Marine Protected Areas (MPAS) As a tool for Ecosystem Conservation and Fisheries Management (PROTECT)
Background
Marine protected areas (MPA) are seen as an instrument for improving both fishery management and marine environmental protection. Although such benefits are often easily identified, little empirical evidence exist to demonstrate the real effectiveness of MPAs. This is due to insufficient information and instruments for MPA design, monitoring and evaluation.
Objectives
PROTECT seeks to provide European policy-makers with improved tools for the identification, design and management of MPAs. It will bring together the collective expertise of 17 leading European marine research institutes who will:
- Evaluate the potential of MPAs as a tool to protect sensitive species and habitats against the effect of fishing
- Develop scientific methods and information products to design and evaluate the effect of MPAs
- Co-operate with other EU-funded projects, such as EMPAFISH
- Organise a series of thematic workshops and compile reports that will draw from experience and lessons learnt from specific case studies
Policy development
- PROTECT directly addresses the policy priority for assessing the potential of marine protected areas for marine environment protection and fisheries management
- PROTECT will support the EU in pursuing its objectives for the conservation of marine biodiversity and the establishment of MPAs, as agreed in the Convention on Biological Diversity in Rio de Janeiro (1992)
Cefas contribution
Provide an improved knowledge basis for the modelling and evaluation of MPAs as a tool for ocean governance in the context of EU fisheries and environmental priorities. Includes investigations into socio-economic drivers of commercial fisheries and the effect of MPAs on the viability of the fishery and dependent local communities.
Contribute to the selection methodology of MPAs
- Contribute to the development of monitoring strategies and databases which will be used by managers to assess the ecosystem effects and fisheries impacts of MPAs
- Contribute to the development of modelling tools used for predicting and assessing the effectiveness of MPAs
Partners
This project involves 17 partners from 10 different countries
