The largest fully protected marine area in North America does not harm industrial fishing

Marine protected areas (MPAs) that ban fishing restore marine life within their boundaries and can also replenish nearby fisheries. However, some argue that after large MPAs are established, fishing effort is displaced to unprotected areas and economic loss is incurred by the fishing industry. We tested these assumptions by assessing the behavior and productivity of the Mexican industrial fishing fleet before and after the implementation of the largest fully protected MPA in North America (the 147,000-square kilometer Revillagigedo National Park). We found no decrease in catches and no causal link between the variation of the spatial footprint of the industrial fleet and the implementation of the MPA. Our findings add to growing evidence that well-designed MPAs benefit marine ecosystems and, in the long term, can also benefit the fisheries they support.

Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago barcoded: Fish diversity in the remoteness and DNA barcodes reference library for metabarcoding monitoring

In order to monitor the effects of anthropogenic pressures in ecosystems, molecular techniques can be used to characterize species composition. Among molecular markers capable of identifying species, the cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) is the most used. However, new possibilities of biodiversity profiling have become possible, in which molecular fragments of medium and short-length can now be analyzed in metabarcoding studies. Here, a survey of fishes from the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago was barcoded using the COI marker, which allowed the identification of 21 species. This paved the way to further investigate the fish biodiversity of the archipelago, transitioning from barcoding to metabarcoding analysis. As preparatory steps for future metabarcoding studies, the first extensive COI library of fishes listed for these islands was constructed and includes new data generated in this survey as well as previously available data, resulting in a final database with 9,183 sequences from 169 species and 63 families of fish. A new primer specifically designed for those fishes was tested in silico to amplify a region of 262 bp. The new approach should guarantee a reliable surveillance of the archipelago and can be used to generate policies that will enhance the archipelago’s protection.

Envisioning ocean governability transformations through network-based marine spatial planning

The globally accelerating environmental crisis calls for radical changes in the governance of ocean resources towards a more sustainable and socially equitable world. Transdisciplinary sustainability research and networked knowledge-to-action approaches are critical parts of this change. The effective application of such approaches still puzzles social actors (individuals and networks) willing to act in more transformative ways. We conducted twelve participatory network mapping activities to assess the perception of high-level federal government institutional entrepreneurs on the structure and dynamics of an emerging socio-political arena for marine spatial planning (MSP) in Brazil. Our informants, mostly cognizant of their own intra-governmental structures, anticipate the MSP arena to remain self-enclosed, with changes only occurring within the federal government structures in the coming years. Their perceptions were largely conservative, narrow, and unambitious and therefore unfit to generate regime transformations. The limited awareness of response capacities beyond the federal government potentially leads to the endurement of the low performance already present in the MSP arena. Results from the participatory network mapping informed a five-step functional ocean governability analysis pointing to key potential contributions to support a critical turn in MSP: 1. envision situated interactional narratives to leverage regime shifts; 2. build a shared understanding of and anticipating transformative coevolutionary dynamics; 3. build awareness of the potential synergies among disparate but innovative area-based responses; 4. specify inter-network-based limitations and the necessary changes underpinning potential leaps in performance levels of ocean governance orders; 5. make power asymmetries explicit to stir structurally tailored strategic action by less influential groups. We discuss the potential role of inter-network strategies and actions and how they may confront the symptoms of depoliticized MSP pathways and the risks of it becoming an instrument of further marginalisation and power asymmetry in Brazil.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40152-021-00250-1.

Tracking the response of industrial fishing fleets to large marine protected areas in the Pacific Ocean

Large marine protected areas (MPAs) of unprecedented size have recently been established across the global oceans, yet their ability to meet conservation objectives is debated. Key areas of debate include uncertainty over nations' abilities to enforce fishing bans across vast, remote regions and the intensity of human impacts before and after MPA implementation. We used a recently developed vessel tracking data set (produced using Automatic Identification System detections) to quantify the response of industrial fishing fleets to 5 of the largest MPAs established in the Pacific Ocean since 2013. After their implementation, all 5 MPAs successfully kept industrial fishing effort exceptionally low. Detected fishing effort was already low in 4 of the 5 large MPAs prior to MPA implementation, particularly relative to nearby regions that did not receive formal protection. Our results suggest that these large MPAs may present major conservation opportunities in relatively intact ecosystems with low immediate impact to industrial fisheries, but the large MPAs we considered often did not significantly reduce fishing effort because baseline fishing was typically low. It is yet to be determined how large MPAs may shape global ocean conservation in the future if the footprint of human influence continues to expand. Continued improvement in understanding of how large MPAs interact with industrial fisheries is a crucial step toward defining their role in global ocean management.

Low connectivity compromises the conservation of reef fishes by marine protected areas in the tropical South Atlantic

The total spatial coverage of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) within the Brazilian Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ) has recently achieved the quantitative requirement of the Aichii Biodiversity Target 11. However, the distribution of MPAs in the Brazilian EEZ is still unbalanced regarding the proportion of protected ecosystems, protection goals and management types. Moreover, the demographic connectivity between these MPAs and their effectiveness regarding the maintenance of biodiversity are still not comprehensively understood. An individual-based modeling scheme coupled with a regional hydrodynamic model of the ocean is used to determine the demographic connectivity of reef fishes based on the widespread genus Sparisoma found in the oceanic islands and on the Brazilian continental shelf between 10° N and 23° S. Model results indicate that MPAs are highly isolated due to extremely low demographic connectivity. Consequently, low connectivity and the long distances separating MPAs contribute to their isolation. Therefore, the current MPA design falls short of its goal of maintaining the demographic connectivity of Sparisoma populations living within these areas. In an extreme scenario in which the MPAs rely solely on protected populations for recruits, it is unlikely that they will be able to effectively contribute to the resilience of these populations or other reef fish species sharing the same dispersal abilities. Results also show that recruitment occurs elsewhere along the continental shelf indicating that the protection of areas larger than the current MPAs would enhance the network, maintain connectivity and contribute to the conservation of reef fishes.

Elevated trawling inside protected areas undermines conservation outcomes in a global fishing hot spot

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly used as a primary tool to conserve biodiversity. This is particularly relevant in heavily exploited fisheries hot spots such as Europe, where MPAs now cover 29% of territorial waters, with unknown effects on fishing pressure and conservation outcomes. We investigated industrial trawl fishing and sensitive indicator species in and around 727 MPAs designated by the European Union. We found that 59% of MPAs are commercially trawled, and average trawling intensity across MPAs is at least 1.4-fold higher as compared with nonprotected areas. Abundance of sensitive species (sharks, rays, and skates) decreased by 69% in heavily trawled areas. The widespread industrial exploitation of MPAs undermines global biodiversity conservation targets, elevating recent concerns about growing human pressures on protected areas worldwide.

Network of small no-take marine reserves reveals greater abundance and body size of fisheries target species

No-take marine reserves (NTRs), i.e. areas with total fishing restrictions, have been established worldwide aiming to promote biodiversity and ecosystem conservation. Brazil has 3.3% of its exclusive economic zone protected by 73 different NTRs, however, most of them currently lack scientific knowledge and understanding of their ecological role, particularly regarding rocky reefs in subtropical regions. In this context, this study aimed to contrast a network of NTRs with comparable fished sites across a coastal biogeographic gradient to investigate the effect of fishing and habitat variability on the abundance and body size of rocky reef fish. We used Baited Remote Underwater stereo-Video (stereo-BRUVs) and Diver Operated stereo-Video (stereo-DOVs) systems to simultaneously sample reef fish and habitat. Model selection and results identified habitat and biogeographic variables, such as distance from shore, as important predictor variables, explaining several aspects of the fish assemblage. The effect of protection was important in determining the abundance and body size of targeted species, in particular for epinephelids and carangids. Conversely, species richness was correlated with habitat complexity but not with protection status. This is the first study using these survey methods in the Southwestern Atlantic, demonstrating how a network of NTRs can provide benchmarks for biodiversity conservation and fisheries management.

Review of Brazilian jawfishes of the genus Opistognathus with descriptions of two new species (Teleostei, Opistognathidae)

A new species of jawfish, Opistognathusthionyi sp. n., is described from the Vitória-Trindade Chain and Fernando de Noronha Archipelago off Brazil, a disjunct distribution of ca. 1,800 km. Opistognathusthionyi and its allopatric Caribbean sister-species, Opistognathusmaxillosus, both have a wide, fan-like upper margin of the subopercular flap and mostly over-lapping meristic data. The new species differs from O.maxillosus in having the darkest spot on the spinous dorsal fin, when present, between spines 2-5, versus always present between spines 6-9, the buccal area surrounding the esophageal opening pale versus very dark and fewer oblique scale rows in longitudinal series (45-52 vs. 69-85). A second new species, Opistognathusvicinus sp. n., known from Brazil's mainland, has completely over-lapping meristic values with its allopatric Caribbean sister-species O.whitehursti, but differs in lacking vomerine teeth and a supramaxilla and retaining the juvenile color pattern of the latter species in adults. Diagnoses, photographs, an identification key, and distributional maps are given for all Brazilian species of Opistognathus. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit-I sequences indicates that specimens of the two allopatric pairs, O.thionyi - O.maxillosus and O.vicinus - O.whitehursti, form reciprocally monophyletic groups that differ from each other on average by 9 to 11%, with less than 1% average pair-wise genetic distance within-species. Similar patterns of phylogenetic structure were observed between reciprocally monophyletic (predominately allopatric) groups within nominal species of Opistognathusaurifrons, suggesting the possibility of at least two additional undescribed species from the Brazilian Province.