Using a no-take zone to assess the impacts of fishing: Sessile epifauna appear insensitive to environmental disturbances from commercial potting

► Assessment of fishing impacts requires rigorous experimental data ► The Lundy no-take zone was treated as an experiment to quantify the impacts of lobster potting ► There were no changes in benthic assemblages associated with potting (trapping) for lobsters and crabs ► It is likely that potting (trapping) for crustacea is likely to have a minimal impact on benthic systems