ABCNews Fishing exclusion zone benefits fishers hundreds of kilometres away, study finds

 For many commercial and recreational fishers, marine protected areas (where fishing is excluded) are viewed with scepticism.

Critics have questioned the legitimacy of what is referred to as the spillover effect — where excluding fishing is hypothesised to produce ecological and/or commercial fishing benefits beyond the boundaries of the protected area.

But research published today in Science suggests fishing exclusion zones can benefit both fishers and the marine environment, and that fish yields for some species can be boosted up to several hundred kilometres away from the protected habitat.

Lead researcher John Lynham from the University of Hawaii says marine protected areas allow the entire food web within them to recover.

That in turn boosts the numbers of some of the wider-roaming pelagic fish that move out into the waters beyond.

"Removing a lot of the human influence, it's kind of like the [COVID-19] lockdowns on a giant scale — everything has a chance to recover," Professor Lynham said.

Key points:

- Researchers compared catch rates outside the world's largest marine protected area off Hawaii, before and after fishing was excluded

- Yellowfin tuna catch rates were boosted by 60 per cent within 100 nautical miles of the boundary, and total "other" species were also higher

- Increased tuna catch rates were seen for 300 nautical miles from the boundary

To read more, click on the following link:

https://www.abc.net.au/.../fishing-exclusion.../101500144

Story originially published on: abc.net.au/news

#fishing #exclusionzones #marineprotectedareas #commercialfishing #benefits #research #LoopPNG #LoopNews