Marine Protection Works!

New study brings data to back that conservation works

For decades, marine environmentalists have voiced the need for increased protection of marine ecosystems.

In particular, marine sanctuaries, where fishing is outlawed in sensitive areas important as breeding or hunting grounds for marine wildlife.

The case has been, by protecting areas that are important to the well-being of a marine population, we protect the species. But these sanctuaries only work if the regulations around them is respected.

And thankfully, new data seems to indicate that that may in fact be the case.

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DATA INDICATED FROM NEW COLLABORATIVE STUDIES

A study published in March this year by Oceana indicate a strong decline in number of fishing vessels operating in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, or PIPA, in October of 2015 compared to the same month in the previous year.

PIPA was declared off-limits to all commercial fishing vessels in the early part of 2015, which highlights that it is very likely that ban that has caused the decline.

The study was published by Global Fishing Watch, a collaboration between Oceana, Google, and the non-profit organization SkyTruth.

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Global Fishing Watch seeks to map the presence and activity of commercial fishing, in particular those vessels that venture far out to sea, beyond typical regulatory means.

Monitoring the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, roughly the size of Montana and situated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, has made it possible to compare fishing vessel activity over time, both before and after the ban on commercial fishing was instituted. And the change is significant.

Below is Global Fishing Watch’s visual representation of fishing vessels present in PIPA in October 2014 (left) and October 2015 (right).

SIGNIFICANT DATA SOURCING AND CONCLUSIVE FINDINGS

Global Fishing Watch uses data from the Automated Identification System, AIS, essentially a transponder as we know them from airplanes, except for seafaring vessels.

They help port authorities identify ships, they help search and rescue units locate vessels adrift at sea, and they can help place a ship’s position and whereabouts at any given time.

By tapping into this, public data, Global Fishing Watch is able to determine how many ships have been in a given marine protected area in a given interval of time.

This is important, in that it helps scientists and policy makers to determine whether these marine protected areas have a positive impact on marine life.

It can show whether protected areas are respected (and the data from PIPA seems to indicate that that is the case with that particular area), or if they need to be regulated and patrolled more.

It can also help to explain data on marine wildlife development after a protection is put in place.

If a given area is protected, but marine populations do not rebound after a number of years, it is tempting to conclude that protection doesn’t work.

But with Global Fishing Watch’s data, researchers would be able to determine if the area had actually seen the drop is fishing activities that the protection was supposed to represent.

If fishing vessels continued to venture in there, that might explain why the local species haven’t rebounded.

Alternatively, if the marine species do rebound, it is easier to tie that effect to reduced fishing activities.