Hostname: page-component-5d84bcc8dc-p56h2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-09-04T10:46:57.240Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Seahorses helped drive creation of marine protected areas, so what did these protected areas do for the seahorses?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2012

M. YASUÉ ,
A. NELLAS  and
A. C. J. VINCENT
M. YASUÉ*
Affiliation:
Quest University Canada, 3200 University Boulevard, Squamish, British Columbia, Canada V8B 0N8 Project Seahorse, Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Z4
A. NELLAS
Affiliation:
Project Seahorse Foundation for Marine Conservation, Gaviola Compound, Maria Theresa Village II, Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City 6000, Philippines
A. C. J. VINCENT
Affiliation:
Project Seahorse, Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Z4
*
*Correspondence: Dr M. Yasué Tel: +1 604 898 8034 Fax: +1 604 815 0829 e-mail: maiyasue@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

In marine environments, charismatic or economically valued taxa have been used as flagships to garner local support or international funds for the establishment and management of marine protected areas (MPAs). Seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) are frequently used as flagship species to help engender support for the creation of small community-managed no-take MPAs in the central Philippines. It is thus vital to determine whether such MPAs actually have an effect on seahorse abundance, reproductive status and size. A survey of seahorses inside and immediately adjacent to eight MPAs, and in four distant unprotected fishing areas, showed these MPAs had no significant effect on seahorse densities; although densities in and near MPAs were higher than in the distant fished sites, seahorse densities did not change over time. Seahorse size did show a marginal reserve effect, with slightly larger seahorses being found inside MPAs as compared to the distant unprotected fishing areas, but, in general, MPAs had little impact on seahorse size. Although MPAs may eliminate local fishing pressure, they may not reduce other threats such as pollution or destructive fishing outside the reserves. Other recovery tools, such as ecosystem-based management, habitat restoration and limits on destructive fishing outside of MPAs, may be necessary to rebuild seahorse populations. The effects of MPAs depend on species, as well as conditions outside the reserve boundaries. MPA management objectives must thus be clearly and realistically articulated to the communities, especially if support for an MPA was derived at least partly to conserve a particular flagship species.

Keywords

community-based conservationconservation effectivenessfishersflagship speciesHippocampus spp.marine protected areasPhilippinesseahorses

Information

Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , June 2012 , pp. 183 - 193
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Alcala, A.C. (1998) Community-based coastal resource management in the Philippines: a case study. Ocean and Coastal Management 38: 179–186.Google Scholar
Allison, G.W., Lubchenco, J. & Carr, M.H. (1998) Marine reserves are necessary but not sufficient for marine conservation. Ecological Applications 8: S79–S92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baum, J.K., Meeuwig, J.J. & Vincent, A.C.J. (2003) Bycatch of lined seahorses (Hippocampus erectus) in a Gulf of Mexico shrimp trawl fishery. Fishery Bulletin 101: 721–731.Google Scholar
Baum, J.K. & Vincent, A.C.J. (2005) Magnitude and inferred impacts of the seahorse trade in Latin America. Environmental Conservation 32: 305–319.Google Scholar
Beyer, H.L., Merrill, E.H., Varley, N. & Boyce, M.S. (2007) Willow on Yellowstone's northern range: evidence for a trophic cascade? Ecological Applications 17: 1563–1571.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carillo, E., Wong, G. & Cuaron, A.D. (2000) Monitoring mammal populations in Costa Rican protected areas under different hunting restrictions. Conservation Biology 14: 1580–1591.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caro, T., Engilis, A.J., Fitzherbert, E. & Gardner, T. (2004) Preliminary assessment of the flagship species concept at a small scale. Animal Conservation 7: 63–70.Google Scholar
Christie, P., Armada, N.B., White, A.T., Gulayan, A.M. & de Dioas, H.H.Y. (2006) Coastal environmental and fisheries profile of Danajon Bank, Bohol, Philippines. Report. Fisheries Improved for Sustainable Harvest (FISH) Project, Cebu City, Philippines: 63 pp. ReportGoogle Scholar
Christie, P., Lowry, K., White, A.T., Oracion, E.G., Sievanen, L., Pomeroy, R.S., Pollnac, R.B., Patlis, J.M. & Eisma, R.-L.V. (2005) Key findings from a multidisciplinary examination of integrated coastal management process sustainability. Ocean and Coastal Management 48: 3–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Claudet, J., Osenberg, C.W., Benedetti-Cecchi, L., Domenici, P., Garcia-Charton, J.A., Perez-Ruzafa, A., Badalamenti, F., Bayle-Sempere, J., Brito, A., Bulleri, F., Culioli, M.D., Falcon, J.M., Guala, I., Milzaao, M., Sanchez-Meca, J., Somerfield, P.J., Stobart, B., Vandeperre, F., Valle, C. & Planes, S. (2008) Marine reserves: size and age do matter. Ecology Letters 11: 481–489.Google Scholar
Côté, I.M., Mosquera, I. & Reynolds, J.D. (2001) Effects of marine reserve characteristics on the protection of fish populations: a meta-analysis. Journal of Fish Biology 59: 178–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crawford, B., Kasmidi, M., Korompis, F. & Pollnac, R.B. (2006) Factors influencing progress in establishing community-based marine protected areas in Indonesia. Coastal Management 34: 39–64.Google Scholar
Crawley, M.J. (2007) The R Book: Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curtis, J.M.R., Ribeiro, J., Erzini, K. & Vincent, A.C.J. (2007) A conservation trade-off? Interspecific differences in seahorse responses to experimental changes in fishing effort. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystem 17: 468–484.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Danielsen, F., Burgess, N.D. & Balmford, A. (2005) Monitoring matters: examining the potential of locally-based approaches. Biodiversity and Conservation 14: 2507–2542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferraro, P.J. & Pattanayak, S.K. (2006) Money for nothing? A call for empirical evaluation of biodiversity conservation investments. PLOS Biology 4: 105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forcada, A., Valle, C., Bonhomme, P., Criquet, G., Cadiou, G., Lenfant, P. & Sanchez-Lizaso, . (2009) Effects of habitat on spillover from marine protected areas to artisanal fisheries. Marine Ecology Progress Series 379: 197–211.Google Scholar
Foster, S.J. & Vincent, A.C.J. (2004) The life history and ecology of seahorses: implications for conservation and management. Journal of Fish Biology 65: 1–61.Google Scholar
Foster, S.J. & Vincent, A.C.J. (2005) Enhancing sustainability of the international trade in seahorses with a single minimum size limit. Conservation Biology 19: 1044–1050.Google Scholar
Fox, H.E. & Caldwell, R.L. (2006) Recovery from blast fishing on coral reefs: a tale of two scales. Ecological Applications 16: 1631–1635.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fox, H.E., Pet, J.S., Dahuri, R. & Caldwell, R.L. (2003) Recovery in rubble fields: long-term impacts of blast fishing. Marine Pollution Bulletin 46: 1024–1031.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Giles, B.G., Ky, T.S., Hoang, D.H. & Vincent, A.C.J. (2005) The catch and trade of seahorses in Vietnam. Biodiversity and Conservation 15: 2497–2513CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, N.A.J., Evans, R.D. & Russ, G.R. (2003) The effects of marine reserve protection on the trophic relationship of reef fishes on the Great Barrier Reef. Environmental Conservation 30: 200–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, S.J., Alexander, R.D., Gulayan, A.M., Migrino, I.C.C., Jarantilla-Paler, J. & Courtney, C.A. (2002) Bohol island: its coastal environmental profile. Report. Bohol Environment Management Office and Coastal Resource Management Project, Cebu City, Philippines: 174 pp.Google Scholar
Green, S.J., Flores, J.O., Dizon-Corrales, J.Q., Martinez, R.T., Armada, N.B. & White, A.T. (2004) The fisheries of Central Visayas, Philippines: status and trends. Report. Coastal Resource Management Project of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of the Department of Agriculture, Cebu City, Philippines: 159 pp.Google Scholar
Guénette, S. & Pitcher, T.J. (1999) An age-structured model showing the benefits of marine reserves in controlling overexploitation. Fisheries Research 39: 295–303.Google Scholar
Guidetti, P., Milazzo, M., Bussotti, S., Molinari, A., Murenu, M., Pais, A., Spano, N., Balzano, R. & Agardy, T. (2008) Italian marine reserve effectiveness: does enforcement matter? Biological Conservation 141: 699–709.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, G.J.A., Ban, N.C., Jones, M.L., Kaufman, L., Panes, H.M., Yasué, M. & Vincent, A.C.J. (2011) Hindsight in marine protected area selection: a comparison of ecological representation arising from opportunistic and biophysical approaches. Biological Conservation 144: 1866–1875.Google Scholar
Harmelin-Vivien, M., Direach, L.L., Bayle-Sempere, J., Charbonnel, E., Garcia-Charton, J.A., Ody, D., Perez-Ruzafa, A., Renones, O., Sanchez-Jerez, P. & Valle, C. (2008) Gradients of abundance and biomass across reserve boundaries in six Mediterranean marine protected areas: evidence of fish spillover? Biological Conservation 141: 1829–1839.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutchings, J. & Reynolds, J.D. (2004) Marine fish population collapses: consequences for recovery and extinction risk. BioScience 54: 297–309.Google Scholar
Jennings, S., Reynolds, J.D. & Polunin, N.V.C. (1999) Predicting the vulnerability of tropical reef fishes to exploitation with phylogenies and life histories. Conservation Biology 13: 1466–1475.Google Scholar
Kellner, J.B., Tetreault, I., Gaines, S.D. & Nisbet, R.M. (2007) Fishing the line near marine reserves in single and multispecies fisheries. Ecological Applications 17: 1039–1054.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
King, M.C. & Beazley, K.F. (2005) Selecting focal species for marine protected area network planning in the Scotia–Fundy region of Atlantic Canada. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystem 15: 367–385.Google Scholar
Lourie, S.A. & Randall, J.A. (2003) A new pygmy seahorse, Hippocampus denise (Teleostei: Syngnathidae) from the Indo-Pacific. Zoological Studies 42: 284–291.Google Scholar
Lourie, S.A., Stanley, H.F., Vincent, A.C.J., Hall, H.J., Pritchard, J.C., & Casey, S.P. (1999) Seahorses: An identification guide to the world's species and their conservation: Vancouver: Project Seahorse.Google Scholar
Magera, A.M. (2005) The live seahorse trade in Los Angeles. Report. Project Seahorse and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada: 55 pp.Google Scholar
Marcus, J., Samoilys, M., Meeuwig, J., Villongco, Z. & Vincent, A.C.J. (2007) Benthic status of near-shore fishing grounds in the central Philippines and associated seahorse densities. Marine Pollution Bulletin 54: 1483–1494.Google Scholar
Martin-Smith, K.M., Samoilys, M.A., Meeuwig, J.J. & Vincent, A.C.J. (2004) Collaborative development of management options for an artisanal fishery for seahorses in the central Philippines. Ocean Coastal Management 47: 165–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin-Smith, K.M. & Vincent, A.C.J. (2006) Exploitation and trade of Australian seahorses, pipehorses, sea dragons and pipefishes (Family Syngnathidae) Oryx 40: 141–151.Google Scholar
McClanahan, T.R., Graham, N.A.J., Calnan, J.M. & MacNeil, M.A. (2007) Towards pristine biomass: reef fish recovery in coral reef marine protected areas in Kenya. Ecological Applications 17: 1055–1067.Google Scholar
Meeuwig, J.J., Do, H.H., Truong, S.K., Job, S.D. & Vincent, A.C.J. (2006) Quantifying non-target seahorse fisheries in central Vietnam. Fisheries Research 81: 149–157.Google Scholar
Micheli, F., Halpern, B.S., Botsford, L.W. & Warner, R.R. (2004) Trajectories and correlates of community change in no-take marine reserves. Ecological Applications 14: 1709–1723.Google Scholar
Molloy, P.P., Reynolds, J.D., Gage, M.J.G., Mosqueira, I. & Côté, I.M. (2008) Links between sex change and fish densities in marine protected areas. Biological Conservation 141: 187–197.Google Scholar
Mora, C., Andréfouët, S., Costello, M.J., Kranenburg, C., Rollo, A., Veron, J., Gaston, K.J. & Myers, R.A. (2006) Coral reefs and the global network of marine protected areas. Science 312: 1750–1751.Google Scholar
Morgan, S.K. & Vincent, A.C.J. (2007) The ontogeny of habitat associations in the tropical tiger tail seahorse Hippocampus comes Cantor, 1850. Journal of Fish Biology 71: 701–724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mosquera, I., Côté, I.M., Jennings, S. & Reynolds, J.D. (2000) Conservation benefits of marine reserves for fish populations. Animal Conservation 3: 321–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Donnell, K.P., Pajaro, M.G. & Vincent, A.C.J. (2010) How does the accuracy of fisher knowledge affect seahorse conservation status? Animal Conservation 13 (6): 526–533.Google Scholar
Pajaro, M.G., Vincent, A.C.J., Buhat, D. & Perante, N. (1997) The role of seahorse fishers in conservation and management. In: Proceedings of the First International Symposium Marine Conservation, pp. 118–126. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Marine Conservation Society.Google Scholar
Perante, N.C., Pajaro, M.G., Meeuwig, J.J. & Vincent, A.C.J. (2002) Biology of a seahorse species, Hippocampus comes in the central Philippines. Journal of Fish Biology 60: 821–837.Google Scholar
Perante, N.C., Pajaro, M.G. & Vincent, A.C.J. (1998) Demographics of the seahorse Hippocampus comes in the Central Philippines. In: Proceedings of the Third International Conference on the Marine Biology of the South China Sea, pp. 439–448. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar
Rakitin, A. & Kramer, D.L. (1996) Effects of a marine reserve on the distribution of coral reef fishes in Barbados. Marine Ecology Progress Series 131: 97–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, C.M., Bohnsack, J.A., Gell, F., Hawkins, J.P. & Goodridge, R. (2001) Effects of marine reserves on adjacent fisheries. Science 294: 1920–1923.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Russ, G.R. & Alcala, A.C. (1996 a) Do marine reserves export adult fish biomass? Evidence from Apo Island, central Philippines. Marine Ecology Progress Series 132: 1–9.Google Scholar
Russ, G.R. & Alcala, A.C. (1996 b) Marine reserves: rates and patterns of recovery and decline of large predatory fish. Ecological Applications 6: 947–961.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russ, G.R. & Alcala, A.C. (1998) Natural fishing experiments in marine reserves 1983–1993: roles of life history and fishing intensity in family responses. Coral Reefs 17: 399–415.Google Scholar
Russ, G.R., Alcala, A.C., Maypa, A.P., Calumpong, H.P. & White, A.T. (2004) Marine reserve benefits local fisheries. Ecological Applications 14: 597–606.Google Scholar
Salin, K.R., Yohannan, T.M. & Nair, C.M. (2005) Fisheries and trade of seahorses, Hippocampus spp., in southern India. Fisheries Management and Ecology 12: 269–273.Google Scholar
Samoilys, M.A., Martin-Smith, K.M., Giles, B.G., Cabrera, B., Anticamara, J.A., Brunio, E.O. & Vincent, A.C.J. (2007) Effectiveness of five small Philippines’ coral reef reserves for fish populations depends on site-specific factors, particularly enforcement history. Biological Conservation 136: 584–601.Google Scholar
Shokri, M.R., Gladstone, W. & Jelbart, J. (2009) The effectiveness of seahorses and pipefish (Pisces: Syngnathidae) as a flagship group to evaluate the conservation value of estuarine seagrass beds. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystem 19: 588–595.Google Scholar
Simberloff, D. (1998) Flagships, umbrellas and keystones: is single-species management passe in the landscape era? Biological Conservation 83: 247–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sloan (2004) Northern Abalone: using an invertebrate to focus marine conservation ideas and values. Coastal Management 32: 129–140.Google Scholar
Teixeira, R.L. & Music, J.A. (2001) Reproduction and food habits of the lined seahorse, Hippocampus erectus (Teleostei: Syngnathidae) of Chesapeake Bay, Virginia. Review Brazilian Biology 61: 79–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tun, K., Chou, L.M., Cabanban, A., Tuan, V.S., Philreefs, , Yeemin, T., Suharsono, , Sour, K. & Lane, D. (2004) Status of coral reefs, coral reef monitoring and management in Southeast Asia, 2004. In: Status of Coral Reefs, Coral Reef Monitoring and Management in Southeast Asia, 2004, ed. Wilkinson, C., pp. 235–275. Townville, Australia: Australian Institute of Marine Science.Google Scholar
Uychiaoco, A.J., Arceo, H.O., Green, S.J., La Cruz, M.T.D., Gaite, P.A. & Alino, P.M. (2005) Monitoring and evaluation of reef protected areas by local fishers in the Philippines: tightening the adaptive management cycle. Biodiversity and Conservation 14: 2775–2794.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vincent, A.C.J. (1996) The International Trade in Seahorses. Cambridge, UK: TRAFFIC International.Google Scholar
Vincent, A.C.J., Meeuwiga, J.J., Pajaro, M.G. & Perante, N.C. (2007) Characterizing a small-scale, data-poor, artisanal fishery. Seahorses in the central Philippines. Fisheries Research 86: 207–215.Google Scholar
Vincent, A.C.J, Foster, S.J. & Koldewey, H.J. (2011) Conservation and management of seahorses and other syngnathids. Journal of Fish Biology 78 (6): 1681–1724.Google Scholar
Walpole, M.J. & Leader-Williams, N. (2002) Tourism and flagship species in conservation. Biodiversity and Conservation 11: 543–547.Google Scholar
White, A.T., Aliño, P.M. & Meneses, A.T. (2006) Creating and managing marine protected areas in the Philippines. Report. Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation Inc. and University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute, Cebu City, Philippines: 83 pp.Google Scholar
White, G.C. & Bennetts, R.E. (1996) Analysis of frequency count data using the negative binomial distribution. Ecology 77: 2549–2557.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, P.H., Burgess, N.D. & Rahbek, C. (2000) Flagship species, ecological complementarity and conserving the diversity of mammals and birds in sub-Saharan Africa. Animal Conservation 2000: 249–260.Google Scholar
Willis, T.J. & Anderson, M.J. (2003) Structure of cryptic reef fish assemblages: relationships with habitat characteristics and predator density. Marine Ecology Progress Series 257: 209–221Google Scholar
Willis, T.J., Millar, R.B. & Babcock, R.C. (2003) Protection of exploited fish in temperate regions: high density and biomass of snapper Pagrus auratus (Sparidae) in northern New Zealand marine reserves. Journal of Applied Ecology 40: 214–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolfinger, R. & O'Connell, M. (1993) Generalized linear mixed models: a pseudo-likelihoood approach. Journal of Statistical Computation and Simulation 48: 233–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woods, C.M.C. (2005) Reproductive output of male seahorses, Hippocampus abdominalis, from Wellington Harbour, New Zealand: implications for conservation. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 39: 881–888.Google Scholar
Yasué, M., Kaufman, L. & Vincent, A.C.J. (2010) Assessing ecological changes in and around marine reserves using community perceptions and biological surveys. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystem 20: 407–418.Google Scholar
Zacharias, M.A. & Roff, J.C. (2001) Use of focal species in marine conservation and management: a review and critique. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystem 11: 59–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar