4.3.9—Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

A well-designed marine protected area can protect habitat and breeding stock, then support nearby fisheries through larval export or adult spillover.

The chain is protection → survival/reproductive size → dispersal or movement → adjacent benefit. It requires ecologically important boundaries, duration and enforcement.

A no-take nursery lets larger fish reproduce; larvae drift into fished water, but only if currents connect the areas.

Without compliance and habitat fit, extraction continues and spillover is only a claim.

Spillover is not guaranteed outside every boundary; track movement, recruitment and fishing effort.