Effects of Marine Protected Areas on Overfished Fishing Stocks with Multiple Stable States

摘要

Marine protected areas (MPAs) have attracted much attention as a tool forsustainable fisheries management, restoring depleted fisheries stocks andmaintaining ecosystems. However, even with total exclusion of fishing effort,depleted stocks sometimes show little or no recovery over a long time period.Here, using a mathematical model, we show that multiple stable states may holdthe key to understanding the tendency for fisheries stocks to recover becauseof MPAs. We find that MPAs can have either a positive effect or almost noeffect on the recovery of depleted fishing stocks, depending on the fishmigration patterns and the fishing policies. MPAs also reinforce ecologicalresilience, particularly for migratory species. In contrast to previousreports, our results show that MPAs have small or sometimes negative effects onthe recovery of sedentary species. Unsuitable MPA planning might result in loweffectiveness or even deterioration of the existing condition.