University of Washington

A University of Washington fisheries professor argues this week that saving biodiversity in the world’s oceans requires more than banning fishing inside marine protected areas, or oceanic wilderness areas.

In a three-page editorial published this week in the journal Nature, he argues that this increasingly popular conservation strategy is not as effective as properly managing recreational and commercial fisheries.

“There’s this idea that the only way you can protect the ocean is by permanently closing parts of the ocean to fishing, with no-take areas,” said Ray Hilborn, a professor in the UW’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. “You protect biodiversity better by regulating fisheries over the country’s entire economic zone.”