Department of Biology, FACULTY OF SCIENCE

Introduction

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been proposed throughout the world as an optimal way to protect marine ecosystems and associated fisheries. Two main perspectives have been recognised when addressing the purposes of MPAs: ensuring sustainability of economic resources (“conservation”), and preserving biodiversity – valuable species, habitats and landscapes (“protection”).

From a fisheries point of view, MPAs have been advocated as an insurance against uncertainties faced by traditional management measures, which induced several collapses. To be effective, MPAs have to be properly managed; this task includes defining objectives and goals from the outset, site selection, zoning, planning and implementing a surveillance and enforcement system as well as monitoring actions. In the modern conception of MPAs, local communities have to be effectively involved, as public participation and awareness are essential if proper environmental management is to be implemented.

Despite the popularity of MPAs, based on currently available data, little hard evidence can be presented concerning their effectiveness. Current research has shown that few generalisations can be made beyond the observation that the abundance, biomass and mean size of exploited fish populations are generally higher within protected areas than in nearby non-reserve areas. Even for these well-known effects, expected results of protection are not always evident. The existence and magnitude of the “spillover effect” is controversial due to contrasting results of the different studies.

From this analysis, it can also be concluded that most of the hypothesised effects have received little (if any) attention by researchers. Among these, we can find some effects that are potentially important for fisheries, such as increased reproductive potential of target species, and protection of genetic diversity. Apart from the scarcity of empirical studies, this lack of strong evidence is also partially a result of studies being made in isolation and, in some cases, the inadequate sampling designs adopted. Ultimately, the link between management issues and the results of protection is, at present, difficult to establish.

Objectives of EMPAFISH

The main objective of the EMPAFISH project is to promote a basis for responsible and sustainable fisheries activity that contributes to healthy marine ecosystems, making an economically viable and competitive fisheries industry that guarantees a fair standard of living for those who depend on it. The primary objective is to investigate the potential of different regimes of protected areas as measures to protect sensitive and endangered species, habitats and ecosystems from the effects of fishing, using 20 case studies (Fig. 1.) where management regimes range from totally prohibited zones (“no take zones”) to protected areas where different levels of fishing are accepted either on a seasonal or activity basis, and covering a broad geographic area from the Mediterranean to the Canary Islands and the Azores.

A secondary objective is to develop quantitative methods to assess the effects of marine protected areas where these methods are lacking or not well suited to assess the relevant type of effects. To cover these objectives the project aims to reach a better understanding of structure and dynamics of marine ecosystems, including their response to the impact of human activities, and to develop operational protocols and procedures in order to improve scientific advice to fisheries management combining the long experience of the partners in monitoring and evaluating the effects of MPAs and the ecological process involved and in modelling socio-economic impacts of fisheries.

Fig.1. Map of the Mediterranean and NE Atlantic showing the location of the 20 EMPAFISH case studies.

From this perspective, the Work Packages (WPs) on which the project is based address three main topics:

i)                    The problem associated with critical biological interactions between and within target species and by-catch species.
ii)                   The development of methods to assess the impact of fishing on the marine ecosystems.
iii)                 The use of area-based fishery management tools

These topics will be addressed by identifying and developing, in all cases, indicators of the environmental performance of a Common Fisheries Policy on MPAs. Such indicators must be useful for monitoring progress towards the complete implementation of the ecosystem approach. The project is organised as an integrated activity with interaction between partners with different backgrounds in ecological studies, fisheries and modelling, whose activities have focused on MPAs and other problematic management issues in coastal areas. Furthermore, the project contemplates the organization of a ‘stakeholders forum’ which will include administrations at local, regional and national levels, managers, fishers organizations and other stakeholders (for example, tourist consortia responsible for diving activities and affected by the development of MPAs). Most of the partners have previous experience in working and collaborating with local administrations in the development of management plans for their local MPAs, covering a wider field of policies and management proposals, so they have previous experience in evaluating the effectiveness of currently available management tools. This will facilitate a systematic improvement in the link between research and policy at all levels in the EU. Most of the European MPAs have been developed in an attempt to join conservation objectives with improvement of fisheries in a unique example of how protection of habitats and ecosystems is compatible with economic development and exploitation of resources. Furthermore, unexpected socio-economic benefits derive from other uses and activities, such as from diving and tourism. Therefore, this project is directed towards the same aim as the European Commission’s proposal for a new framework regulation for the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), that is, to ensure exploitation of living aquatic resources within sustainable environmental, economic and social conditions.

The EMPAFISH project website is located at http://www.um.es/empafish/

The Maltese EMPAFISH case studies:
1. The Rdum Majjiesa to Ras ir-Raheb MPA
2. The Malta Fisheries Management Zone

	UNIVERSITY OF MALTA FACULTY OF SCIENCE Department of Biology Research