A new study led by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego (USA) has found that a thriving undersea wildlife park tucked away near the southern tip of Mexico\u2019s Baja peninsula has proven to be the world\u2019s most robust marine reserve in the world.
\nResults of a 10-year analysis of Cabo Pulmo National Park (CPNP), published in the Public Library of Science (PLoS) ONE journal, revealed that the total amount of fish in the reserve ecosystem (the \u201cbiomass\u201d) boomed more than 460 percent from 1999 to 2009. Citizens living around Cabo Pulmo, previously depleted by fishing, established the park in 1995 and have strictly enforced its \u201cno take\u201d restrictions.
\n\u201cWe could have never dreamt of such an extraordinary recovery of marine life at Cabo Pulmo,\u201d said National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala, who started the study in 1999. \u201cIn 1999 there were only medium-sized fishes, but ten years later it\u2019s full of large parrotfish, groupers, snappers and even sharks.\u201d
\nThe most striking result of the paper, the authors say, is that fish communities at a depleted site can recover up to a level comparable to remote, pristine sites that have never been fished by humans.
\n\u201cThe study\u2019s results are surprising in several ways,\u201d said Octavio Aburto-Oropeza, a Scripps postdoctoral researcher, World Wildlife Fund Kathryn Fuller fellow and lead author of the study. \u201cA biomass increase of 463 percent in a reserve as large as Cabo Pulmo (71 square kilometers) represents tons of new fish produced every year. No other marine reserve in the world has shown such a fish recovery.\u201d
\nThe paper notes that factors such as the protection of spawning areas for large predators have been key to the reserve\u2019s robustness. Most importantly, local enforcement, led by the determined action of a few families, has been a major factor in the park\u2019s success. Boat captains, dive masters and other locals work to enforce the park\u2019s regulations and share surveillance, fauna protection and ocean cleanliness efforts.
\nWe believe that the success of CPNP is greatly due to local leadership, effective self-enforcement by local stakeholders, and the general support of the broader community,\u201d the authors note in their report.
\nStrictly enforced marine reserves have been proven to help reduce local poverty and increase economic benefits, the researchers say. Cabo Pulmo\u2019s marine life recovery has spawned eco-tourism businesses, including coral reef diving and kayaking, making it a model for areas depleted by fishing in the Gulf of California and elsewhere.<\/p>\n