The present paper aims at identifying and assessing indicators of the effects of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in coral reef regions, based on a bibliography review in ecology, economics and social sciences. First the various effects studied within each of these domains and the variables used to measure them were censused. Potential ecological indicators were assessed through their link with the question used (here termed "relevance") and their "effectiveness" which encompasses the issues of precision, accuracy and statistical power. Relevance and effectiveness were respectively measured by the frequency of use of each indicator and the proportion of significant results in the reviewed articles. For social and economic effects, the approach was not possible due to the low number of references; we thus discussed the issue of finding appropriate indicators for those fields. Results indicate: 1-the unbalance in literature between disciplines; 2-the need for protocols and methodologies which include controls in order to assess MPA effects; 3-an important proportion of ecological indicators with low effectiveness; 4-the large number of ecological effects still not studied or not demonstrated at present.

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a b s t r a c tThis paper examines variations in social acceptability of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) prior to implementation. The influence of a number of factors, including socio-economic characteristics, perception of coral resources state of health and attitudes towards non-compliance with regulations are analysed. During May 2006, 640 questionnaires were distributed to school children around Reunion Island, Western Indian Ocean, for completion by their parents, following an informal educational activity made in school. From a 73% (n ¼ 469) response rate, results showed that 78% of participants were in favour of the MPA. Analysis further identified that those supportive of the MPA were generally from higher socio-professional categories, had a negative perception of the coral reef ecosystem's health and were not originally from Reunion. In contrast, locals (born in Reunion) from lower socio-professional categories or with no employment activity and having a positive perception of the health status of coral reefs offered no opinion on the MPA. Attitudes towards enforcement and compliance highlighted that SCUBA divers, fishers and jet skiers attributed a higher value to the protection of the coral reef environment through enforcement of MPA regulations than to their own use of the coral reef resource. When asked about the use of penalties to deter non-compliance, swimmers were awarded the lowest fines, followed by SCUBA divers, fishers then jet skiers being awarded the highest fines. Thus, the more severe the act of non-compliance by a resource user group was perceived to be, the more these users themselves disapproved of non-compliant behaviour and supported use of high penalties. The survey design through focusing on school children's parents, demonstrated a simple and cost-effective method for data collection while providing environmental education, which could be employed in similar case studies elsewhere.

The diversity of reef ecosystems, the multiplicity of reef resource uses and the breadth of the range of the island socio-cultural contexts concerned make coral reef fisheries (CRF) management in the South Pacific a complex task. The health and state of the targeted resources depend both on ecosystem characteristics (as determined by ecological and biological factors) and on fishing pressure, whose effects are only partly known. Increasing harvests from commercial and recreational fishing increasingly overlap with traditional subsistence activity, creating an important CRF management challenge. This paper presents a new approach to CRF assessment and monitoring by providing a set of multidisciplinary indicators. The fisheries system is assessed from three different viewpoints: ecology of targeted populations, exploitation and the broader socioeconomic fishery context. The use of complementary indicators chosen from each of these fields could balance the chronic lack of human and financial resources for the management of these fisheries. We suggest the use of these indicators through an assessment grid or an indicator dashboard specifically adapted to given situations and management objectives determined through a participatory approach. The operational efficiency of this dashboard depends on i) dialogue between users, ii) the objectivity of the proposed monitoring, iii) the visual transcription of divergent/convergent interests amongst stakeholders, and iv) stakeholder involvement in the decisionmaking process. The use and constraints of such a tool are described with reference to Ouvea atoll (New-Caledonia, South Pacific) for which an analysis of available indicators for assessing fisheries status is presented.

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