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The site-based implementation of community-based MPAs and spatio-temporal refugia requires the identification of the socio-political, economic, and ecological processes of a targeted region. This information is essential for understanding the conditions that would allow management regimes to actually work. The MacArthur and Packard funded research has been instrumental in developing the research baseline with which to better select areas in which to establish marine protected areas. We believe that the proposed closures can achieve effective management, particularly for multi-species tropical fisheries where absolute yields are difficult to predict and where there are multiple users and fishing techniques (Man et al. 1995; Russ 1994; Russ and Alcala 1996; Wantiez et al. 1997). Researchers broadly agree that MPAs are beneficial in enhancing spawning-stock biomass, and in allowing for larval dispersal and export of adults to adjacent non-protected areas (Bohnsack 1993; Russ and Alcala 1999). Likewise, spatio-temporal refugia alleviate pressure on stocks by allowing depleted populations to recover during seasonal or episodic no-take periods. They may also allow for increased larval dispersal, particularly if the area is dotted with permanently closed source-population zones (Quinn et al. 1993). This precautionary strategy is particularly appropriate for the "data-less" Solomon Islands, where fisheries biologists have failed to forecast inshore fishery dynamics with any certitude (Johannes 1998). The criteria for selecting MPAs and spatio-temporal
refugia sites include the following in hierarchical order: (1) the
importance of critical habitats including grass beds, coral reefs,
and mangroves, and/or particular biological events (e.g., spawning
aggregations) in surveyed areas (Aswani 1997a, 1998a), (2) the institutional
sea-tenure context in which each management area is situated, (3)
the stakeholders' commitments to participate in management of resources
at each location, (4) the necessity of managing these areas owing
to levels of resource exploitation (as determined by foraging studies
from 1994-2000), (5) levels of economic dependence on marine resources
within each area (villages that do not entirely depend on marine resources
for income are more prone to accommodate alternative economic activities
to offset the loss of income from marine products), and finally (6)
the participation of local churches such as the Christian Fellowship
Church (CFC). For instance, CFC religious authorities are key to institutional
legitimacy and are committed to managing marine resources in these
areas. The actual size and boundaries of the MPAs and spatio-temporal
refugia has been negotiated with local authorities. Also, Geographical
Information Systems (GIS) has guided this effort. To date, we have
established 12 MPAs in the region. Between 2004 and 2006 we project
the creation of 10 additional MPAs bringing the total to 22.
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