| This study poses the questions, 'can marine protected areas (MPSs) produce valuable ecological goods and services for human societies' and if so, 'what management institutions are likely most effective in governing marine protected areas' This research will approach these questions on multiple fronts. In the first stream of research, the ecological effectiveness of MPAs will examined in the Turks and CAicos Islands (TCI) for two key commercial species, queen conch (Strombus gigas) and Nassau grouper (Epinephalus striatus). Through a series of collaborative studies, my colleagues and I examine the differences in size and abundance of animals inside and outside of MPAs near South Caicos, TCI. In addition, we test the hypothesis that increased abundance of queen conch within MPAs leads to 'spilover' of harvestable adults to adjacent commercial fishing grounds. An increase in the size or abundance of animals within an MPA may provide substantial economic benefits beyond the commercial value to fishers of any spillover effects. This especially the case if the beneficiary species are popular with nature-based tourists. The second stream of research seeks to identify economic benefits arising from non-consumptive use value held by dive tourists for the species that MPAs are designed to protect. The presence of non-consumptive economic value will be evaluated using a paired comparison cojoint survey; survey results will be used to perform market share simulations for dives that differ in environmental quality. Finally, the third integrating research stream will examine institutional determinants of MPA effectiveness. There is an emerging consensus in marine science that ecosystem-based management principles are needed for biodiversity conservation and sustainable fisheries management. Ecosystem-based management is characterized as scale sensitive, adaptive and conductive to local implementation. Management policies are viewed as experiments that can increase the information available for management. There may be significant economic benefits associated with ecosystem managemet when social capital at the community level, the appropriate level for implementing many ecosystem-based management practices, can be harnessed to reduce the transaction costs of fisheries management. The links between ecosystem-based management, institutional structure and transaction costs have not been adequately theorized or demonstrated for marine systems to date, especially those in the tropics where data sparse and marine property rights poorly defined. This research will develop the necessary theoretical links and apply innovative methodological approaches, fuzzy set theory and evolutionary search algorithms, needed for solving problems that are rule-based, linguistic in nature and complex. Keyword(s): FISHERY MANAGEMENT / ECOSYSTEMS / NATURE RESERVES / ECONOMIC ANALYSIS / NATURE CONSERVATION / ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION / TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS / MARINE AREAS / CONSERVATION AREAS / MARINE FISHERIES |
