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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Nick Polunin, Charlie Dryden, Dr Steven Newman
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© The Author(s) 2026.Marine protected areas (MPAs) are essential tools for protecting marine ecosystems; yet, their effectiveness varies across regions. In the Caribbean, home to some of the world’s most degraded reefs, evaluating MPA performance requires consistent ecological data and information on management practices. To address this, we conducted standardised reef fish surveys of small (< 20 cm) and large (≥ 20 cm) fish across 83 sites in ten countries (32 MPA and 51 non-MPA sites) and interviewed MPA managers to assess compliance and enforcement. Across all sites, MPAs supported higher total biomass and species richness of small fish, but responses for herbivores, piscivores, and large fish groups were inconsistent. MPA sites in Jamaica and Saint Lucia showed significant biomass increases, while other sites showed minimal effects, highlighting the role of local ecological and socio-economic contexts. Both old and new MPAs had high total and herbivore biomass of large fish, suggesting that thoughtful site selection may enhance MPA effectiveness. Small to medium-sized MPAs (up to ~ 66 km2) showed positive effects on total and herbivore biomass, while larger MPAs exhibited diminishing returns. For large fish, compliance and enforcement were critical drivers of higher biomass, outweighing MPA size, age, or benthic habitat characteristics, while increasing human population density negatively impacted biomass. For small fish, drivers of biomass were more variable, although MPA size emerged as a positive influence. These results emphasise the importance of enforcement, compliance, and careful MPA design in achieving ecological benefits; well-managed MPAs, regardless of size, can support coral reef fish communities.
Author(s): Skinner C, Prince KRF, Polunin NVC, Mumby PJ, Williams SM, Sanchez-Godinez C, Dryden CS, Newman SP
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Coral Reefs
Year: 2026
Pages: epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 07/01/2026
Acceptance date: 23/12/2025
Date deposited: 26/01/2026
ISSN (print): 0722-4028
ISSN (electronic): 1432-0975
Publisher: Springer Nature
URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-025-02812-9
DOI: 10.1007/s00338-025-02812-9
Data Access Statement: Data are available from the authors upon request
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