Environmental Conservation

Table of Contents - June 2012 - Volume 39, Issue 02  

Papers

Seahorses helped drive creation of marine protected areas, so what did these protected areas do for the seahorses?

M. YASUÉa1a2 c1, A. NELLASa3 and A. C. J. VINCENTa2

a1 Quest University Canada, 3200 University Boulevard, Squamish, British Columbia, Canada V8B 0N8

a2 Project Seahorse, Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Z4

a3 Project Seahorse Foundation for Marine Conservation, Gaviola Compound, Maria Theresa Village II, Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City 6000, Philippines

SUMMARY

In marine environments, charismatic or economically valued taxa have been used as flagships to garner local support or international funds for the establishment and management of marine protected areas (MPAs). Seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) are frequently used as flagship species to help engender support for the creation of small community-managed no-take MPAs in the central Philippines. It is thus vital to determine whether such MPAs actually have an effect on seahorse abundance, reproductive status and size. A survey of seahorses inside and immediately adjacent to eight MPAs, and in four distant unprotected fishing areas, showed these MPAs had no significant effect on seahorse densities; although densities in and near MPAs were higher than in the distant fished sites, seahorse densities did not change over time. Seahorse size did show a marginal reserve effect, with slightly larger seahorses being found inside MPAs as compared to the distant unprotected fishing areas, but, in general, MPAs had little impact on seahorse size. Although MPAs may eliminate local fishing pressure, they may not reduce other threats such as pollution or destructive fishing outside the reserves. Other recovery tools, such as ecosystem-based management, habitat restoration and limits on destructive fishing outside of MPAs, may be necessary to rebuild seahorse populations. The effects of MPAs depend on species, as well as conditions outside the reserve boundaries. MPA management objectives must thus be clearly and realistically articulated to the communities, especially if support for an MPA was derived at least partly to conserve a particular flagship species.

(Received September 28 2010)

(Accepted June 23 2011)

(Online publication January 20 2012)

Keywords:

Correspondence:

c1 Correspondence: Dr M. Yasué Tel: +1 604 898 8034 Fax: +1 604 815 0829 e-mail: maiyasue@gmail.com