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Does MPA mean ‘Major Problem for Assessments'? Considering the consequences of place‐based management systems
Author(s) -
Field John C.,
Punt André E.,
Methot Richard D.,
Thomson Cynthia J.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
fish and fisheries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.747
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1467-2979
pISSN - 1467-2960
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-2979.2006.00226.x
Subject(s) - marine protected area , groundfish , fisheries management , environmental resource management , fisheries science , business , marine conservation , resource management (computing) , management by objectives , ecosystem based management , stock assessment , resource (disambiguation) , productivity , fishery , ecosystem , fishing , computer science , environmental science , ecology , habitat , economics , computer network , marketing , biology , macroeconomics
Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been increasingly proposed, evaluated and implemented as management tools for achieving both fisheries and conservation objectives in aquatic ecosystems. However, there is a challenge associated with the application of MPAs in marine resource management with respect to the consequences to traditional systems of monitoring and managing fisheries resources. The place‐based paradigm of MPAs can complicate the population‐based paradigm of most fisheries stock assessments. In this review, we identify the potential complications that could result from both existing and future MPAs to the science and management systems currently in place for meeting conventional fisheries management objectives. The intent is not to evaluate the effects of implementing MPAs on fisheries yields, or even to consider the extent to which MPAs may achieve conservation oriented objectives, but rather to evaluate the consequences of MPA implementation on the ability to monitor and assess fishery resources consistent with existing methods and legislative mandates. Although examples are drawn primarily from groundfish fisheries on the West Coast of the USA, the lessons are broadly applicable to management systems worldwide, particularly those in which there exists the institutional infrastructure for managing resources based on quantitative assessments of resource status and productivity.