A global assessment of the effectiveness of different protection levels in marine protected areas of tropical waters, following a new categorization

Dissertação de mestrado, Biologia Marinha, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2015

Planning and management of marine protected areas : methodological approaches to cope with data scarcity

Tese de doutoramento, Biologia (Biologia Marinha e Aquacultura), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2015

The income requirements of marine protected areas

Given the growing impact of human activities on the sea, managers are increasingly turning to marine protected areas (MPAs) to protect marine habitats and species. Many MPAs have been unsuccessful, however, and lack of income has been identified as a primary reason for failure. In this study, data from a global survey of 79 MPAs in 36 countries were analysed and attempts made to construct predictive models to determine the income requirements of any given MPA. Statistical tests were used to uncover possible patterns and relationships in the data, with two basic approaches. In the first of these, an attempt was made to build an explanatory "bottom-up" model of the cost structures that might be required to pursue various management activities. This proved difficult in practice owing to the very broad range of applicable data, spanning many orders of magnitude. In the second approach, a "top-down" regression model was constructed using logarithms of the base data, in order to address the breadth of the data ranges. This approach suggested that MPA size and visitor numbers together explained 46% of the minimum income requirements (P < 0.001), with area being the slightly more influential factor. The significance of area to income requirements was of little surprise, given its profile in the literature. However, the relationship between visitors and income requirements might go some way to explaining why northern hemisphere MPAs with apparently high incomes still claim to be under-funded. The relationship between running costs and visitor numbers has important implications not only in determining a realistic level of funding for MPAs, but also in assessing from where funding might be obtained. Since a substantial proportion of the income of many MPAs appears to be utilized for amenity purposes, a case may be made for funds to be provided from the typically better resourced government social and educational budgets as well as environmental budgets. Similarly visitor fees, already an important source of funding for some MPAs, might have a broader role to play in how MPAs are financed in the future. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of incentives for sustainable implementation of marine protected areas: an example from Tanzania

Although Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are an increasingly popular policy tool for protecting marine stocks and biodiversity, they pose high costs for small-scale fisherfolk in poor countries. With Tanzania’s Mnazi Bay Ruvuma Estuary Marine Park as an example, we develop a spatial economic decision-modelling framework as a lens to examine fishers’ reactions to incentives created by an MPA. We argue that MPAs in poor countries can only contribute to sustainability if management induces changes in incentives to fish through a combination of enforcement (‘sticks’) and livelihood projects (‘carrots’). We emphasise practical implementation issues and implications for fostering marine ecosystem sustainability.

Marine protected areas in artisanal fisheries: a spatial bio-economic model based on observations in Costa Rica and Tanzania

In many lower-income countries, the establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs) involves significant opportunity costs for artisanal fishers, reflected in changes in how they allocate their labor in response to the MPA. The resource economics literature rarely addresses such labor allocation decisions of artisanal fishers and how, in turn, these contribute to the impact of MPAs on fish stocks, yield, and income. This paper develops a spatial bio-economic model of a fishery adjacent to a village of people who allocate their labor between fishing and on-shore wage opportunities to establish a spatial Nash equilibrium at a steady state fish stock in response to various locations for no-take zone MPAs and managed access MPAs. Villagers’ fishing location decisions are based on distance costs, fishing returns, and wages. Here, the MPA location determines its impact on fish stocks, fish yield, and villager income due to distance costs, congestion, and fish dispersal. Incorporating wage labor opportunities into the framework allows examination of the MPA’s impact on rural incomes, with results determining that win-wins between yield and stocks occur in very different MPA locations than do win-wins between income and stocks. Similarly, villagers in a high-wage setting face a lower burden from MPAs than do those in low-wage settings. Motivated by issues of central importance in Tanzania and Costa Rica, we impose various policies on this fishery – location specific no-take zones, increasing on-shore wages, and restricting MPA access to a subset of villagers – to analyze the impact of an MPA on fish stocks and rural incomes in such settings.

Habitat of juvenile Caribbean reef sharks, Carcharhinus perezi, at two oceanic insular marine protected areas in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean: Fernando de Noronha Archipelago and Atol das Rocas, Brazil

Habitat of juvenile Caribbean reef sharks, Carcharhinus perezi (Carcharhinidae), was identified using fishing surveys and capture of immature specimens at two Brazilian insular sites in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, Fernando de Noronha Archipelago and Atol das Rocas. Standardized sampling at Fernando de Noronha indicated that parturition occurred from February to April and that a wide depth-range (at least 5-30 m) along the insular shelf was used by immature sharks throughout the year. The catch-per-unit effort of C. perezi was significantly higher inside than outside a marine protected area at this location, suggesting that these sharks are more common in pans of the reef least disturbed by human activities. More limited sampling at Atol das Rocas suggested that juvenile C. perezi occurred at similar depths and utilized similar substrate as sharks at Fernando de Noronha. These findings suggest that successful conservation and management of this economically important, protected species will need to include conservation of habitat around insular reef systems. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Desarrollo en las áreas marinas y costeras del Gran Caribe: un estudio general = Marine and coastal areas development in the Wider Caribbean: overview study

Incluye Bibliografía

Underwater towed video: a useful tool to rapidly assess elasmobranch populations in large marine protected areas

Elasmobranch stock assessment studies are usually made through fisheries surveys data. However, in large marine protected areas (MPAs) the use of destructive techniques must be dismissed in order to avoid population impacts. In 2005, while conducting a marine habitat survey in two marine Special Areas of Conservation (Sebadales de Playa de Inglés and Franja Marina de Mogán) in south Gran Canary Island (Canary Islands, Spain) with underwater towed video (UTV) and underwater visual census (UVC) transects, we recognized the opportunity rose to assess elasmobranch populations through UTV. Number of observed species and specimens, overall field work effort and total surveyed area were determined and compared between methods. Mean observations per day per unit of time (MOPUT) and mean observations per day per unit of surveyed area (MOPUA) were also compared through Mann–Whitney rank sum statistical test (α=0.05). Data analysis demonstrated that UTV is a very useful tool to rapidly assess elasmobranch populations in large MPAs in good visibility underwater environments. It can assess larger areas than UVC with the same effort (statistically significant difference found for the MOPUT; p=<0.001), leading to more observed species (5 vs 2) and specimens (46 vs 3) per day of work, with no loss in resolution power (MOPUA values were not significantly different between UTV and UVC; p=0.104).

Sustaining the Economic Rent of Oceanic Resources: The Case of Marine Protected Areas

This paper investigates economic aspects of marine protected areas (MPAs) that are closely related to the underlying marine biota. Many marine scientists recognize that enough is now known about the marine biology for the scientific siting of MPAs to protect marine environments that create associated economic values. Marine scientists have identified several objectives of MPAs. These include protection of genetic and biodiversity, increase in population levels and structures (e.g., age, size, fecundity), enrichment of ecosystems by promoting species interactions, and the protection of continental shelf landscapes from invasive human actions. Indeed, some marine scientists and fisheries economists view MPAs as an 'insurance policy' against over-fishing and other human uses of oceanic resources that have damaged so many of the world's fisheries. The economic analysis presented here pays attention to optimal zoning, policies to maintain sustainable economic rents, and the optimal policing of MPAs.

Interview forms for integrating education for conservation in marine protected areas management in Colombia

Environmental Education (EE) is a key component in any marine protected area management. However, its visibility and action plans are still poorly developed and structured as a clear element in management procedures. The objective of this study is to contribute with a methodological route that integrates EE to the existing model of management planning and strategies, taking the Colombian National Natural Parks System as a case study. The creation of the route is proposed as a participatory research with different stakeholders in order to respond to the specific conservation needs and goals for the National Parks System. The EE national diagnosis has shown that its integration within the parks management structure is a first priority need, being a converging result on the two case studies on National Parks from the Pacific Coast of Colombia. The diagnosis also demonstrates that communication, participation, training and evaluation have to be reinforced, linking the community and stakeholders involved in the park management to the whole EE process. The proposed methodology route has been agreed upon by the National Parks staff and incorporates advice and recommendations from different stakeholders, in order to better include the park users. This step will help us to advance toward sustainable management in marine and coastal protected areas elsewhere, taking into account not only the biological but also the social-cultural prism. The main challenges in the management and conservation of coastal and marine ecosystems today are discussed.

Marine fungi from the Northwest African upwelling areas and from the Atlantic off Portugal

Quantitative data on lower marine Phycomycetes (fungi) found in the upwelling waters off the West African coast during cruises No. 13 (1968), 19 (1970), 36 (1975) and 44 (1977) of R.V. "Meteor" are reported. The distribution of the total fungi numbers is presented and, as far as possible, the evaluation of the material up to species level is given. Several provisionally named forms and groups of morphologically related, undescribed fungi are included. A correlation between the number of fungi in sediments and the water depth and distance from the coast line is postulated. There are typical distributions of the lower marine fungi in water bodies and sediments. Different values within replicates of the stations in different years show that there is a sequence in development of fungal populations induced by changes in the water bodies. Surface water far from the coast has low numbers of fungi; numbers increase to a maximum nearer to the coast. In the vicinity of the coast the values decrease. The numbers of fungi in the deep sediments are low below 1,200 m. However, there are isolated areas of higher fungal activities, indicated by some deeper grab samples. During two cruises, the "overlying water" in the grab samples was investigated. It was evident that the numbers of fungi lost by stirring of the sediment when the grab was brought up to the surface were small, relatively and absolutely. The seamount "Josephine Bank" has been investigated for the first time with respect to lower marine fungi; the populations are low in the sediments, but one sample of the surface water had a higher number than the water in the surroundings. In some hydrographic series there was a peculiar depth distribution. An increase occurred at a depth greater than 1,000 m. The results are discussed and some correlations to the aging of the fungal populations in the water masses are constructed.