ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access originally published online on September 14, 2008
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2009 66(1):137-146; doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsn148
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This article appears in the following ICES Journal of Marine Science issue: European Symposium on Marine Protected Areas as a Tool for Fisheries Management and Ecosystem Conservation [View the issue table of contents]
Systematic conservation planning in the Mediterranean: a flexible tool for the identification of no-take marine protected areas
1 Department of Animal and Human Biology, Sapienza Università di Roma, Viale dell’Università 32, 00185 Rome, Italy
2 Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione Ambientale della Toscana (ARPAT-GEA), Via Marradi 114, 57126 Livorno, Italy
3 Department of Statistics, Probability and Applied Statistics, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
4 Dipartimento per lo Studio del Territorio e delle sue Risorse, Università di Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genova, Italy
5 Department of Environmental Science, Università di Venezia Ca Foscari, Santa Marta, Dorsoduro 2137, 30123 Venice, Italy
6 Consorzio per il Centro Interuniversitario di Biologia Marina ed Ecologia Applicata "G. Bacci", Viale Nazario Sauro 4, 57128 Livorono, Italy
Correspondence to F. Colloca: tel: +39 0649914763; fax: +39 064958259; e-mail: francesco.colloca{at}uniroma1.it.
Maiorano, L., Bartolino, V., Colloca, F., Abella, A., Belluscio, A., Carpentieri, P., Criscoli, A., Jona Lasinio, G., Mannini, A., Pranovi, F., Reale, B., Relini, G., Viva, C., and Ardizzone, G. D. 2009. Systematic conservation planning in the Mediterranean: a flexible tool for the identification of no-take marine protected areas. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 137–146.We propose the use of systematic conservation planning in the Mediterranean context for the identification of no-take marine protected areas (NTMPAs). We suggest a logical framework that should be used for the identification of areas to be targeted for multispecies, spatially explicit conservation actions. Specifically, we propose seven steps: (i) definition of the study area; (ii) selection of the species or habitats to be considered; (iii) definition of the planning units; (iv) measurement of the fishing effort; (v) definition of the conservation targets; (vi) review of the existing conservation areas; (vii) selection of additional NTMPAs. Moreover, we consider the potential impact of different conservation plans on existing fishing vessels. A working example is presented, focusing on a limited number of species and on a limited study area. This framework can be easily expanded to include datasets of different origin and to accommodate larger spatial scales. Such a process involves major data-collection and capacity-building elements, and conservation of productive commercial fisheries must be a priority.
Keywords: irreplaceability, Mediterranean, no-take marine protected areas, systematic conservation planning, vessel monitoring system
Received 5 November 2007; accepted 27 May 2008; advance access publication 14 September 2008.