Recovery Trends of Commercial Fish: The Case of an Underperforming Mediterranean Marine Protected Area.

Temporal trends in the recovery of exploited species in marine protected areas (MPAs) are useful for a proper assessment of the efficacy of protection measures. The effects of protection on the fish assemblages of the sublittoral rocky reefs in the "Penisola del Sinis-Isola di Mal di Ventre&quo...

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Main Authors: Stefano Marra, Stefania Coppa, Andrea Camedda, Carlotta Mazzoldi, Francesco Wrachien, Giorgio Massaro, G Andrea de Lucia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2016-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4704826?pdf=render
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spelling doaj-9811adfecdb54ed1bbcbabb315c4be3b2020-11-24T21:39:33ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032016-01-01111e014639110.1371/journal.pone.0146391Recovery Trends of Commercial Fish: The Case of an Underperforming Mediterranean Marine Protected Area.Stefano MarraStefania CoppaAndrea CameddaCarlotta MazzoldiFrancesco WrachienGiorgio MassaroG Andrea de LuciaTemporal trends in the recovery of exploited species in marine protected areas (MPAs) are useful for a proper assessment of the efficacy of protection measures. The effects of protection on the fish assemblages of the sublittoral rocky reefs in the "Penisola del Sinis-Isola di Mal di Ventre" MPA (W. Sardinia, Italy) were evaluated using a multi-year series of data. Four surveys, conducted 7, 10, 13 and 15 years after the area was designated as an MPA and carried out in the period spanning June and July, were used to estimate the abundance and biomass of commercial species. The surveys were carried out in zones with decreasing levels of fishing restrictions within the MPA (zones A, B, C) and in unprotected zones (OUT1 and OUT2), and underwater video visual census techniques were used. Protected zones only occasionally showed higher levels of abundance or biomass, and the trajectories of those metrics were not consistent across the years. In addition, the zone with the highest level of protection (zone A) never presented levels of abundance and biomass higher than those in zones B and C. This study shows that even 15 years after designation, protection has had no appreciable effect in the MPA studied. It is argued that this is emblematic of several shortcomings in the planning, regulation and enforcement frameworks of the MPA.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4704826?pdf=render
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Stefano Marra
Stefania Coppa
Andrea Camedda
Carlotta Mazzoldi
Francesco Wrachien
Giorgio Massaro
G Andrea de Lucia
spellingShingle Stefano Marra
Stefania Coppa
Andrea Camedda
Carlotta Mazzoldi
Francesco Wrachien
Giorgio Massaro
G Andrea de Lucia
Recovery Trends of Commercial Fish: The Case of an Underperforming Mediterranean Marine Protected Area.
PLoS ONE
author_facet Stefano Marra
Stefania Coppa
Andrea Camedda
Carlotta Mazzoldi
Francesco Wrachien
Giorgio Massaro
G Andrea de Lucia
author_sort Stefano Marra
title Recovery Trends of Commercial Fish: The Case of an Underperforming Mediterranean Marine Protected Area.
title_short Recovery Trends of Commercial Fish: The Case of an Underperforming Mediterranean Marine Protected Area.
title_full Recovery Trends of Commercial Fish: The Case of an Underperforming Mediterranean Marine Protected Area.
title_fullStr Recovery Trends of Commercial Fish: The Case of an Underperforming Mediterranean Marine Protected Area.
title_full_unstemmed Recovery Trends of Commercial Fish: The Case of an Underperforming Mediterranean Marine Protected Area.
title_sort recovery trends of commercial fish: the case of an underperforming mediterranean marine protected area.
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
series PLoS ONE
issn 1932-6203
publishDate 2016-01-01
description Temporal trends in the recovery of exploited species in marine protected areas (MPAs) are useful for a proper assessment of the efficacy of protection measures. The effects of protection on the fish assemblages of the sublittoral rocky reefs in the "Penisola del Sinis-Isola di Mal di Ventre" MPA (W. Sardinia, Italy) were evaluated using a multi-year series of data. Four surveys, conducted 7, 10, 13 and 15 years after the area was designated as an MPA and carried out in the period spanning June and July, were used to estimate the abundance and biomass of commercial species. The surveys were carried out in zones with decreasing levels of fishing restrictions within the MPA (zones A, B, C) and in unprotected zones (OUT1 and OUT2), and underwater video visual census techniques were used. Protected zones only occasionally showed higher levels of abundance or biomass, and the trajectories of those metrics were not consistent across the years. In addition, the zone with the highest level of protection (zone A) never presented levels of abundance and biomass higher than those in zones B and C. This study shows that even 15 years after designation, protection has had no appreciable effect in the MPA studied. It is argued that this is emblematic of several shortcomings in the planning, regulation and enforcement frameworks of the MPA.
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4704826?pdf=render
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