Assessing the Impacts of Establishing MPAs on Fishermen and Fish Merchants: The Case of Lyme Bay, UK

Abstract

Shortly after the implementation of a marine protected area (MPA) in Lyme Bay in 2008, inside which scallop dredging and bottom trawling is prohibited, a socio-economic impact assessment was initiated. This article presents the initial findings from this study. The aim was to understand the costs and benefits to fishermen and fish merchants of establishing the MPA. These were assessed using a combination of primary and secondary data. The results indicate that the impacts of the closure differ according to the gear type and the fishing location used by the fishermen. Static gear fishermen who fish inside the closed area have seen changes in terms of increased fishing effort, mostly because they have been able to increase the number of crab and whelk pots they deploy. The effects of the closure on static gear fishermen who fish outside the closed area has been reported in terms of increased conflicts with towed gear fishermen who now fish regularly in their traditional grounds. Fishermen using towed gear on the other hand have been impacted through displacement effects as they have been forced to look for other fishing grounds outside the closed area. Most fish merchants and processors initially claimed that they were heavily impacted by the closure but when they were interviewed 1 year after the closure they suggested a more stable picture. Preliminary analyses of landings data indicate that the introduction of the MPA has so far had minimal impacts on the average incomes and financial profits of fishermen and fish merchants. This conclusion, however, reflects a short-term view as the impacts of the closure of Lyme Bay are likely to be felt for a long time to come.

Assessing the socioeconomic effects of multiple-use MPAs in a European setting: A national stakeholders’ perspective

“…Similarly, fishers' relevance for and opposition to MPAs is well known (Jones, 2012;Mangi et al, 2011). Our results point, however, towards existing evidence on the different perceptions on multipleuse MPAs by towed-gear fishers (represented mostly by the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations), strongly negatively affected by MPAs, and static-gear fishers (New Under Ten Fishermens Association), somehow negatively affected by MPAs, as suggested by Fleming and Jones (2012) and Pita et al (2013).…”

“…We attempted to make this set comprehensive and a balanced representation of the interests at stake and the effects resulting from MPA designation and enforcement by categorising 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' categories that were either positively or negatively involved with MPAs from a subjective a priori perspective. We also aimed to make this set of categories as discriminant as possible, thus disaggregating some broad categories such as the fishing sector into smaller subcategories by gear types according to their reported differential impact from marine conservation measures (Mangi et al, 2011;Pita et al, 2013).…”

“…For this, we also compared both 'fishing industry' categories, given their predicted different responses to MPAs (Mangi et al, 2011;Pita et al, 2013). We checked the normality of data using Shapiro-Wilk tests.…”

“…The study of the social and economic effects of MPA designation is often polarised, with different studies reporting either benefits (Hussain et al, 2010;Rees et al, 2014), or costs (Balmford et al, 2004;(de) Santo, 2013). When research portrays a more balanced picture of the socioeconomic effects of MPAs, evidence remains fragmented with studies looking at individual MPA effects on local stakeholders (Fleming and Jones, 2012;Mangi et al, 2011;Rees et al, 2013a) or at the effects of different MPAs on specific stakeholders, mainly fishers (Pita et al, 2013;Rees et al, 2013b).…”

Monitoring landed seahorse catch in a changing policy environment

“…The present study was conducted at a time and place that was subject to a number of conservation initiatives, all of which had the potential to influence fishing effort (McClanahan & Mangi 2001, Mangi et al 2011, as well as the size and price of seahorses that were sold to local buyers (Lemieux & Clarke 2009, Machumu & Yakupitiyage 2013. First, several locally enforced, no-take marine reserves were established in the study area between 1996 and 2008 (see Fig.…”