Effects of marine protected areas on overfished fishing stocks with multiple stable states

•We investigated effects of MPAs on ecosystems with multiple stable states (MSS).•Transported fishing efforts from the MPA may hamper recovery of fishing stocks.•The transported efforts may also have the effect to weaken ecological resilience.•Sedentary species is not feasible target of MPAs in an ecosystem with MSS.

Marine protected areas (MPAs) have attracted much attention as a tool for sustainable fisheries management, restoring depleted fisheries stocks and maintaining ecosystems. However, even with total exclusion of fishing effort, depleted stocks sometimes show little or no recovery over a long time period. Here, using a mathematical model, we show that multiple stable states may hold the key to understanding the tendency for fisheries stocks to recover because of MPAs. We find that MPAs can have either a positive effect or almost no effect on the recovery of depleted fishing stocks, depending on the fish migration patterns and the fishing policies. MPAs also reinforce ecological resilience, particularly for migratory species. In contrast to previous reports, our results show that MPAs have small or sometimes negative effects on the recovery of sedentary species. Unsuitable MPA planning might result in low effectiveness or even deterioration of the existing condition.