An assessment of marine protected areas (MPAs) in 34 countries has revealed that ocean conservation can generate significant economic benefits to the fishing and tourism industries, with some profits in the billions.

The analysis, led by Mark John Costello from Norway’s Nord University and published in the journal Scientia Marina, reviewed 200 studies of 51 MPAs located in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

Analysed MPAs consist of a variety of ecosystems, including coral reefs, kelp forests, mangroves, rocky reefs, salt marshes, mudflats, and sandy and muddy seabed habitats.

“For far too long, marine parks have been overlooked as GDP generators and job creators,” the author stated.

“This study offers the strongest evidence yet that protecting the ocean replenishes it with abundant fish, protects it against climate change, but also boosts local and national economies. Now, we can add tourism operators and fisheries to the list of ocean protection beneficiaries.”

FISHERIES BENEFITS

Costello said well-designed and enforced MPAs provide “sustainable benefits for fishing communities”, with possible advantages delivered even from sub-optimally designed MPAs.

Marine protected areas are widely considered one of the most effective tools for protecting biodiversity and conserving threatened species – though only 3% of the global ocean is been identified as fully protected areas to date.

“There are so many examples in many countries, different habitats, and kinds of fisheries that the industry benefits from MPAs. So this benefit can be generalised and considered the norm,” Costello told Carbon Pulse.

“There are no examples to the contrary, not even one. That was a big surprise for me because for decades we have heard about MPAs being a loss or cost to fisheries, and economic models assuming this to be true.”

Marine protected areas’ role in fisheries management is still being debated, with critics claiming a “lack of evidence” of such economic benefits.

“That’s partially due to false assumptions, which are repeated as if they are facts, and people unfamiliar with the literature then believe they are true,” Costello told Carbon Pulse.

“That is not to say these critics are deliberately being disingenuous – they may be convinced that they can manage fisheries without affecting biodiversity, they may be unaware of the impacts on biodiversity because they do not read that literature, and/or they may consider the loss of biodiversity is a price worth paying.”

Source: Scientia Marina

Benefits to fisheries adjacent to the protected areas were observed in 46 (90%) of the MPAs analysed, including an increased fishery catch (76%), body size (25%), and detection of spillover (16%).

“Fisheries close to MPAs had up to 45 times higher catch per unit effort (CPUE) and 40 times higher catch,” the analysis said.

In one of the case studies analysed by Costello, fish size was 34% bigger on average, while in another, larval export was enhanced, showing no decreasing trend up to 40 kilometres away.

“The fishing industry and fishing communities have much to gain from MPAs, and they should embrace no-take (no fishing) MPAs as a way to stabilise and safeguard fishery populations,” he said.

BILLIONS FOR TOURISM

According to Costello, individual MPAs have generated millions to billions of dollars in tourism revenue per year, with coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass ecosystems among the most profitable.

“The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia, generated $6.4 bln, and others generate hundreds of millions, such as the Galapagos Marine Reserve, Ecuador, the Mu Ko Phi Phi Marine National Park, Thailand, and the Ras Mohammed National Park, Red Sea, Egypt”.

Source: Scientia Marina

Income can be gained from entrance fees and scuba diving, with older MPAs providing higher total revenues.

Examples of economic benefits were found in 24 countries in tropical and sub-tropical locations, as well as temperate regions such as France, Spain, Italy, and New Zealand.

By Giada Ferraglioni – giada@carbon-pulse.com

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