It has been proposed that MPAs can serve to hedge against inevitable uncertainties, errors, and biases in fisheries management (Lauck et al., 1998). It is certainly true that while fisheries-independent research needs to be done in Chagos/BIOT there will always be selleck chemicals a degree of uncertainty surrounding research on pelagic organisms and their environment. The costs and logistics involved with such data collection in such a remote location reinforce the need to act now to
implement a precautionary approach to achieve sustainability in marine fisheries in the context of the extreme overexploitation in the western Indian Ocean. Modelling studies indicate that effort displacement can counteract the benefits arising from pelagic area closures (Baum et al., 2003 and Worm et al., 2003). Baum
et al. (2003) suggested that an effective measure to reduce the displacement effort was to avoid regions of high fishing effort in favour of areas of lower fishing effort, thus reducing the amount of effort that can be displaced. AZD2281 clinical trial While some displacement is possible in Chagos/BIOT following implementation of the marine reserve, the reduced area of ocean available for fishing may result in a decrease in fishing effort through vessel decommissioning or a large-scale change in fishing patterns. This is particularly relevant when considering the broader regional context, particularly the de facto closure of the Somalia
fishery due to piracy ( Mangi et al., 2010). More generally, overcapacity of the global tuna fleet is an issue that needs to be addressed by all regional fisheries management organisations and fishing nations – marine reserves should be seen as a part of this broader management scheme. There may be some opportunity for monitoring activity in Chagos/BIOT Adenosine triphosphate that helps establish any consequences of shifting fishing effort in the region. This paper highlights several uncertainties in the benefits and limitations of spatial closure for tuna and other pelagic species. However, the Chagos/BIOT MPA was not primarily initiated as a fisheries management tool, rather to conserve the unique and rich biodiversity of this region, both in the coastal and pelagic realm. The relatively pristine nature of the coral reefs of Chagos/BIOT is particularly important considering the 2008 Status of the World’s coral reefs report reporting 19% of the original global coral reef area has already been lost through direct human impacts, with a further 15% seriously threatened within 10–20 years, and another 20% under threat in 20–40 years (Wilkinson, 2008). These predictions do not take into account the accelerating problem of climate change on the oceans (Veron et al., 2009).