Marine reserves solve an important bycatch problem in fisheries

Marine reserves solve an important bycatch problem in fisheries.

Management of the diverse fisheries of the world has had mixed success. While managing single species in data-rich environments has been largely effective, perhaps the greatest challenge facing fishery managers is how to deal with mixed stocks of fish with a range of life histories that reside in the same location. Because many fishing gears are nonselective, and the costs of making gear select...

Irreducible uncertainties, sustainable fisheries and marine reserves

Marine reserves are increasingly proposed as a management tool. Models can play a valuable role in the evaluation of the possible benefits of reserves because they allow us to conduct many more investigations than could ever be done empirically. In this paper, I develop a model for a marine reserve for an open population subject to environmental uncertainty.

Effects of marine reserves on adjacent fisheries.

Marine reserves have been widely promoted as conservation and fishery management tools. There are robust demonstrations of conservation benefits, but fishery benefits remain controversial. We show that marine reserves in Florida (United States) and St. Lucia have enhanced adjacent fisheries. Within 5 years of creation, a network of five small reserves in St. Lucia increased adjacent catches of ...

Mobilizing Markets to Reduce Bycatch in Marine Fisheries

Bycatch of marine mammals in U.S. and global fisheries.

Fisheries bycatch poses a significant threat to many populations of marine mammals, but there are few published estimates of the magnitude of these catches. We estimated marine mammal bycatch in U.S. fisheries from 1990 to 1999 with data taken from the stock assessment reports required by the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. The mean annual bycatch of marine mammals during this period was 621...