Across the world, closing areas of ocean and seas to specific activities or for certain periods of time is a tool commonly used for nature conservation or fisheries management purposes.

These are generally known as ‘marine protected areas’ (MPAs). MPAs were developed as tools to provide species and habitats with spatial protection from human interference.

Given the current debate on spatial measures for fish stock protection and recovery, WWF believes it is appropriate to distinguish between marine protected areas with a conservation objective – Nature Conservation MPA – and those with a fisheries management objective such as stock recovery – Fisheries MPA.

Nature conservation MPAs – are areas identified for biodiversity protection, whose primary objectives relate to the conservation and recovery of marine biodiversity and ecosystems. They are usually designated around permanent geographic features to allow the recovery and maintenance of biodiversity, and have different management strategies ranging from multi- or managed use to strict protection of Highly Protected Marine Reserves (HPMRs).

In the UK and Europe, nature conservation MPA management has focused on multi-use. Nature conservation MPAs are an important feature of the marine nature conservation tool kit; but to address wider issues such as pollution, shipping and fisheries, they need to be set in a broader marine nature conservation policy and wider environmental management framework – a marine spatial plan.

Nature conservation MPAs can be established under both fisheries and conservation legislation.

Fisheries MPAs - are spatially defined areas of sea or estuary where natural populations of commercial species (finfish and/or shellfish) are protected either in part or completely from exploitation or other detrimental human activities.

Fisheries MPAs provide a tool for issues such as stock management and fish stock recovery. They can be permanent or non-permanent, gear type specific, fish species specific, vessel type or size specific, etc. There are two main sub-types of fisheries MPAs:

• Closed areas (aka ‘fisheries boxes’), a fisheries management tool that relates to a sea area which is closed (either permanently or seasonally) to a certain fishing gear or vessel size, or for a certain target species usually for the purpose of fish stock management or recovery.

WWF believe one large closed area is not always the best solution and that the best solution is often a network including a number of fisheries MPAs of different sizes which
comprise carefully selected key life-stage histories (such as spawning grounds, feeding aggregations, nursery areas), and include important routes for migratory species and ecological corridors across ocean basins.

Since fishing is not totally prohibited, these ‘boxes’ are not true ‘no-take zones’. Several ‘fisheries boxes’ are already in use in Europe, such as the Norway pout, mackerel and plaice boxes, or those that protect spawning herring.

• No-take zones (NTZs)
  An area of sea that has been temporarily or permanently closed to all fishing (not just some gear types) to protect fish stocks and/or natural habitats. NTZs can enable the ecosystem within the area to recover (at least partially) from the effects of fishing.

Multiple-use MPAs – It is often believed that all MPAs are closed to all activities – in fact the majority often permit both extractive and non-extractive activities. These multiple-use MPAs function both to protect ecosystems and, at times, to support sustainable commercial activities (for example ecotourism where licences are issued to limit activity levels).

Activities can take place within the protected area if they are deemed not to have an adverse impact on the conservation features, hence they may be zoned or be subject to certain conditions. One example is the seasonal restrictions on access to parts of MPAs to minimise disturbance to nesting seabirds

The WWF paper Marine Update 60 : Fisheries MPAs can be found in pdf format here.

Related posts:

1. Ministerial statement on MPAs
2. Commercial coalition to focus on MPAs
3. Scottish MPAs lack inclusion
4. Defra’s MPA Strategy
5. Marine Protected Areas around Scotland