A Question of Scale: Evaluating the impact of marine protected areas off of New England on groundfish productivity

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In this study, we examined the effect of MPAs in New England waters on Atlantic cod, yellowtail flounder, and haddock using before-after-control-impact (BACI) analysis of bottom trawl survey data from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. We critically evaluated the spatial scale for assessing impacts (as individual MPAs or networks of MPAs) and how we define control areas for comparison with MPAs (habitat within the same survey strata or within a certain distance from a MPAs boundary). We identified positive effects of certain MPAs on abundance and biomass indices of specific groundfish. In some cases, the significance of the response depended on the spatial and temporal scale of the analysis. Comprehensive evaluation of the appropriate spatial and temporal scales for assessing MPA impacts is needed for robust evaluation the effectiveness of MPAs in achieving management goals.