Reserve Effect Monitoring

Since 2016, AMPN has been conducting regular monitoring of the reserve effect in Monaco’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The reserve effect occurs when an MPA is well protected and managed, resulting in an increase in the number of fish, their size, and species diversity.

This study is carried out twice a year in collaboration with Thalassa Marine Research & Environmental Awareness. The first campaign of 2025 has just been completed. As in previous years, scientific divers surveyed fish communities both inside the MPAs and outside, in fished areas, to allow for accurate comparisons.

The data collected since 2016 show that the quantity of fish within the MPAs is, depending on the year, 2 to 5 times greater than outside. These results were published in an international scientific journal, available here: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-72227-z.

Photo Credit : AMPN