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Benefits of No-Take Zones:
*Ecological Enhancement within the Reserve:
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As part of increasing evidence of spillover in general, it is strongly predicted that protected areas will allow the spillover for certain important species. For example, several studies in New Zealand suggest that a small number of spiny lobsters in a population will migrate large distances (R. J. Davidson et al., 2002). Based on this evidence, it is likely that marine protected areas can protect a signification percentage of the population of spiny lobsters and also provide spillover from the reserve (R. J. Davidson et al., 2002). Another study in the Western Mediterranean using catch and effort data about lobster, as well as data from tagged lobsters released in the reserve, suggests that the declining density gradient of lobster is caused by lobsters migrating away from the reserve (Goñi et al. 2006). While it is possible that other factors could have caused the density gradient, because of lobsters' general inability to move long distances compared to the size of the reserve and its overfished status, the establishment of the protected area there probably caused increased export and spillover (Goñi et al. 2006).
*Providing a Scientific Baseline:
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Oftentimes, revenues derived from non-extractive uses compare favorably with other more damaging uses of the ocean. For example, consider that whale watching globally generates more than 1 billion USD in revenue per year (Greenpeace 2007a). For Iceland, in particular, whale-watching alone generated around 8.5 million USD per year in revenue, as compared to an average of 3.5-4 million USD from whaling in the years before the IWC moratorium (Greenpeace 2003). In acknowledgement of these economic realities, in 2007, Iceland announced that it would no longer be issuing commercial whale-hunting quotas (Greenpeace 2007b).
*Direct Human Benefits:
*Education:
Education is easily promoted through MPAs. Bringing awareness through tourism is a fantastic form of mass education. School age kids can be educated with field trips to the MPA and school age kids is where the future of our oceans lie. In addition to the fact that kids often bring what they learned from school trips home with them. MPAs make it easier to increase public access to information about marine areas. Visitor centers, museums, and tourist boat trips are how knowledge of the fishery problem will become public.
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As for acceptability, consider that around 11.5% of global surface area currently falls under some type of state-designated protection (UNEP 2006). These data imply that a comparable level of coverage for the oceans is not an unrealistic target. Even considering that the coverage by each country is uneven, there is clear global precedent for conservation, with diverse regions such as Central America, East Asia, Southern Africa, Europe, Australia, and North America all exceeding the global average (UNEP 2006). Given the proper motivation through education, social development programmes, and the like, it is very conceivable that this 10% proposal could become broadly acceptable (Ballantine 1991).
*Setting up the Reserves: :
*Enforcement, Management, and Funding:
*Examples:
*New Zealand:
*United States:
*China:
Abesamis R. A., Russ G. R., Alcala A. C. (2006).Gradients of abundance of fish across no-take marine reserve boundaries: evidence from Philipine coral reefs. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 16: 349-371.
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