Pots were catching so few fish it was barely worth hauling them. Closing areas to fishing seems like an illogical way of helping fishermen, but that is exactly what reserves are designed to do. Reserves provide a refuge in which easily caught fishes can grow large enough to reproduce. Before the SMMA was created such fish was caught long before they reached maturity. The offspring of fish protected in reserves are carried to fishing grounds by ocean currents, so refilling the pots of fishermen.
Fish move from the more crowded reserve into fishing grounds nearby where they can be caught.
Throughout the world, wherever reserves have been created, fishermen enjoy higher catches close to reserve boundaries. In Soufriere some of the best catches are made close to the Anse Chastanet reserve, an area which has been closed to fishing for several years. Reserves represent money in the bank for St. Lucia's fishing industry. Fishermen harvest the interest which flows from them and as fish stocks grow, so do the interest payments. Such benefits do not come immediately but take time to accumulate as fish stocks grow.