Januchowski-Hartley F. A. auteur aut IRD Vigliola Laurent auteur aut IRD Maire E. auteur aut IRD Kulbicki Michel auteur aut IRD Mouillot D. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Wilderness areas offer unparalleled ecosystem conditions. However, growing human populations and consumption are among factors that drive encroachment on these areas. Here, we explore the threat of small-scale fisheries to wilderness reefs by developing a framework and modeling fluctuations in fishery range with fuel costs and fish prices. We modeled biomass of four fishery groups across the New Caledonian archipelago, and used fish and fuel prices from 2005 to 2020 to estimate the extent of exploited reefs across three fishing scenarios. From 2012 to 2018, maximum profitable range increased from 15 to over 30 hr from the capital city, expanding to reefs previously uneconomic to fish, including a UNESCO heritage site. By 2020, over half of New Caledonian (similar to 17% global) wilderness reefs will become profitable to fish. Our results demonstrate that remoteness from humans should not be considered protection for wilderness coral reefs in the context of rising fish prices. specialized coral reef conservation fisheries management reef accessibility small-scale fisheries South Pacific NOUVELLE CALEDONIE PACIFIQUE 036 040 e12706 [9 ] 2020 1755-263X https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/PAR00020451 10.1111/conl.12706 1755-263X [F B010077853] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/PAR00020451 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers20-02/010077853.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2020-03-11 2025-02-24 PAR00020451 fre