Perceptions of Marine Protected Area winners and losers: a comparative regulatory burden approach

Abstract

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are often marketed on the basis of conservation and livelihood benefits i.e. protection of benthic biodiversity and enhanced fish stocks through spill over. MPA’s by restricting activity through regulation (both legally and informally) transfer direct use benefits from consumptive resources users such as fishers to non-consumptive users such as dive operators and scientists. Issues such as distributional equity of benefits and costs are rarely discussed in the literature. We present results from a case study looking at perceived winners and losers of a 25 year old, ‘successful’ Fisheries Reserve in Cabo De Palos, Spain. The reserve, established in 1995 by the Spanish Government was designed ‘to maintain sustainable fisheries, enabling artisanal fishermen to preserve their traditional way of life’. Despite increased fish size and abundance fishers are not perceived as the primary beneficiaries. Qualitative analysis of interview data from resource users expands on who and how the community identify impacts of the Fisheries Reserve and we discuss the basis for those mental constructs in terms of comparative regulatory burden.