After nearly 10 years of protection, this study assesses whether the No Take Zone in Lamlash Bay has been successful in preserving and enhancing commercially important populations of European lobster, Brown crab and Velvet swimming crab.
This study provides invaluable evidence that temperate marine reserves can contribute in restoring and enhancing not only invertebrate communities but the wider marine environment. It also highlights the importance of looking at multi-species interactions, as our study found the presence of the reserves resulting in higher densities of lobster but a decline in crab.
