Most marine protected areas still allow fishing
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Researchers at CNRS in France analysed 17,227 marine protected areas (MPAs) and found that fishing continues in most of them.
Joachim Claudet and colleagues compared fishing vessel tracking data from Global Fishing Watch with MPA maps from 2012 to 2024. They discovered that 58% of MPAs experienced an increase in fishing activity after their establishment, while 40% saw a decrease and 2% showed no change.
The study also revealed that fully protected areas, those with no authorised fishing, were often placed in regions where industrial fishing was already low. Claudet questioned relying solely on ocean coverage percentages as a measure of success for MPAs, suggesting it provides limited insight into their contribution to biodiversity conservation. This research comes as 196 countries agreed in 2022 to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030, and coincides with the COP17 biodiversity summit in Armenia.
