Elevated trawling inside protected areas undermines conservation outcomes in a global fishing hot spot

Not as advertised Marine protected areas (MPAs) have increasingly designated globally, with an associated advertised percentage of area protected. However, recent research has made it clear that many MPAs are not actually protecting marine biodiversity. Dureuil et al. focused on European MPAs and found that trawling, one of the most damaging types of fishing, occurs widely in these areas. Furthermore, using sharks and rays as indicator species, they found that many MPAs are failing to protect vulnerable species. Science, this issue p. 1403 Marine protected areas need better definitions and protection from industrial fishing to serve as true protected areas. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly used as a primary tool to conserve biodiversity. This is particularly relevant in heavily exploited fisheries hot spots such as Europe, where MPAs now cover 29% of territorial waters, with unknown effects on fishing pressure and conservation outcomes. We investigated industrial trawl fishing and sensitive indicator species in and around 727 MPAs designated by the European Union. We found that 59% of MPAs are commercially trawled, and average trawling intensity across MPAs is at least 1.4-fold higher as compared with nonprotected areas. Abundance of sensitive species (sharks, rays, and skates) decreased by 69% in heavily trawled areas. The widespread industrial exploitation of MPAs undermines global biodiversity conservation targets, elevating recent concerns about growing human pressures on protected areas worldwide.

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