Year Around Closed Areas as a Management Tool

Year around closed areas or refuges as management mechanisms for controlling fishing mortality are explored using a two‐component, spatial model with movement between areas. The model assesses the fate of a cohort when only a portion of it is vulnerable to fishing. The yield per recruit and spawning stock biomass per recruit are compared for equivalent amounts of fishing effort with and without a refuge. The results indicate that the institution of a closed area can lead to substantial increases in spawning stock biomass realized from a cohort and, as such, could be a viable short‐term management option to reduce overall fishing mortality on an overexploited stock. Yield per recruit with a refuge is a complex function of the size of the refuge, fishing mortality rates and movement rates. The results suggest that the proportional loss in yield per recruit will be less than the initial proportion of the cohort contained within the refuge. In some instances, the yield per recruit with a refuge can exceed the yield per recruit without one, but the net increases are usually small. The size of the refuge needed to achieve a specified gain in spawning biomass depends upon the mobility of the fish. Higher movement rates require a larger refuge to achieve the same increase, but any loss in yield per recruit will be less even though the refuge is larger. The assumptions underlying the model are discussed, and the importance of information on movement rates for assessing the possible effect of closed areas is stressed.