Using five years’ worth of vessel monitoring system data from the Mexican fishery commission and official fisheries landings data from the Mexican Pacific, Favoretto and colleagues explore the impact of establishing an MPA in the Revillagigedo National Park in 2017, the thirteenth largest MPA in the world and encompassing 4% of Mexico’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). They find that fishing activity within the MPA declined on average by 82% from 2017 to 2023. Using a causal impact model and a framework using mixed models with a before–after causal impact design, Favoretto and colleagues find no change in the catch unit per effort on industrial fisheries in Mexico’s Pacific EEZ. Catches reported by vessels that previously fished in the MPA did not increase over time, despite the increased fishing effort in tropical fishing grounds and the high seas.
Favoretto and colleagues’ analysis suggests that the Mexican Pacific area is already intensely exploited or beginning to show signs of the decreases in yields predicted by climate change scenarios. Their data also identified illegal fishing activity in the MPA, which will be important for monitoring the future success of the MPA. Although Favoretto and colleagues focussed on industrial fisheries, it is unclear how MPAs impact small-scale and artisanal fisheries. The case study refutes claims by critics that MPAs harm the fishing industry and highlights how MPAs in combination with monitoring and other fishery management methods can contribute positively towards conservation efforts and blue food supplies.
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