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Using marine reserves to manage impact of bottom trawl fisheries requires consideration of benthic food‐web interactions
Author(s) -
Denderen P. Daniël,
Rijnsdorp Adriaan D.,
Kooten Tobias
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
ecological applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.864
H-Index - 213
eISSN - 1939-5582
pISSN - 1051-0761
DOI - 10.1002/eap.1360
Subject(s) - trawling , bottom trawling , marine protected area , fishery , food web , benthic zone , fishing , fisheries management , trophic level , biodiversity , environmental science , habitat , ecology , biology
Marine protected areas ( MPA s) are widely used to protect exploited fish species as well as to conserve marine habitats and their biodiversity. They have also become a popular management tool for bottom trawl fisheries, a common fishing technique on continental shelves worldwide. The effects of bottom trawling go far beyond the impact on target species, as trawls also affect other components of the benthic ecosystem and the seabed itself. This means that for bottom trawl fisheries, MPA s can potentially be used not only to conserve target species but also to reduce impact of these side effects of the fishery. However, predicting the protective effects of MPA s is complicated because the side effects of trawling potentially alter the food‐web interactions between target and non‐target species. These changes in predatory and competitive interactions among fish and benthic invertebrates may have important ramifications for MPA s as tools to manage or mitigate the effects of bottom trawling. Yet, in current theory regarding the functioning of MPA s in relation to bottom trawl fisheries, such predatory and competitive interactions between species are generally not taken into account. In this study, we discuss how food‐web interactions that are potentially affected by bottom trawling may alter the effectiveness of MPA s to protect (1) biodiversity and marine habitats, (2) fish populations, (3) fisheries yield, and (4) trophic structure of the community. We make the case that in order to be applicable for bottom trawl fisheries, guidelines for the implementation of MPA s must consider their potential food‐web effects, at the risk of failing management.