Understanding the effects and benefits provided by the design and management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is crucial for developing cost‐effective management actions. We characterized the management and design of no-take zone (NTZ) networks of eight Mexican Caribbean MPAs. To determine protection effectiveness, we followed a two-step approach. First, we evaluated the effect of the level of protection (NTZ, partial and unprotected areas), habitat structure and local human threats on four fish community metrics: total biomass, commercial fish biomass, mean trophic level and commercial fish mean size. If the protection afforded by the NTZ was significant, a second model was developed to evaluate design and management effectiveness. Total biomass, commercial fish biomass and mean trophic level were correlated significantly and positively with no-take protection; and, partially protected areas showed a significant and positive correlation with commercial fish biomass and mean trophic level. MPA age was the only significant and positive design and management characteristic that explained the variation in commercial fish biomass. This might be in part due to the suboptimal design of the MPA network that has mostly resulted from economic and social opportunities with little consideration for ecological guidelines and management capacities. Our findings suggest that to increase reef fish protection it would be necessary to include reef habitats with high coral cover and structural complexity inside NTZs. However, the effectiveness of an MPA network not only requires ecological considerations but also factors that include compliance, enforcement and true community participation to achieve greater benefits. Policymakers must ensure adequate design and management of MPAs in order to improve the effectiveness of marine resource protection, promoting both sustainable use and long-term biodiversity conservation.

理解海洋保护区（MPA）的设计和管理所带来的效果和利益对于制定具有成本效益的管理措施至关重要。我们表征了八个墨西哥加勒比海MPA的禁飞区（NTZ）网络的管理和设计。为了确定保护效果，我们采取了两步法。首先，我们评估了保护水平（NTZ，部分和未保护区域），栖息地结构和当地人为威胁对四种鱼类群落指标的影响：总生物量，商品鱼生物量，平均营养水平和商品鱼平均大小。如果NTZ提供的保护很重要，则开发第二个模型来评估设计和管理有效性。总生物量 商业鱼类的生物量和平均营养水平与禁食保护呈显着正相关。部分保护区与商业鱼类生物量和平均营养水平呈显着正相关。MPA年龄是解释商业鱼类生物量变化的唯一重要且积极的设计和管理特征。这可能部分是由于MPA网络的设计欠佳，而这主要是由于经济和社会机会，而很少考虑生态准则和管理能力。我们的发现表明，要增加对珊瑚礁鱼类的保护，有必要在NTZ内部包括具有高珊瑚覆盖率和结构复杂性的珊瑚礁栖息地。然而，MPA网络的有效性不仅需要生态方面的考虑，而且还包括合规性，执法和真正的社区参与以取得更大的收益。决策者必须确保对MPA进行适当的设计和管理，以提高海洋资源保护的有效性，促进可持续利用和长期生物多样性保护。