3 and Fig. 4); and even the maximum income obtained from corals is www.selleckchem.com/products/FK-506-(Tacrolimus).html very low (about six dollars per day in the northeast monsoon fishing with traps) (Table 3, Supplementary Data; Fig. 3 and Fig. 4). For handline and spear fishers, rainy seasons seem to increase variability when fishing also in coral habitats. Fishing in mangroves showed the largest range during the northeast monsoon. Fishing in seagrasses also, presented some variability and outliers

in fish catches, especially during the southeast monsoon for net fishers, but in general they were relatively stable (Fig. 3). The influence of the different seasons on the dynamics of the WIO is well established (McClanahan, 1996) and the variation according to the sampled times may reflect that. Local fishers have learnt through generations how to deal with the changing conditions and how to make use of the tides and winds when fishing (Tobisson et al., 1998). The relative closeness of seagrass meadows can be an important factor for fishing preference during harsh conditions. As one fisher expressed it “Why travel further if I can obtain good catches in the seagrasses?” Another aspect is the prohibition to fish in the mangrove

creek in the southwest part of the bay closest to Chwaka village ( de la Torre-Castro and Lindstrom, 2010). MPAs are widespread management tools, however, their global efficiency has been questioned (Hilborn, 2013); selleck chemicals and their usefulness in tropical contexts have been long debated due to the human Benzatropine resource dependence, the low enforcement capacities and the high levels of conflicts that arise when prohibiting fishing (e.g.

Christie, 2004 and Cinner, 2011). In addition, seagrasses have not been considered in MPA design as a valuable feature on their own. They are normally relegated as an ordinary part of the coral reef mosaic. Due to that, seagrasses have been considered “free riders” in conservation programs in the WIO (Gullstrom et al., 2002). The tendency to focus on coral management and conservation (Orth et al., 2006) at the expense of other key ecosystems, produces a misfit between the institutions created, the ecological features (i.e. all seascape ecosystems are connected and ecologically important) and people’s de facto behavior (fishers move and fish along the whole seascape, not only in coral habitats). The “problem of the fit”, basically matching ecosystem properties with the management regime attributes, is one of the key problems hindering management advances. There should be congruence between the biophysical component and its dynamics and the institutions created to manage human activities ( Berkes and Folke, 1988 and Young, 2002). Here, it is argued that SSF management will benefit from applying a seascape approach and explicitly paying attention to seagrasses. In this way, the present institutional misfit can be reduced.