Estimating fishery effects in a marine protected area: Lamlash Bay

Marine managers are looking increasingly to marine protected areas (MPAs) to deliver benefits to fisheries; however, many of these MPAs have been established in order to address specific conservation objectives unrelated to fisheries management. This paper describes a small no‐take zone (NTZ) set up in the Clyde, Scotland, for conservation purposes, and examines its effect on the abundance of two commercially fished scallops, Pecten maximus and Aequipecten opercularis, 5 years after closure. Scallop fishing immediately outside the NTZ has continued since this closure, although at lower intensities, with overall landings in the Clyde and landings per unit area rising until 2013, suggesting a slight increase in regional abundance. There was neither a significant increase in adult scallop abundance within the NTZ nor evidence of the dispersal of adults into surrounding areas. Transient dynamics and the small size of the NTZ may have played a role in the lack of demonstrable scallop recovery. The practice of ‘selling’ small conservation MPAs in terms of meeting wider fisheries objectives is discussed in light of this result.