Effectiveness of a deep-sea cold-water coral marine protected area, following eight years of fisheries closure

Published source details Huvenne V.A.I., Bett B.J., Masson D.G., Bas T.P.L. & Wheeler A.J. (2016) Effectiveness of a deep-sea cold-water coral marine protected area, following eight years of fisheries closure. Biological Conservation, 200, 60-69.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Designate a Marine Protected Area and prohibit some fishing and collection (including where restrictions are unspecified) Action Link

Designate a Marine Protected Area and prohibit some fishing and collection (including where restrictions are unspecified)

A before-and-after study in 1998–2011 at two sites containing deep sea cold-water coral mounds west of Scotland, UK (Huvenne et al. 2016) found that after designating a Marine Protected Area that prohibited some fishing and collecting there was no change in coral Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculate cover at one site and a disappearance of most corals at the other site. At one site coral cover was similar eight years after protection was established (47%) compared to 3–5 years before protection (55%). At the other site, cover was 0% eight years after protection compared to 45% in the 3–5 years before protection. Video data after protection found a few cases of coral regrowth but no evidence of coral recolonisation from larval settlement. In addition, there was a significant reduction of trawling after protection compared to before, particularly at the site where all corals were lost (data presented graphically). In 2003, an area containing deep sea cold-water coral mounds was closed to bottom trawling and designated as a permanent protected area in 2004. Video and sonar surveys were conducted in 1998–2000 (3–5 years prior to protection), and follow up surveys were carried out in 2011, eight years after initial fishery closures. The proportion of survey trips that travelled over live coral and presence of trawling scars were recorded.

(Summarised by: William Morgan)