a multispecies model of coral reef fisheries. Reserves designed to maximize long‐term profits caused significant short‐term losses. We model several policy solutions, where we incrementally increased either: the number of months per year that the reserve is closed to fishing; the size of the reserve; or the number species protected within the reserve. Protecting species sequentially, starting with the most valued species, provided the best outcome in the short‐term with the most rapid recovery of profits. Solving the dilemma of meeting short‐ and long‐term goals will ultimately improve the effectiveness of marine reserves for managing fisheries and conserving ecosystems.
Highlights
Small-scale fisheries are an important part of many economies and form an essential part of many livelihoods in low-income regions (Sadovy 2005)
They are coral trout, parrotfish, and snapper (e.g., Teh et al 2005; Bejarano et al 2013). We chose these groups because: they are typical of coral reef fisheries; their harvest may be increased by marine reserves; their relative values vary; and they can be selectively targeted so our policy option for targeting a subset of species is feasible
Quantifying tradeoffs between goals at different time scales is important for informing stakeholders and policy makers about the impacts of recovery measures
Summary
Small-scale fisheries are an important part of many economies and form an essential part of many livelihoods in low-income regions (Sadovy 2005). Small-scale fisheries are an important source of protein for people with little opportunity for alternative employment (Sadovy 2005) and form an integral part of many coastal cultures (Johannes 1981). These fisheries typically target multiple species, and resources for monitoring, management, and enforcement are often limited. Effectively enforced marine reserves can improve fisheries harvests and profits in the mid to long-term (e.g., Russ et al 2003; Goni et al 2010), and help to recover overfished populations (Lester et al 2009)
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