Climate change and the future for coral reef fishes

Climate change will impact coral-reef fishes through effects on individual performance, trophic linkages, recruitment dynamics, population connectivity and other ecosystem processes. The most immediate impacts will be a loss of diversity and changes to fish community composition as a result of coral bleaching. Coral-dependent fishes suffer the most rapid population declines as coral is lost; however, many other species will exhibit long-term declines due to loss of settlement habitat and erosion of habitat structural complexity. Increased ocean temperature will affect the physiological performance and behaviour of coral reef fishes, especially during their early life history. Small temperature increases might favour larval development, but this could be counteracted by negative effects on adult reproduction. Already variable recruitment will become even more unpredictable. This will make optimal harvest strategies for coral reef fisheries more difficult to determine and populations more susceptible to overfishing. A substantial number of species could exhibit range shifts, with implications for extinction risk of small-range species near the margins of reef development. There are critical gaps in our knowledge of how climate change will affect tropical marine fishes. Predictions are often based on temperate examples, which may be inappropriate for tropical species. Improved projections of how ocean currents and primary productivity will change are needed to better predict how reef fish population dynamics and connectivity patterns will change. Finally, the potential for adaptation to climate change needs more attention. Many coral reef fishes have geographical ranges spanning a wide temperature gradient and some have short generation times. These characteristics are conducive to acclimation or local adaptation to climate change and provide hope that the more resilient species will persist if immediate action is taken to stabilize Earth's climate.     

西沙群岛重要珊瑚礁海域鱼类区系

根据1998年5月、1999年5月和2003年5月在西沙群岛北礁、永兴岛、琛航岛、华光礁、浪花礁、金银岛、东岛和玉琢礁等8个岛礁的调查资料,研究了西沙群岛岛礁水域的鱼类区系。在8个岛礁共捕获鱼类48科261种,其中礁栖性鱼类占78.93%,在8个岛礁广泛分布的鱼类只有33种,各礁区之间种类的相似度不超过41%,因此,种类多样性高和相似度低是该区域鱼类区系的2个主要特征。与南沙岛礁(1998～1999)延绳钓、刺网和手钓以及南沙群岛西南陆架区(1991)、南海北部海域等底拖网鱼类相比较,物种相似度分别为34.0%、5.1%和6.8%。     

Trouble on the reef: the imperative for managing vulnerable and valuable fisheries

Reef fishes are significant socially, nutritionally and economically, yet biologically they are vulnerable to both over‐exploitation and degradation of their habitat. Their importance in the tropics for living conditions, human health, food security and economic development is enormous, with millions of people and hundreds of thousands of communities directly dependent, and many more indirectly so. Reef fish fisheries are also critical safety valves in times of economic or social hardship or disturbance, and are more efficient, less wasteful and support far more livelihoods per tonne produced than industrial scale fisheries. Yet, relative to other fisheries globally, those associated with coral reefs are under‐managed, under‐funded, under‐monitored, and as a consequence, poorly understood or little regarded by national governments. Even among non‐governmental organizations, which are increasingly active in tropical marine issues, there is typically little focus on reef‐associated resources, the interest being more on biodiversity per se or protection of coral reef habitat. This essay explores the background and history to this situation, examines fishery trends over the last 30 years, and charts a possible way forward given the current realities of funding, capacity, development patterns and scientific understanding of coral reef ecosystems. The luxury live reef food‐fish trade is used throughout as a case study because it exemplifies many of the problems and challenges of attaining sustainable use of coral reef‐associated resources. The thesis developed is that sustaining reef fish fisheries and conserving biodiversity can be complementary, rather than contradictory, in terms of yield from reef systems. I identify changes in perspectives needed to move forward, suggest that we must be cautious of ‘fashionable’ solutions or apparent ‘quick fixes’, and argue that fundamental decisions must be made concerning the short and long‐term values of coral reef‐associated resources, particularly fish, for food and cash and regarding alternative sources of protein. Not to address the problems will inevitably lead to growing poverty, hardship and social unrest in many areas.     

珊瑚礁生态系统中造礁石珊瑚退化原因分析与维护技术进展

珊瑚对环境要求较高,温度、盐度、pH、重金属、悬浮泥沙、紫外线等因素都可能造成珊瑚的退化.又因为造礁石珊瑚是现代珊瑚礁的框架,本研究首先基于造礁石珊瑚的生存状况及其与珊瑚礁生态系统的密切关系,分析了其退化原因及可能产生的后果,进而从珊瑚礁生物增殖放流、人工养殖移植技术、相关功能基因研究、科学有效的监测管理等多个角度,综...     

A spatio‐temporal long‐term assessment on the ecological response of reef communities in a Caribbean marine protected area

1. Coral reef biodiversity is rapidly decreasing as a result of the loss of coral cover, which modifies the structure and functioning of the ecosystem. Understanding how coral reef communities respond in space and over the long term is essential in order to implement management strategies and reduce the effects of biodiversity loss on coral reefs.
2. Fish, coral, and algae communities were used as indicators to evaluate changes in coral reef systems. The variation of these communities was studied in a marine protected area composed of three management zones in Cozumel Coral Reef National Park in Quintana Roo, Mexico, over a period of 11 years (2004–2014). The following parameters were monitored annually: (i) total fish density; (ii) fish trophic group densities; (iii) species richness and three fish diversity indices; (iv) relative scleractinian coral cover; and (v) relative macroalgae cover.
3. In the years in which coastal development, such as the construction of a marina, took place, an increase in the abundance of territorial herbivorous and planktivorous fish was observed. As the coral recovered, macrocarnivores and sessile benthic invertivores were re‐established, whereas scraper herbivores showed no changes in the period of study in any of the three management zones.
4. Coral cover recovery showed rapid phase‐shift reversal (phase‐shift, macroalgae dominance over coral) in the three zones. Even though the fish density and coral cover recovered, the diversity indices of each fish trophic group exhibited a reduction in the three management zones over time.

     

The utility of simple fish community metrics for evaluating the relative influence of fishing vs. other environmental drivers on Caribbean reef fish communities

Fish community metrics have been extensively investigated as indicators of fishing effects for ecosystem‐based fisheries management (EBFM) in temperate systems. Little similar work has been performed in the coral reefs of the Caribbean, where simple indicators are urgently needed. Here, we use 415 coral reef surveys throughout the Caribbean to assess the potential of four simple and intuitive fish community metrics, namely, fish biomass, fish density, average fish weight and species richness, to separate fishing effects from those of other environmental factors at both local (tens of kilometres) and broad (hundreds to thousands of kilometres) spatial scales. We found that these fish metrics differed considerably in environmental correlates and the spatial scales underlying fish metric–environment associations. Average fish weight and fish biomass were most sensitive to fishing indices at both spatial scales, although average fish weight responded more sensitively and specifically to fishing than fish biomass. Fish density and species richness were most sensitive to temperature over broad scales and to macroalgae and relief height over local ones. All fish metrics were negatively correlated with macroalgae over broad scales, supporting the utility of macroalgae to inform about the integrity of entire reef ecosystems. Most of the fish metric variance associated with fishing pressure operated over broad scales, highlighting the need for a Caribbean‐wide view of fish community status to establish local management objectives and avoid shifting baselines. Our study clarifies the utility of simple fish community metrics as indicators of fishing effects for EBFM in the Caribbean.     

Beyond the reef: The widespread use of non‐reef habitats by coral reef fishes

Marine ecology seeks to understand the factors that shape biological communities. Progress towards this goal has been hampered by habitat‐centric approaches that ignore the influence of the wider seascape. Coral reef fishes may use non‐reef habitats (e.g. mangrove and seagrass) extensively, yet most studies have focused on within‐reef attributes or connectivity between reefs to explain trends in their distribution and abundance. We systematically review the evidence for multihabitat use by coral reef fishes across life stages, feeding guilds and conservation status. At least 670 species of “coral reef fish” have been observed in non‐reef habitats, with almost half (293 species) being recorded in two or more non‐reef habitats. Of the 170 fish species for which both adult and juvenile data were available, almost 76% were recorded in non‐reef habitats in both life stages. Importantly, over half of the coral reef fish species recorded in non‐reef habitats (397 spp.) were potential fisheries targets. The use of non‐reef habitats by “coral reef” fishes appears to be widespread, suggesting in turn that attempts to manage anthropogenic impacts on fisheries and coral reefs may need to consider broader scales and different forms of connectivity than traditional approaches recommend. Faced with the deteriorating condition of many coastal habitats, there is a pressing need to better understand how the wider seascape can influence reef fish populations, community dynamics, food‐webs and other key ecological processes on reefs.     

Effects of trap fishing on reef fish communities

• 1. Trap fishing is widespread on coral reefs but the sustainability of this practice is causing concern because it is efficient and unselective. The effects of trap fishing were investigated by comparing fish assemblages among six Caribbean islands subject to different trapping pressures. These ranged from none in Bonaire and Saba increasing through Puerto Rico, St Lucia, Dominica and Jamaica respectively.
• 2. Fish were censused at depths of 5 m and 15 m on fore‐reef slopes by counting the numbers within replicate 10 m diameter areas for 15 min. Between 64 and 1375 counts were made in each country.
• 3. In St Lucia and Jamaica abundance of fish censused on the reef was compared to representation in traps which were visually sampled underwater in the area of fish counts. Twenty‐three traps were sampled in Jamaica and 75 in St Lucia. For some comparisons between these islands, St Lucian sampling effort was reduced to that of Jamaica (23 traps and 112 counts) by randomly sub‐sampling 10 times.
• 4. Traps contained 54 different species in St Lucia and 22 in Jamaica, while there were 90 and 57 respectively in counts. After reducing St Lucian sampling effort to Jamaican levels, an average of 35 species were found in traps and 70 seen in counts. Of these, 76% in St Lucia and 73% in Jamaica were relatively more abundant in traps than they were on the reef.
• 5. Species were considered to be highly susceptible to trapping if the ratio of their abundance in traps compared to that on the reef exceeded 3:1. Trapping pressure was approximately three and a half times greater in Jamaica than St Lucia. After equalizing sampling effort, there was an average of 16 highly trappable species in St Lucia compared to 13 in Jamaica. Species did not always appear highly trappable in both countries. Eleven of St Lucia's highly trappable species were absent from Jamaica (falling to 8.5 on average after equalizing sampling effort), but none vice versa, suggesting that trapping may have contributed to their absence or rarity on Jamaican reefs.
• 6. The Tetraodontiformes, which include many non‐target species, were particularly susceptible to trapping in both countries. Their abundance in the six islands censused was inversely related to trap fishing pressure, as was that of two other non‐target families, butterflyfish (Chaetodontidae) and angelfish (Pomacanthidae).
• 7. To determine whether fish that are common in traps in St Lucia are reaching sexual maturity before capture, size frequency data for 23 species from a sample of trap catches were gathered and examined for their state of maturity. In seven species, more than a third of 705 trapped fish were immature, indicating that trap fishing causes growth over‐fishing (premature removal of fish), and calling into question the sustainability of yields for these species.
• 8. In conclusion, at the intensities seen in this study, trap fisheries cause serious over‐fishing, reduce biodiversity, and alter ecosystem structure. While commonly perceived as low impact, coral reef trap fisheries in the Caribbean and further afield, need tighter regulation and control.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ontogenetic movements of juvenile blacktip reef sharks: evidence of dispersal and connectivity between coastal habitats and coral reefs

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Biogeographical and ecological context for managing threats to coral and rocky reef communities in the Lord Howe Island Marine Park,south‐western Pacific

• 1. Quantitative subtidal surveys of fishes, macro‐invertebrates and sessile organisms at 33 sites within the Lord Howe Island Marine Park revealed a rich fauna and flora, including 164 fishes, 40 mobile invertebrate taxa, 53 coral and other sessile invertebrate taxa, 32 algal taxa, and two seagrasses. The biota in this newly‐zoned marine park was overwhelmingly tropical when species lists were tabulated; however, species with distributions centred on temperate coasts of eastern Australia and New Zealand occurred in disproportionately high densities compared with the tropical species.
• 2. Lord Howe Island reefs were generally in good condition. Virtually no bleached coral was observed (0.2% of the reef surface; 0.8% of total hard coral cover). Living scleractinian coral comprised the predominant group of organisms growing on reef surfaces, with 25.5% cover overall. Other major taxa observed were brown algae (18.8% cover) and red algae (16.9% cover).
• 3. Three distinctive community types were identified within the marine park—coral reefs, macroalgal beds and an offshore/open coast community. The distribution of these community types was strongly related to wave exposure, as indicated by an extremely high correlation with the first principal coordinates axis for biotic data (R²=0.80).
• 4. The close (<3 km) proximity of tropical coral and temperate macroalgal community types off Lord Howe Island is highly unusual, with localized patterns of nutrient enrichment suggested as the primary cause. The macroalgal community type is only known from a small area off the south‐western coast that is not protected from fishing. This community is considered highly susceptible to threats because of potential impacts of global warming and the possibility of expansion of sea urchin barrens. Coral bleaching and ocean acidification associated with global climate change also threaten the coral reef community, which includes relatively high numbers of endemic and near endemic fish species. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

     

Trap mesh selectivity and the management of reef fishes

The regulation of mesh size has frequently been proposed as a management measure for fish traps, the predominant gear used by the reef fish fisheries in the Caribbean. Studies on trap mesh selectivity show that mesh size is a determinant of catch rates and the size at which fish recruit to fish traps. Mesh size also affects the species composition in fish traps, probably through size selectivity. Other factors also affect catch rates, and the fish size and species composition in traps, for example, soak time, trap design, trap size, species body shape. Given the variety of growth rates and maturity schedules of reef fish commonly taken in fish traps in the Caribbean, no single mesh size will optimise the yield or protect against recruitment overfishing for the entire range of exploited species. Preliminary data suggest that the fishing power of traps may decrease with increased mesh size. This would reduce the effective fishing effort and thus mortality on fully recruited size classes. Studies indicate that the mesh sizes currently in use in most Caribbean countries are too small, and that a minimum mesh size of at least 3.8–5.1 cm would be required to optimise yields for local consumption. Comparative fishing experiments indicate that an increase in mesh size in areas of high fishing mortality typically results in a reduction in catch per trap. Thus increasing trap mesh size can be expected to result in short‐term loss in revenue for fishers. However, no studies have examined the times that would be required for catches to return to the levels prevailing before the increase of mesh size, and thereafter, for fishers to recover the losses incurred during the transition period. To provide managers with an estimate of the impacts that mesh‐size regulation could have on fishers, the recovery time of catches and the financial recovery times for fishers should be modelled for a hypothetical assemblage of 10–15 reef fishes using available information. These studies would enable managers to plan for the implementation of mesh‐size increases and to communicate the potential benefits to fishers in quantitative terms.     

Human‐induced gradients of reef fish declines in the Hawaiian Archipelago viewed through the lens of traditional management boundaries

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Ecological indicators for coral reef fisheries management

Coral reef fisheries are of great importance both economically and for food security, but many reefs are showing evidence of overfishing, with significant ecosystem‐level consequences for reef condition. In response, ecological indicators have been developed to assess the state of reef fisheries and their broader ecosystem‐level impacts. To date, use of fisheries indicators for coral reefs has been rather piecemeal, with no overarching understanding of their performance with respect to highlighting fishing effects. Here, we provide a review of multispecies fishery‐independent indicators used to evaluate fishing impacts on coral reefs. We investigate the consistency with which indicators highlight fishing effects on coral reefs. We then address questions of statistical power and uncertainty, type of fishing gradient, scale of analysis, the influence of other variables and the need for more work to set reference points for empirical, fisheries‐independent indicators on coral reefs. Our review provides knowledge that will help underpin the assessment of the ecological effects of fishing, offering essential support for the development and implementation of coral reef fisheries management plans.     

Applying forest restoration principles to coral reef rehabilitation

• 1. Forest restoration through silviculture (gardening) programs revives productivity, biodiversity, and stability. As in silviculture approaches, the coral ‘gardening’ strategy is based on a two‐step protocol.
• 2. The first step deals with the establishment of in situ and/or ex situ coral nurseries in which corals are farmed (originating from two types of source material: asexual [ramets, nubbins], and sexual [planula larvae, spat] recruits).
• 3. The second is the reef rehabilitation step, where maricultured colonies are transplanted into degraded sites.
• 4. We compare here the rationale of forest restoration to coral reef ecosystem restoration by evaluating major key criteria. As in silviculture programs, a sustainable mariculture operation that focuses on the prime structural component of the reef (‘gardening’ with corals) may promote the persistence of threatened coral populations, as well as that of other reef taxa, thus maintaining genetic diversity. In chronically degrading reef sites this may facilitate a halt in biodiversity depletion.
• 5. Within the current theoretical framework of ecosystem restoration, the recovery of biodiversity indices is considered a core element since a rich species diversity provides higher ecosystem resilience to disturbances.
• 6. The gardening measure may also be implemented worldwide, eliminating the need to extract existing colonies for transplantation operations. At degraded reef sites, the coral gardening strategy can assist in managing human and non‐human stakeholders' requirements as is done in forest management.

Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The reef fisheries surrounding the south-west coastal cities of Madagascar

The artisanal fishery in south-west Madagascar, around the coastal cities of Morondava, Morombe and Tuléar, is particularly active. In the Morombe and Tuléar regions, fishing pressure focuses on coral formations close to landing sites and reef fish constitute the main part of the catch (Lethrinidae, Haemulidae, Siganidae). In Morondava, fishing is practised very close to the shore on sandy substrates, but also on offshore reef shallows. The catches are more diverse and made up of reef fish (Serranidae, Lutjanidae) and non-reef species. Fishing from Morondava targets the highest trophic level of the coral reefs (piscivores/macroinvertebrate feeders: 87% of the catch) whereas in Tuléar and Morombe the higher fishing effort means that lower trophic levels are targeted to maintain catches. Despite the high fishing effort, especially around Morombe and Tuléar (standardizing fishing effort of 5200 hook h km^–2 year^–1 and of 12 300 hook h km^–2 year^–1, respectively), the catch per unit effort (CPUE) is still relatively high; it varies from 0.6 to 2 kg h^-1 per person over the whole zone and seems to be more linked to the fishing method used and to the degree of professionalism than to variations in the abundance of the resources surrounding the three cities. The relatively high CPUE can probably be explained by a continual immigration and/or recruitment on these fishing grounds. The fish originate from sectors that are far from towns and weakly exploited. A sociological study was carried out concurrently with the fishing survey and focused on present-day transformations within the fishing community.     

Size and age are important factors for marine sanctuaries: evidence from a decade of systematic sampling in a subtropical marine park

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Relationships between catch and effort in Fijian multispecies reef fisheries subject to different levels of exploitation

Abstract The catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) and value-of-catch-per-unit-effort (VPUE) of reef-associated fish species from six Fijian native fishing grounds ( qoliqoli ) subject to different fishing intensities were determined using records of fishing activity from a voluntary logbook scheme. Line and spear fishing techniques were used for more than half the total fishing time (h person^-1 d^-1) in all qoliqoli , and yet the favoured technique in a given qoliqoli was frequently less efficient (lower CPUE) than other techniques. The popularity of relatively ineffective fishing methods implies that fishermen did not always attempt to maximize their catch rates. To compare fishing effort in different qoliqoli , all effort was rescaled on the basis of its recorded efficiency (measured as multispecies CPUE) and expressed as hours equivalent to boat-based spear fishing over coral by day to catch fish for sale. Total fishing intensity in the six qoliqoli ranged from 72 to 4310 h km^-2 reef year^-1. The relationship between catch and effort was linear at all fishing intensities, suggesting that the qoliqoli were all fished on a sustainable basis. Furthermore, whilst there was a significant difference in CPUE and VPUE between the one or two qoliqoli with lowest fishing intensity and all the others, there were no significant differences between these other qoliqoli in terms of the VPUE of the saleable multispecies boat catch or the CPUE of species from piscivorous and carnivorous genera ( Epinephelus, Lethrinus and Plectropomus ) which the fishermen prefer to catch.     

南沙群岛重要珊瑚礁水域鱼类资源数量分布

1998年3—5月和1999年5—6月．采用手钓、延绳钓和流刺网3种作业方式在南沙群岛的渚碧、南薰、东门、美济、赤瓜、永署和华阳等7座珊瑚礁水域进行了2个航次的鱼类资源调查。结果表明,7座珊瑚礁水域不同作业方式的鱼类资源相对丰盛度差别较大,其中刺网以永暑礁最高,手钓以华阳礁最高,延绳钓以南薰礁最高;同时．刺网和手钓不同水深区域鱼类资源的相对丰盛度也不相同．其中刺网以11～30m区域最高．手钓以10m以浅和51～80m区域较高;分析认为,造成礁区之间鱼类相对丰盛度差异的主要原因不是初级生产力．而是生态环境因素,主要是礁盘形态和大型海藻的数量。另外．各礁区水域的优势类群有明显不同．这主要与洞穴的大小和数量、大型海藻及珊瑚的种类和数量等生物和非生物环境有关。     

Fishing for biodiversity by balanced harvesting

Fisheries are damaging and seemingly incompatible with the conservation of marine ecosystems. Yet fish are an important source of food and support the lives of many people in coastal communities. This paper considers an idea that a moderate intensity of fishing, appropriately scaled across species, could help in maintaining biodiversity, rather than reducing it. The scaling comes from an intuition that rates of fishing mortality of species should be kept in line with production rates of the species, a notion known as balanced harvesting. This places species conservation and exploitation on an equal footing in a single equation, showing quantitatively the relative levels of fishing mortality that species of different abundance can support. Using a dynamic model of a marine ecosystem, we give numerical evidence showing for the first time that fishing, if scaled in this way, can protect rarer species, while allowing some exploitation of species with greater production. This works because fishing mortality rates, when scaled by production, are density-dependent. Such fishing, operating adaptively to follow species' production rates over time, contains a feedback that would help to protect species from overfishing in the presence of uncertainty about how marine ecosystems work.     

Territorial Use Rights in Fisheries to Manage Areas for Farming Coral Reef Fish and Invertebrates for the Aquarium Trade

Reef fish, corals, and other marine invertebrate species associated with coral reefs need to be managed in a sustainable manner to halt destructive fishing in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries. As part of the Coastal Communities Empowerment Project, the International Marinelife Alliance (IMA) plans to implement Territorial Use Rights in Fisheries (TURFs) to help manage municipal waters; while creating alternative livelihoods for small-scale fishermen and their families. Changes to the Local Government Code allow Philippine municipal councils to regulate fishing and mariculture in waters within 15km from shore. The councils can lease TURFs to local fisherfolk and prevent their use by those outside the community. The IMA plans to help create several types of TURFs. These include TURFs used by aquarium-fish collectors, for rearing giant clams, and for farming live rock and coral fragments. The TURFs are part of a larger strategy to conserve marine biodiversity, protect and restore marine habitats, and promote sustainable use of marine resources by local people. Fish and invertebrates harvested from the TURFs will be used in programs to restore marine habitats and to generate income from exports that supply the aquarium trade.