Management of marine living resources: How can area-based management tools (ABMTs) such as MPAs and OECMs benefit fish stocks and blue food production

The oceans, covering 70.8% of the earth’s surface, are vital for global food security and human well-being, providing significant ecosystem services including blue food. In 2022, oceans contributed 112 million tonnes of seafood, essential for human consumption. As populations grow, it's projected that marine aquaculture, and fisheries need to expand significantly to sustain per capita consumption rates. However, climate change, coastal development, land-based runoff of sediments and pollutants, and overfishing represent threats to marine ecosystems and may undermine their productivity. Effective science-based management that identifies and mitigates these threats is critical to maintaining and even increasing the blue food provision from the sea.

Fisheries management has traditionally focused on achieving sustainable yields for individual marine fish stocks, primarily using regulatory tools like catch or effort restrictions. More recently, an ecosystem-based management perspective that includes area-based management tools (ABMTs) such as marine protected areas (MPAs) and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) has emerged. These tools aim to achieve broader sustainability goals by considering ecological, social, and economic factors. This shift reflects a growing acknowledgment of the limitations of single-stock management in addressing complex marine environmental issues.

This Research Topic aims to explore the effectiveness of Area-Based Management Tools (ABMTs) including Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs). Traditionally, fisheries management has focused on achieving sustainable yields using regulatory tools like catch or effort restrictions. However, a shift towards more holistic, ecosystem-based management approaches that incorporate ABMTs has emerged as a promising way to sustain fisheries. This evolution in management perspective is crucial for integrating the nutritional and food provision aspects vital for achieving the dual goals of conservation and enhancing food security.

To gather further insights in sustainable fisheries and marine biodiversity, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• The role of ABMTs in mitigating anthropogenic threats like overfishing, bycatch, and habitat destruction.
• Addressing environmental challenges through ABMTs such as climate change impacts and pollution.
• Integration of MPAs and OECMs into traditional fisheries management to restore and recover ecosystems.
• Evaluating the impact of ABMTs on fish stock abundance and their effectiveness in marine conservation.
• Resolving trade-offs and minimizing negative impacts associated with ABMT implementation.
• Analysis of failures and conflicts in objectives within ABMT frameworks.
• Strengths and weaknesses of management tools and the reliability of knowledge-based advice.
• Methodologies for assessing MPA and OECM performance, encompassing ecological, economic, social, and governance dimensions.
• Effectiveness of various conservation measures including permanent and temporary no-take zones.
• The overall contributions of MPAs and OECMs in achieving sustainable development goals and other global policies.
• Nutritional and food provision benefits derived from effectively managed MPAs and OECMs.
• Exploring the interactions between fisheries management and conservation for enhanced marine governance.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Marine Ecosystems, Fisheries Management, Blue Food Provision, Sustainable Yields, Marine Protected Areas (MPA), Climate Change Impacts, Ecosystem-based Management

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.