Several new studies released yesterday in a special ocean-focused issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) have found that well-designed networks of marine reserves can provide both economic and environmental benefits.

Scientists at the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS) conference, held this week in San Diego, highlighted marine reserve success stories from Los Angeles and Australia, showing that the protection of key habitat can rebuild fisheries and improve overall ocean health.

"There is plenty of new evidence to show that if reserves are designed well, they can benefit both fish and fishermen," said Steven Gaines, Dean of the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at UC Santa Barbara in a press release on Science Daily http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100221200904.htm.

UC Santa Barbara’s Ben Halpern and Andrew Rassweiler emphasized the importance of location in a Science News http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/56511/title/Placement_of_marine_reserves_is_key article. Marine reserves placed in the areas where fish and shellfish feed and breed can increase fishermen’s profits while decreasing their impacts on fish populations.

Science Magazine http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/02/marine-reserves-help-fish-recove.html?rss=1 cited the Channel Islands and Great Barrier Reef marine reserve networks to show that protecting small areas can produce big returns.

A five-year study at the Channel Islands found rockfish numbers up by 50 percent and their size up by 80 percent. The Great Barrier Reef network has improved overall ecosystem health, and fears of a collapse of the recreational fishing industry have proven completely unfounded—the number of fishing licenses has grown since the reserves were established.

Several of the studies emphasized the importance of community engagement in creating an effective marine reserve network. California’s Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), which is being implemented through a participatory public process, is an excellent model.

Stanford scientist Stephen Palumbi said in the San Diego Union Tribune http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/feb/18/sea-change-coming-marine-reserves/ that the MLPA is also rooted in sound science. Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Ed Parnell, who has proposed protect for the reef and kelp beds at south La Jolla, said: “We know what the benefit will be for the species in the reserves. They will increase in density, and they will increase in size.”

For more information on the MLPA or marine protected areas please visit http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa or http://www.caloceans.org.