Biodiversity conservation should focus on no-take Marine Reserves: 94% of Marine Protected Areas allow fishing

Mark J Costello; Bill Ballantine

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2015.06.011

Biodiversity conservation should focus on no-take Marine Reserves: 94% of Marine Protected Areas allow fishing

Trends Ecol Evol. 2015 Sep;30(9):507-9. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2015.06.011.

Authors

Mark J Costello¹, Bill Ballantine²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Marine Science, Leigh Marine Laboratory, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: m.costello@auckland.ac.nz.
² Institute of Marine Science, Leigh Marine Laboratory, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

PMID: 26321055
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2015.06.011

Abstract

Conservation needs places where nature is left wild; but only a quarter of coastal countries have no-take Marine Reserves. 'Marine Protected Areas' (MPAs) have been used to indicate conservation progress but we found that 94% allow fishing and thus cannot protect all aspects of biodiversity. Biodiversity conservation should focus on Marine Reserves, not MPAs.

Keywords: ecosystems; fisheries; ocean; sustainability.

MeSH terms

Animals
Biodiversity*
Conservation of Natural Resources / legislation & jurisprudence*
Fisheries / legislation & jurisprudence*
Fishes
Oceans and Seas