Spatial Management

Spatial management uses zoning to control where fishing happens, allocating the sea into areas with different rules to protect habitats, spawners, or vulnerable stocks. The toolkit runs from no-take marine protected areas through seasonal time-area closures to gear-restricted zones, coordinated under marine spatial planning. It targets the place-based dimension that catch and effort limits miss, such as a nursery ground or a cold-water-coral reef. RFMOs use spatial closures to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems in the deep sea, and the EU manages fishing zones under the Common Fisheries Policy.