AI Article Synopsis

  • Coral reef fisheries are crucial for providing nutrients to coastal communities that are nutritionally at risk, and expanding marine protected areas (MPAs) can boost fish populations.
  • Our study suggests that expanding sustainable-use MPAs could increase fish catch by up to 20%, potentially preventing millions of cases of micronutrient deficiency in reef nations.
  • These findings are important as they align with global efforts to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030 and tackle malnutrition worldwide.

Article Abstract

Coral reef fisheries are a vital source of nutrients for thousands of nutritionally vulnerable coastal communities around the world. Marine protected areas are regions of the ocean designed to preserve or rehabilitate marine ecosystems and thereby increase reef fish biomass. Here, we evaluate the potential effects of expanding a subset of marine protected areas that allow some level of fishing within their borders (sustainable-use MPAs) to improve the nutrition of coastal communities. We estimate that, depending on site characteristics, expanding sustainable-use MPAs could increase catch by up to 20%, which could help prevent 0.3-2.85 million cases of inadequate micronutrient intake in coral reef nations. Our study highlights the potential add-on nutritional benefits of expanding sustainable-use MPAs in coral reef regions and pinpoints locations with the greatest potential to reduce inadequate micronutrient intake level. These findings provide critical knowledge given international momentum to cover 30% of the ocean with MPAs by 2030 and eradicate malnutrition in all its forms.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11408491PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49830-9DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

marine protected
12
protected areas
12
coral reef
12
sustainable-use mpas
12
coastal communities
8
expanding sustainable-use
8
inadequate micronutrient
8
micronutrient intake
8
sustainable-use
4
sustainable-use marine
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!