Can Voluntary No-Fishing Areas be Effective?

Dear SeaDoc Society Supporters,

In 1872, Ulysses S. Grant signed into existence the world’s first national park, Yellowstone. Since then, networks of parks and protected areas on land have benefited wildlife and ecosystems. Now work has begun to establish ocean parks and reserves often called marine protected areas, or MPAs.

Creating ocean parks is not without controversy, however; tribal treaty rights to harvest fish and shellfish, the needs of commercial and sport fishermen, and non-consumptive uses like recreational SCUBA diving and boating need to be considered. To effectively create protected areas and reserves, decision makers need sound scientific information that will allow their decisions to stand the test of time. Can Voluntary No-Fishing Areas be Effective?

The SeaDoc Society is providing sound scientific information about marine protected areas in the Puget Sound Georgia Basin region. In addition to funding and driving scientific research we have co-chaired a collaborative science working group, studied tribal perspectives on protected areas, and delivered scientific presentations to the State Fish and Wildlife Commission, the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and the Governor’s office.

In the Puget Sound region and around the world, people are thinking about and creating voluntary protected areas, yet little to no data exist on the efficacy of voluntary MPAs for recovering fish populations. With the help of Eric Eisenhardt and scientific SCUBA divers, the SeaDoc Society just finished collecting data for a first-ever evaluation of voluntary no- fishing areas. Are bottomfish such as rockfish, lingcod and kelp greenling larger or more abundant in voluntary no-fish areas than elsewhere?

Our preliminary evaluation of data collected suggests that in San Juan County there are few to no differences in fish size or abundance between the voluntary no-fish areas studied and similar fished areas. Further analysis this winter will evaluate the data in more detail and the final report will be published and shared with people working to restore and protect marine fish and wildlife populations locally, regionally and internationally. Your support of the SeaDoc Society is helping to secure a healthy future for our marine wildlife, and for our families. For more information on this and other SeaDoc-funded research, please visit www.seadocsociety.org.

With thanks,

Kirsten Gilardi & Joe Gaydos