The potential impact of fishing in Peruvian marine protected areas (MPAs) on artisanal fishery poverty during El Niño events

In Peru, the fishing sector, particularly artisanal fishing, is one of the most impacted by El Niño phenomenon. One possible adaptation strategy to mitigate the negative economic effects of El Niño is the development of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). This study measures the effect on poverty of artisanal fishers of being able to fish in Peruvian MPAs in the face of the El Niño. Therefore, using propensity score matching, we estimated the effect of the El Niño 2015 event on the income of fishers by comparing the poverty levels of fishers with and without access to the MPAs. The study estimated no significant effect of the MPAs on probability of poverty reduction in two out of three MPAs but a 29% (17%;42%) was detected at one MPA. The results indicate that fishing in Peruvian MPAs could reduce the vulnerability of artisanal fishers to El Niño. Additionally, this study concludes that the estimated impact in reducing the effects of El Niño on the poverty depends largely on the participation of fishers in its management and highlights the importance of taking a transdisciplinary and cross sector approach to MPA design and management to ensure the potential benefits of MPAs can be realised.