Design of Marine Protected Areas on high seas and territorial waters of Rockall Bank

Fisheries closures are rapidly being developed to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems worldwide. Satellite monitoring of fishing vessel activity indicates that these closures can work effectively with good compliance by international fleets even in remote areas. Here we summarise how remote fisheries closures were designed to protect Lophelia pertusa habitat in a region of the NE Atlantic that straddles the EU fishing zone and the high seas. We show how scientific records, fishers' knowledge and surveillance data on fishing activity can be combined to provide a powerful tool for the design of Marine Protected Areas.

Response to Comments on "Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services"

We show that globally declining fisheries catch trends cannot be explained by random processes and are consistent with declining stock abundance trends. Future projections are inherently uncertain but may provide a benchmark against which to assess the effectiveness of conservation measures. Marine reserves and fisheries closures are among those measures and can be equally effective in tropical and temperate areas—but must be combined with catch-, effort-, and gear restrictions to meet global conservation objectives.