What are the Benefits of Marine Reserves?
Marine reserves are believed to be a particularly useful tool for managing multispecies fisheries and fisheries that target species with behavioral or life history characteristics that make them vulnerable to overfishing. Advocates of marine reserves commonly cite five main benefits to fisheries: • Marine reserves provide an ecological, multispecies approach to fishery management; • Marine reserves improve natural population structures within their borders; • Marine reserves increase the individual size and abundance of fish both inside and outside their borders; • Marine reserves provide insurance against scientific uncertainty; and • Marine reserves provide scientific research opportunities. Marine reserves provide an ecological, multispecies approach to fishery management. By shifting the focus of fishery management from single species to all species within a defined area, marine reserves can help fishery managers to ensure that critical ecological relationships are protected — eve
