Effectiveness of marine parks as a fisheries management tool: status and issues

Mohd Nizam Basiron; Cheryl Rita Kaur

Effectiveness of marine parks as a fisheries management tool: status and issues

2009

Mohd Nizam Basiron | Cheryl Rita Kaur

A marine park is an area of the sea zoned 2 nautical miles from theshore at lowest low tide, except for Pulau Kapas in Terengganu, Pulau Kuraman,Pulau Rusukan Sesar and Pulau Rusukan Kecil in Labuan which are zoned one nautical mile from the shore at lowest low tide. To date, waters of 42 islands in Malaysia have been gazetted as marine parks. Marine parks have garnered much attention among researchers and marine advocacy groups as a tool for protectingmarine habitats, preserving unique marine ecosystems, and fishery management. There is a strong scientific consensus that they increase biodiversity, contribute towards increased abundance of fish, guard against the shortcomings of other management tools and protect against the risk of fishery collapse. In addition to theclaims of increased productivity, experiences at some of the marine parks around the region have shown that protected spots recover very quickly and experience a rapid increase in fish numbers in the first year or two after disturbances. While marine parks may offer promise for the conservation and management of marine fisheries and their habitats, much is unknown about what benefit has been derived fromexisting marine parks for the conservation and management of marine fish and their habitats (other than in small, localized areas) in Malaysia. For example, some of our marine parks have been in existence for more than 20 years, yet little data exists regarding their overall performance on fisheries conservation. As such, this paper gives an overview of the current status and issues facing our marine parks in conserving and sustaining fisheries.

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