The objective of this paper is to describe and apply a set of quantitative tools that can be used to provide advice on the number, size and spacing of single-species fishery closure areas in a network. [...] Habitat suitability and species density models are used to define the spatial structure of the metapopulation dynamics sub-model and to set the carrying capacity and initial abundances of each population. [...] Two separate models were constructed to predict the suitability of habitat for sea cucumbers, and the density of sea cucumber populations in the study area. [...] Performance of the final models for predicted habitat suitability and density is reported using the area-under-the-curve (AUC) of the receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) of the cross validation models and the percent density explained (PDE), respectively, as they are clearer and more representative descriptors of model performance. [...] Sensitivity analyses A number of sensitivity analyses were performed to test the habitat suitability and density models’ sensitivity to spatial resolution, depth, and the influence of correlated and modelled data.