Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK; Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK.
Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK; Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK.
Curr Biol. 2023 Aug 21;33(16):R851-R852. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.05.076.
Global socio-ecological shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can threaten progress in protecting vulnerable marine environments by altering behaviour of resource users. When government priorities shift from environmental protection towards safeguarding human populations, control of illegal activity in protected areas can alter. Resulting increases in illegal fishing in large-scale marine protected areas (MPAs) are of particular concern as they contain a large proportion of marine protected area globally. Here, we report on average 19 times as many suspected illegal fishing vessels per month in 2022 (n = 19) compared with 2010 to 2020 (n = 1) in an Indian Ocean MPA. Although illegal fishing has been a pervasive problem, the current spike in Indian vessels targeting a broad trophic diversity of reef-associated species is of particular concern and we suggest such changes in illegal activity in MPAs globally may persist over long timescales unless management is broad and adaptive to individual context. When considering potential solutions, widespread adoption of technology, such as remote surveillance of vessels, can mitigate illegal activities but remains unfeasible for many MPAs globally due to financial and political barriers. Instead, we suggest broader approaches, including a renewed focus on regional approaches to combating illegal fishing, formal bilateral agreements between competent authorities in relevant countries and an increase in community-based work.
全球社会生态冲击，如 COVID-19 大流行，可能会通过改变资源使用者的行为，威胁到保护脆弱海洋环境的进展。当政府的优先事项从环境保护转向保护人口时，保护区内的非法活动的控制可能会发生变化。在大型海洋保护区（MPA）中，非法捕鱼活动的增加尤其令人担忧，因为这些保护区在全球范围内占很大比例。在这里，我们报告说，在印度洋 MPA 中，2022 年每月平均有 19 倍于 2010 年至 2020 年（n = 1）的疑似非法捕鱼船只（n = 19）。尽管非法捕鱼一直是一个普遍存在的问题，但目前印度船只针对广泛的与珊瑚礁相关的物种的 trophic 多样性的目标增加了特别令人担忧，我们认为，全球 MPA 中非法活动的这种变化可能会持续很长时间，除非管理是广泛的，并适应个别情况。在考虑潜在解决方案时，广泛采用技术，如船只的远程监控，可以减轻非法活动，但由于财务和政治障碍，在许多全球 MPA 中仍然不可行。相反，我们建议采取更广泛的方法，包括重新关注打击非法捕鱼的区域方法、相关国家主管当局之间的正式双边协议以及增加基于社区的工作。
