Title
Effectiveness of periodically harvested closures in meeting fisheries and cultural objectives
Author(s)
Carvalo, P. G.;Januchowski-Hartley, F. A.;Jupiter, S. D.;White, C.
Published
2014
Abstract
Periodically harvested closures (PHCs) are traditional management practices implemented within customary marine tenure areas throughout Melanesia. PHCs are often within Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs), which have broad objectives of fishery sustainability and conservation. PHCs are designed more specifically to increase harvest efficiency and opportune occasional exploitation of protected stocks to support local events. Despite their prevalence, effectiveness of LMMAs with PHCs for simultaneously achieving these objectives remains uncertain. To assess these systems, we developed a bioeconomic fisheries model and quantified how PHC open-closed schedule effects LMMA harvest efficiency (catch-per-unit-effort), biomass conservation and sustainable fishery yield. We also compared effects with those by non-spatial or no-take marine reserve harvest regulations – forms of conventional management often heralded as optimal in well-managed and over-fished systems, respectively. Optimal PHC design was sensitive to fishing pressure, but regardless PHCs were more effective at achieving the multiple objectives than either conventional method. Key to the results is the fishers’ ability to reduce fish wariness and increase catchability in PHCs with strategic harvest schedules. These findings challenge the dogma that PHCs are simply a cultural legacy to be accommodated by contemporary fisheries science, and instead place PHCs center stage as a potentially optimal fisheries management strategy.
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PUB15051