Studies retrieved through our review:

1. Aburto-Oropeza, O. et al. (2011) Large recovery of fish biomass in a no-take marine reserve. PLoS One 6,

2. Almany, G.R. et al. (2013) Dispersal of grouper larvae drives local resource sharing in a coral reef fishery. Curr. Biol. 23, 626–630

3. Bartlett, C.Y. et al. (2009) Marine reserve phenomenon in the Pacific islands. Mar. Policy 33, 673–678

4. Bennett, N.J. and Dearden, P. (2014) Why local people do not support conservation: Community perceptions of marine protected area livelihood impacts, governance and management in Thailand. Mar. Policy 44, 107–116

5. Bonin, M.C. et al. (2016) The role of marine reserves in the replenishment of a locally impacted population of anemonefish on the Great Barrier Reef. Mol. Ecol. 25, 487–499

6. Di Ciommo, R.C. and Schiavetti, A. (2012) Women participation in the management of a marine protected area in Brazil. Ocean Coast. Manag. 62, 15–23

7. Claudet, J. et al. (2008) Marine reserves: Size and age do matter. Ecol. Lett. 11, 481–489

8. Côté, I. (2001) Effects of marine reserve characteristics on the protection of fish populations: a meta-analysis. J. Fish Biol. 59, 178–189

9. Denny, C.M. et al. (2004) Rapid recolonisation of snapper Pagrus auratus: Sparidae within an offshore island marine reserve after implementation of no-take status. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 272, 183–190

10. Díaz, D. et al. (2016) A 25-year marine reserve as proxy for the unfished condition of an exploited species. Biol. Conserv. 203, 97–107

11. Elliott, G. et al. (2001) Community participation in marine protected area management Wakatobi National Park, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Coast. Manag. 29, 295–316

12. Francini-Filho, R.B. and Moura, R.L. (2008) Evidence for spillover of reef fishes from a no-take marine reserve: An evaluation using the before-after control-impact (BACI) approach. Fish. Res. 93, 346–356

13. Fujitani, M.L. et al. (2012) Implementation of a marine reserve has a rapid but short-lived effect on recreational angler use. 22, 597–605

14. Guidetti, P. (2007) Potential of marine reserves to cause community-wide changes beyond their boundaries. Soc. Conserv. Biol. 21, 540–545

15. Gustavsson, M. et al. (2014) Procedural and distributive justice in a community-based managed Marine Protected Area in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Mar. Policy 46, 91–100

16. Halpern, B.S. and Warner, R.R. (2002) Marine reserves have rapid and long lasting effects. Ecol. Lett. 5, 361–366

17. Halpern, B.S. (2003) The impact of marine reserves : do reserves work and does reserve size matter? 13, 117-137

18. Harmelin-Vivien, M. et al. (2008) Gradients of abundance and biomass across reserve boundaries in six Mediterranean marine protected areas: Evidence of fish spillover? Biol. Conserv. 141, 1829–1839

19. Harrison, H.B. et al. (2012) Larval export from marine reserves and the recruitment benefit for fish and fisheries. Curr. Biol. 22, 1023–1028

20. House, C. et al. (2017) An assessment of the efficiency and ecological representativity of existing marine reserve networks in Wales, UK. Ocean Coast. Manag. 149, 217-130

21. Lansing, D. (2009) The spaces of social capital: Livelihood geographies and marine conservation in the Cayos Cochinos Marine Protected Area, Honduras. J. Lat. Am. Geogr. 8, 29–54

22. Lester, S.E. and Halpern, B.S. (2008) Biological responses in marine no-take reserves versus partially protected areas. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 367, 49–56

23. Di Lorenzo, M. et al. (2016) Spillover from marine protected areas to adjacent fisheries has an ecological and a fishery component. J. Nat. Conserv. 32, 62–66

24. McClanahan, T.R. et al. (2006) A comparison of marine protected areas and alternative approaches to coral-reef management. Curr. Biol. 16, 1408–1413

25. Micheli, F. et al. (2004) Trajectories and correlates of community change in no-take marine reserves. Ecol. Appl. 14, 1709–1723

26. Molloy, P.P. et al. (2009) Effects of marine reserve age on fish populations: A global meta-analysis. J. Appl. Ecol. 46, 743–751

27. Mumby, P.J. et al. (2006) Fishing, trophic cascades, and the process of grazing on coral reefs. Science. 311, 98-101

28. Qiu, W. (2013) The Sanya Coral Reef National Marine Nature Reserve, China: A governance analysis. Mar. Policy 41, 50–56

29. Rees, S.E. et al. (2013) A thematic cost-benefit analysis of a marine protected area. J. Environ. Manage. 114, 476–485

30. Roberts, C.M. (2001) Effects of marine reserves on adjacent fisheries. Science. 294, 1920–1923

31. Russ, G.R. et al. (2008) Rapid increase in fish numbers follows creation of world’s largest marine reserve network. Curr. Biol. 18, 514–515

32. Santos, A.N. and Brannstrom, C. (2015) Livelihood strategies in a marine extractive reserve: Implications for conservation interventions. Mar. Policy 59, 44–52

33. Stamieszkin, K. et al. (2009) Management of a marine protected area for sustainability and conflict resolution: Lessons from Loreto Bay National Park (Baja California Sur, Mexico). Ocean Coast. Manag. 52, 449–458

34. Suman, D. et al. (1999) Perceptions and attitudes regarding marine reserves: A comparison of stakeholder groups in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Ocean Coast. Manag. 42, 1019–1040

35. Thomassin, A. et al. (2010) Social acceptability of a marine protected area: The case of Reunion Island. Ocean Coast. Manag. 53, 169–179

36. Tobey, J. and Torell, E. (2006) Coastal poverty and MPA management in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. Ocean Coast. Manag. 49, 834–854

37. Weeks, R. et al. (2010) Effectiveness of marine protected areas in the Philippines for biodiversity conservation. Conserv. Biol. 24, 531–540

38. Wells, S. et al. (2007) Towards the 2012 marine protected area targets in Eastern Africa. Ocean & Coastal Management. 50, 67-83.

39. *Edgar, J.G. et al. (2014) Global conservation outcomes depend on marine protected areas with five key features. Nature. 506, 216-220

40. *Gill, D.A. et al. (2017) Capacity shortfalls hinder the performance of marine protected areas globally. Nature. 543, 665-669

41. *Mascia, M.B. et al. (2010) Impacts of marine protected areas on fishing communities. Conserv. Biol. 24, 1424-1429

42. Mumby, P.J. et al. (2007) Trophic cascade facilitates coral recruitment in a marine reserve. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 104, 8362–8367

Additional studies referred to in the story:

43. Gurney, G.G. et al. (2014) Poverty and protected areas: An evaluation of a marine integrated conservation and development project in Indonesia. Global Environmental Change. 98–107.

44. Kerwath, S.E. et al. (2013) Marine protected area improves yield without disadvantaging fishers. Nature Communications. 4: 2347.

45. Goni, R. et al, (2010) Net contribution of spillover from a marine reserve to fishery catches. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 400: 233–243.

46. Vandeperre, F. et al. (2011) Effects of no-take area size and age of marine protected areas on fisheries yields: a meta-analytical approach. Fish and Fisheries. 12(4): 412–426.

47. McClanahan TR, Mangi S. (2000) Spillover of exploitable fishes from a marine park and its effect on the adjacent fishery. Ecological Applications. 10(6): 1792–1805.

48. Fletcher, W.J. et al. (2015) Large-scale expansion of no-take closures within the Great Barrier Reef has not enhanced fishery production. Ecological Applications. 25: 1187–1196.