The Bioeconomics of Marine Reserves: A Selected Review with Policy Implications

Abstract

The paper ‘bridges the divide’ between the biological and economic literature on marine reserves. It provides a selected review of the traditional use of reserves, the early reserve literature, the potential benefits of reserves, spillovers from reserves to harvested areas and bioeconomic models of marine reserves. The bioeconomics literature is examined from the perspectives of deterministic models, spatial economic models and models that include uncertainty and stochasticity. Insights from the review are used to provide management implications in terms of reserve design, stakeholder cooperation and process, reserve-fishery transfers, traditional management controls, and ecosystem approaches to managing fisheries.