Researchers report that fishing in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) in the central Pacific more than doubled relative to a nearby control area during the 16 months preceding implementation of PIPA--the excess fishing was equivalent to that prevented by the reserve over 1.5 years--suggesting that the anticipation of marine reserves may trigger a race to fish that undermines the reserves' conservation goals.
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Article #18-02862: "The blue paradox: Preemptive overfishing in marine reserves," by Grant R. McDermott, Kyle C. Meng, Gavin G. McDonald, and Christopher J. Costello.
MEDIA CONTACT: Grant R. McDermott, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR; tel: 805-895-7480; e-mail: grantmcd@uoregon.edu >; Kyle C. Meng, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA; tel: 914-629-6274; email: < kmeng@bren.ucsb.edu
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences