Mpas as a Tool for Addressing the Collateral Impacts of Fishing Gears

An often overlooked aspect of fisheries management is the collateral impact of fishingbycatch and habitat damage. Discussions concerning the role of marine protected areas (MPAs) and fisheries management have focused on recovering depleted fish stocks through adult immigration or larval dispersal, but relatively little discussion has focused on the use of closed areas to address collateral impacts. Zoning MPAs for specific fishing gears can be an important option for protecting seafloor habitats or areas where vulnerable species are at risk. Here we present the results of a process to address and rank the collateral impacts of fishing based on the “damage schedule approach”. Our approach integrates scientific and fishers’ knowledge in ranking gear impacts. Based on a review of literature and their own experiences, a panel of fishers, managers, and scientists reviewed impacts of ten commercial fishing gears in the US. These results were summarized and incorporated into a survey that was distributed to managers, fishers, scientists, and conservationists. These professionals were asked to consider the suite of collateral impacts of various gears in paired comparisons, each time choosing which set of impacts they considered ecologically most severe. Contrary to general expectations, the results of this survey show remarkable consensus among the different groups, which consistently ranked impacts associated with bottom trawls, gillnets and dredges as the most severe. We use this gear ranking to propose a MPA zoning scheme to address the collateral impacts of fishing gears.