Ss. Wallace, Evaluating the effects of three forms of marine reserve on northern abalone populations in British Columbia, Canada, CONSER BIOL, 13(4), 1999, pp. 882-887
Marine reserves have been suggested ns tools for assisting the management o
f fisheries by protecting vulnerable marine species from overexploitation.
Although there is a theoretical basis for believing that marine reserves ma
y serve as management tools, there are few marine reserves in the world in
which to test their effectiveness. My research evaluated three forms of mar
ine reserve on the south coast of Vancouver Island,, British Columbia, Cana
da, I used northern abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana), a severely depleted s
hellfish in this region, ns an indicator of the effectiveness of the reserv
es Abalone populations in eight sites receiving different degrees of spatia
l protection were counted and measured ill situ during the spring of 1996 a
nd 1997 In all sites with enforced harvest closures, populations of abalone
were greater, and one site with nearly 40 years of protection had on avera
ge much larger (older) abalone. Reproductive output, as a function of abund
ance and size, was also greater in the enforced reserve areas. Larval dispe
rsal from reserves, and hence the benefit to exploited areas, was not forma
lly surveyed. Nevertheless, the results of my study, combined with knowledg
e of present abalone populations, life history, and regional hydrodynamics,
suggest that establishment of reserves is justified in the absence of perf
ect knowledge of larval dispersal.