6533b855fe1ef96bd12b12d0

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Fishing pressure impacts the abundance gradient of European lobsters across the borders of a newly established marine protected area

Even MolandAlf Ring KleivenSigurd Heiberg EspelandEsben Moland OlsenRene A. AbesamisPortia Joy Nillos Kleiven

subject

10010106 biological sciencesConservation of Natural Resourcesspillovermarine protected area60FishingFisheries69010603 evolutionary biology01 natural sciencesGeneral Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular BiologyRecreational fishingHomarus gammarusAbundance (ecology)AnimalsHomarus gammarusGeneral Environmental SciencePopulation DensityEcologyGeneral Immunology and Microbiologybiologydecapod crustaceanNorway010604 marine biology & hydrobiologycatch-per-unit-effortGeneral MedicineCatch per unit effortbiology.organism_classificationNephropidaeFisheryrecreational fisheriesEnvironmental scienceMarine protected areaFisheries managementGeneral Agricultural and Biological SciencesResearch Article

description

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are considered viable fisheries management tools due to their potential benefits of adult spillover and recruitment subsidy to nearby fisheries. However, before–after control–impact studies that explore the biological and fishery effects of MPAs to surrounding fisheries are scarce. We present results from a fine-scale spatial gradient study conducted before and after the implementation of a 5 km 2 lobster MPA in southern Norway. A significant nonlinear response in lobster abundance, estimated as catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) from experimental fishing, was detected within 2 years of protection. After 4 years, CPUE values inside the MPA had increased by a magnitude of 2.6 compared to before-protection values. CPUE showed a significant nonlinear decline from the centre of the MPA, with a depression immediately outside the border and a plateau in fished areas. Overall fishing pressure almost doubled over the course of the study. The highest increase in fishing pressure (by a magnitude of 3) was recorded within 1 km of the MPA border, providing a plausible cause for the depression in CPUE. Taken together, these results demonstrate the need to regulate fishing pressure in surrounding areas when MPAs are implemented as fishery management tools.

10.1098/rspb.2018.2455http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2637359