According to a recent study published in Science Advances, Large-scale, offshore, completely protected marine zones (MPAs) preserve biodiversity without having a negative effect on fishing and food security.
Protected large ocean areas don't reduce fish catches
Despite a complete ban on fishing activities within the MPA, a team of US and Mexican researchers concluded that Mexico's industrial fishing sector did not suffer financial losses five years after the park's establishment, as Phys.org.
The Galápagos of Mexico, the 13th-largest MPA in the world and one of the few where all harmful human activities, particularly fishing, are forbidden to aid in the recovery of marine populations, was established in 2017.
The Mexican commercial fishing lobby opposed the National Park's establishment at the time, claiming that it would reduce their catches and raise their prices.
The fishing industry has prevented the creation of the marine protected zones they urgently need to stop the global decline of sea life.
This study shows that the complaints of the fishing industry are unjustified using satellite surveillance of fishing vessels and artificial intelligence (AI), according to Enric Sala, Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society, founder of Pristine Seas, and a study co-author.
The experts sought to ascertain whether the establishment of the MPA decreased fishing within the protected area, if fishing catches had been affected, and whether the establishment of the MPA displaced fishing onto a larger area, having an overall negative impact on marine biodiversity.
They used data from satellite tracking, fish catches from the Mexican Fisheries Commission, and new AI tools from the Allen Institute for AI's Skylight platform.
They discovered that the Revillagigedo National Park had no detrimental effects on the catches of the industrial fishing fleet in Mexico, nor did it expand the fishing grounds, which might have encouraged fishing boats to travel farther to catch fish.
The study's findings disprove the Mexican fishing industry's claim that the park could result in a loss of 20% of their tuna and other pelagic catches and show that sizable, fully protected MPAs can support a more sustainable and equitable use of the ocean without having a significant negative impact on the fishing industry's bottom line.
Octavio Aburto, co-author and professor of marine biology at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, noted that the study's findings are similar with what experts have observed in other Pacific marine protected areas.
They hope the findings will spark a conversation about how we might collaborate with the fishing sector to save biodiversity and boost fish stocks.
Why are Marine protected areas needed?
MPAs and MPA networks aid in the conservation and protection of marine populations and species, the variety of habitats on which marine life depend, and distinctive locations like hydrothermal vents and underwater canyons, as per Government of Canada.
In order to promote species resilience and adaptation to future stresses, MPA networks also help to safeguard crucial ecological linkages that connect one area to another.
Protecting biodiversity
The ocean's abundant biodiversity is under threat from human activities including overfishing, bringing hazards to food security, human health, and the environment.
The globe can collectively protect over eighty percent of the habitats of endangered species by quickly establishing marine protected areas in important ocean areas, up from a present coverage of less than 2%.
The health and diversity of our seas are best protected by MPAs, according to Dr. Sala.
To guarantee that our seas can continue to offer food, employment, and other essential benefits for future generations, we must increase the number of protected areas and fortify them.
The industrial fishing lobby's claim that MPAs harm them is disproven by their analysis.
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