The effect of marine closures on a feedback control management strategy used in a spatially aggregated stock assessment: a case study based on pink ling in Australia
Simulation is used to explore the effect of spatial heterogeneity and spatial closures on the ability of feedback-control management strategies to achieve goals relating to conservation and utilization of fishery resources. The operating model underlying the projections is based on pink ling, Genypterus blacodes, off southern Australia and assumes that animals are sedentary following settlement. The management strategies are able to move the resource towards the target level in the absence of spatial closures even though assessment results are biased. The probability of reducing the stock below its limit reference point is higher when growth rates vary spatially, but the effect is small. The probability of the stock being above its target reference point is lower when one of the smaller spatial areas is closed. However, performance is markedly different when a larger fraction of the total area is closed, with stock size being substantially larger than the target at the end of the projection period.