Abstract
Abstract Fish stocks around the world are heavily overexploited in spite of fishing policies in several parts of the world designed to limit overfishing. Recent studies have found that the complexity of ecological systems and the diversity of species, as well as negative impact of fishing activities on environmental carrying capacity of fish stocks—all contribute to the problem. A number of biologists, managers, and practitioners strongly support the use of marine reserves as a management strategy for marine conservation. This paper contributes to this line of research by seeking an optimum reserve size and fishing effort for situations where species diversity decrease at fishing grounds and fishing activities impact carrying capacity. We found that a reserve size which maximizes economic rents could ruin a fish stock if fishing impacts are not accounted for. On the other hand, the reserve serves as a bifurcation term which could improve the resilience of a marine ecosystem.
Highlights
Fishery resources in many parts of the world are heavily overexploited, with some stocks completely collapsed or on the verge of doing so
The results reveal the following: 1. For any given level of phenotypic diversity, the optimum reserve size and fishing effort must be set lower if the impact of fishing on carrying capacity becomes more intense or severe
Recent studies have found that fishing activities impact species diversity as well as environmental carrying capacity of stocks within fishing areas, which are both negative externalities
Summary
Fishery resources in many parts of the world are heavily overexploited, with some stocks completely collapsed or on the verge of doing so An important question which has not been addressed adequately in the bio-economics literature is whether reserves could guarantee resilient ecosystems if fishing alters species diversity, and the fishing impact on habitat is accounted for in calculating catch potentials. The current study highlights the use of a marine reserve as a management tool for dampening the negative effect of fishing on carrying capacity, when species are biologically diverse.. To the best of our knowledge this is the first paper that seeks an optimum marine reserve size which simultaneously addresses the issue of species diversity and fishing impact on carrying capacity.
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