Abstract

Several studies compare fisheries among areas under different fishing pressure (from heavily exploited to marine protected areas). However, few researches study fisheries quantitatively before the declaration of marine reserves to know the effects of this activity on fish communities before and after their establishment and very few focus on non commercial fisheries (game, collateral, poaching and subsistence). These aspects were studied on Jardines de la Reina archipelago, where the largest marine reserve of the Caribbean is located. We analysed catch and effort statistics and made underwater visual censuses, interviews and sampling of capture. The declaration of the marine reserve reduced fishing effort inside the reserve by about two thirds. One third of the original total effort was completely eliminated but the other third was relocated to the surrounding zones near the reserve. As a consequence, total landings from the archipelago area were reduced by a third. Finfish fisheries made by lobster’s fishermen and poachers boats are the most important harvesting activities inside the marine reserve. The homogeneous distribution of finfish catches through Jardines de la Reina archipelago before the declaration of the reserve and the strong relationship between catch and abundance after it, support the hypothesis of positive effects of the Jardines de la Reina Marine Reserve on the conservation of fisheries resources on this Cuban archipelago.

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