Marine protected areas (MPAs) benefit fish welfare by reducing fishing pressure and habitat damage, with evidence of improved body condition, reduced injury rates and more natural behaviour.
MPAs provide welfare benefits to individual fish through multiple pathways: reduced physical injury from fishing gear, reduced capture stress and associated physiological disruption, better access to food (older, more complex habitats support more abundant prey), and reduced chronic stress from repeated escape attempts. Fish in well-established MPAs that have been studied show behavioural indicators of reduced stress and better body condition. Expanding MPA coverage and improving enforcement quality is therefore both a conservation and welfare intervention - protecting not just population numbers but the quality of individual fish lives within protected boundaries.