Short- and long-term effects of three fishery-management tools on depletedfisheries

Marine reserves have come under criticism because of the short-term fishery losses likely to be associated with them. At the same time,:marine reserve s have been touted as a tool to rehabilitate depleted populations, at least for species with relatively limited adult movement. I used models to compa re the short- and long-term fisheries consequences of three fishery-managem ent tools for depleted populations. These management tools included tempora ry closure of the entire fishery, minimum size limits, and marine reserves. I compared them using three short-term indices: magnitude of initial drop in catches relative to those prior to new management, years until catches r eached prior levels, and cumulative loss during those years. I examined a s ingle long-term index: long-term sustainable yields. Results highlighted th e potential of reserves as an efficient and effective fishery-management to ol for species that will remain within reserve boundaries. Reserves created few short-term losses beyond those associated with other management measur es, yet produced the highest stable catch levels. Moreover, peak catches wi th reserves occurred with less restriction than peak catches with other man agement measures. These results were consistent across two species that mat ured before entering the fishery but did not apply to one species that was fished while immature. In that latter case, minimum size limits produced mo re substantial benefits; than reserves could. Nevertheless, these analyses suggest that a wide range of circumstances exist where reserves, if properl y designed to minimize adult spillover while allowing abundant larval trans port, can maximize fisheries harvests with a minimum of total restrictions.