What Is the Carrying
Capacity of an MPA Community?
Carrying capacity can be described in three ways: environmental, social, and managerial.
Environmental carrying capacity addresses sustainable
use of resources, such as how many fishermen can use a reef without
depleting the fish populations.
Social carrying capacity is a measure of how many
people are considered too many for a given area. For example, beachgoers
might be happy to share the beach with 100 people but might leave if
they arrived and 1,000 were present.
Managerial carrying capacity indicates that carrying
capacity can differ depending on the amount and type of management applied.
For example, by separating different user groups, a manager might increase
the social carrying capacity of an area. With the removal or displacement
of jet skis, other users might be able to tolerate a higher concentration
of people.
How Can Knowing This Help Me?
Knowing how many people are tolerated in a given area and how people
can use the area without depleting the resources can give managers an
idea of what type of restrictions they need to implement to balance
the users' interests with resource protection.
What Are Some Tools I Can Use?
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