No evidence of increased demersal fish abundance six years after creation of marine protected areas along the southeast United States Atlantic coast

Bacheler, N. M., et al., (2016). No evidence of increased demersal fish abundance six years after creation of marine protected areas along the southeast United States Atlantic coast. Bulletin of Marine Science, 92(4), 447-471.

The paper concludes there is no evidence that the MPA network increased the abundance of fish, which seriously challenges the underlying theory of benefits from MPAs.