Review of the Benefits of No-Take Zones
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1 Preface This report was commissioned by the Wildlife Conservation Society to support a three-year project aimed at expanding the area of no-take, or replenishment, zones to at least 10% of the territorial sea of Belize by the end of 2015. It is clear from ongoing efforts to expand Belize’s no-take zones that securing support for additional fishery closures requires demonstrating to fishers and other stakeholders that such closures offer clear and specific benefits to fisheries – and to fishers. Thus, an important component of the national expansion project has been to prepare a synthesis report of the performance of no-take zones, in Belize and elsewhere, in replenishing fisheries and conserving biodiversity, with the aim of providing positive examples, elucidating the factors contributing to positive results, and developing scientific arguments and data that can be used to generate and sustain stakeholder support for no-take expansion. To this end, Dr. Craig Dahlgren, a recognized expert in marine protected areas and fisheries management, with broad experience in the Caribbean, including Belize, was contracted to prepare this synthesis report. The project involved an in-depth literature review of no-take areas and a visit to Belize to conduct consultations with staff of the Belize Fisheries Department, marine reserve managers, and fishermen, collect information and national data, and identify local examples of benefits of no-take areas. In November 2013, Dr. Dahlgren presented his preliminary results to the Replenishment Zone Project Steering Committee, and he subsequently incorporated feedback received from Steering Committee members and WCS staff in this final report. This synthesis report of the benefits of no-take zones to fisheries, biodiversity conservation, tourism, and enhanced resilience to climate change provides a valuable source of information from which to generate the messages for a communications campaign, the next step in the national expansion project. It is also helping to guide the process of selecting the optimal areas for additional no-take designation, which is another integral part of this initiative. Cover Photo: Virginia Burns-Perez/WCS, Julio Maaz/WCS, Enric Sala 2 Table of Contents PREFACE .................................................................................................................................................................... 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................................... 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................................... 5 1. OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 STATUS OF THE WORLD’S OCEANS ............................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 STATE OF MARINE FISHERIES AND ECOSYSTEMS IN BELIZE .................................................................................... 9 1.3 MARINE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................................................ 11 1.4 WHAT’S IN A NAME: MPA NOMENCLATURE ............................................................................................................. 11 1.5 MPAS IN BELIZE ............................................................................................................................................................ 14 1.6 OVERVIEW OF THE BENEFITS OF NO-TAKE AREAS ................................................................................................. 14 2. CONSERVATION BENEFITS OF NO-TAKE ZONES ................................................................................. 19 2.1 META-ANALYSES OF THE CONSERVATION BENEFITS OF NO-TAKE ZONES.......................................................... 19 2.2 CONSERVATION EXAMPLES FROM SPECIES OF IMPORTANCE TO BELIZE ............................................................. 20 2.2.1 QUEEN CONCH ............................................................................................................................................................. 20 2.2.2 CARIBBEAN SPINY LOBSTER .................................................................................................................................... 23 2.2.3 GROUPER AND SNAPPER ........................................................................................................................................... 24 2.3 NO-TAKE ZONES VS. OTHER FORMS OF MPAS ......................................................................................................... 24 2.4 HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR CONSERVATION BENEFITS TO OCCUR? .............................................................. 25 2.5 HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE POPULATIONS TO FULLY RECOVER IN NO-TAKE ZONES? ....................................... 26 2.6 OTHER DIRECT CONSERVATION BENEFITS FOR TARGET SPECIES ........................................................................ 27 2.7 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................................................. 30 3. FISHERIES BENEFITS OF NO-TAKE ZONES ............................................................................................ 31 3.1 RECRUITMENT EFFECT – LARVAL REPLENISHMENT ............................................................................................... 31 3.2 SPILLOVER EFFECT ........................................................................................................................................................ 34 3.2.1 DENSITY GRADIENTS ................................................................................................................................................. 34 3.2.2 GRADIENTS IN CPUE OR CPUA .............................................................................................................................. 36 3.2.3 TAGGING ...................................................................................................................................................................... 37 3.2.4 HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR SPILLOVER TO OCCUR?...................................................................................... 38 3.2.5 DOES SPILLOVER ENHANCE FISHERIES? ................................................................................................................ 39 3.5 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................................................. 39 4. ECOSYSTEM BENEFITS OF NO-TAKE ZONES ......................................................................................... 41 4.1 CONSERVING BIODIVERSITY – DIRECT EFFECTS ON TARGET SPECIES, NON-TARGET SPECIES AND HABITAT .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 41 4.2 INDIRECT EFFECTS OF NO-TAKE ZONES: HABITAT IMPACTS ................................................................................ 43 4.3 INDIRECT EFFECTS OF NO-TAKE ZONES: PREDATOR-PREY INTERACTIONS ...................................................... 45 4.4 INDIRECT EFFECTS OF NO-TAKE ZONES LEAD TO ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS ............................................................ 46 4.5 INDIRECT EFFECTS ON INVASIVE SPECIES ................................................................................................................. 48 4.6 CORAL REEF RESILIENCE ............................................................................................................................................. 48 4.7 HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR ECOSYSTEM BENEFITS TO OCCUR? .................................................................... 50 4.8 SPATIAL EXTENT OF ECOSYSTEM BENEFITS ............................................................................................................. 51 4.9 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................................................. 51 3 5. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF NO-TAKE ZONES .................................................................. 53 5.1 ECONOMIC BENEFITS TO FISHERIES ........................................................................................................................... 53 5.2 OTHER BENEFITS TO FISHERY MANAGEMENT ......................................................................................................... 55 5.3 BENEFITS TO TOURISM ................................................................................................................................................. 55 5.4 OTHER ECONOMIC BENEFITS ...................................................................................................................................... 57 5.5 REDUCING USER CONFLICTS ........................................................................................................................................ 59 5.6 RESEARCH AND EDUCATION .......................................................................................................................................