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Australia's no-take marine protected areas: Appropriate conservation or inappropriate management of fishing?

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 12:22 authored by Kearney, R, Colin BuxtonColin Buxton, Farebrother, GR
The absence of properly identified mechanisms to adequately protect the marine environment remains a major shortcoming in Australia’s commitment to biodiversity conservation. The current commitment to a National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas (NRSMPA) falls far short of providing adequate protection against the suite of existing and potential threats even though areas are designated as being ‘protected’. In this paper it is argued that the actions taken under the NRSMPA are disproportionately concentrated on regulating fishing, including the closing of areas in so-called sanctuary zones to all types of fishing. In the absence of clearly identified threats from most forms of fishing and without assessment of how best to manage those few fishing threats that have been identified, such actions are inefficient and mostly inappropriate. Moreover, they do not provide adequate protection against the full suite of threats to marine environments. Adequate measures for the proper conservation of these areas and/or the protection of marine biodiversity more generally are not being provided and in most cases threats are not even adequately described and evaluated.

History

Publication title

Marine Policy

Volume

36

Issue

5

Pagination

1064-1071

ISSN

0308-597X

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

Elsevier Sci Ltd

Place of publication

The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, England, Oxon, Ox5 1Gb

Rights statement

Copyright 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Coastal and estuarine systems and management not elsewhere classified

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