At the time the SMMA was established fish stocks were at an all-time low and among the most severely overfished in the Caribbean. The large and valuable snappers and groupers which once filled fish pots were long gone. They had been replaced by small and less desirable fish, each of which would hardly fill a sandwich. 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.