本期Nature Communications上发表的一篇论文报告说，海洋保护区能迅速增加鱼群数量，而不会使渔民处于不利地位。这项工作有可能帮助使设立海洋保护区作为一个可行的渔业管理方案更多地被人们接受。海洋保护区是指在其中对人类活动加以限制、以保持或恢复自然环境及其所含生态系统的区域。然而，有关海洋保护区对渔业动态影响的文献很少，它们对渔民的好处也一直受到质疑。反对将海洋保护区作为一个渔业管理工具的经济观点是，它们一开始会减少渔获量，并有可能永久性地增加渔（捕鱼时）需要旅行的距离。
Svan Kerwath、Colin Attwood及其同事利用15年时间的全国性数据发现，位于南非开普敦以东的“Goukamma海洋保护区”的设立就Chrysoblephus laticeps（当地一种海鲷）来说对相邻渔场是有利的。这一区域的总渔获量从1985年起有所下降，但这个研究小组报告说，鱼类数量在该海洋保护区设立一年后的1991年开始增长了。在渔获量增长的同时，他们发现没有证据证明该海洋保护区的设立造成总渔获量下降、或造成船队或渔民的旅行距离增加。
对来自南非的取决于渔场的数据所做的这一分析表明，“Goukamma海洋保护区”在实现渔场管理和保护目标上获得了成功。因此作者得出结论认为，海洋保护区附近的渔场在保护政策实施之后能够迅速恢复，并且可能不会对渔民造成负面影响。（生物谷 Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐的英文摘要
Nature Communications doi:10.1038/ncomms3347
Marine protected area improves yield without disadvantaging fishers
Sven E. Kerwath,1, 2 Henning Winker,2 Albrecht Götz3 & Colin G. Attwood2
Potential fishery benefits of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are widely acknowledged, yet seldom demonstrated, as fishery data series that straddle MPA establishment are seldom available. Here we postulate, based on a 15-year time series of nation-wide, spatially referenced catch and effort data, that the establishment of the Goukamma MPA (18 km alongshore; 40 km2) benefited the adjacent fishery for roman (Chrysoblephus laticeps), a South African endemic seabream. Roman-directed catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) in the vicinity of the new MPA immediately increased, contradicting trends across this species’ distribution. The increase continued after 5 years, the time lag expected for larval export, effectively doubling the pre-MPA CPUE after 10 years. We find no indication that establishing the MPA caused a systematic drop in total catch or increased travel distances for the fleet. Our results provide rare empirical evidence of rapidly increasing catch rates after MPA implementation without measurable disadvantages for fishers.
